Three people involved with a briefing for senators on Wednesday said that the gunman who opened fire at former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania event was identified as a suspicious person—and photographed—one hour before he started shooting.
Officials from the FBI and Secret Service released a timeline of events that raised concerns about why Trump was let to speak on stage and provided alarming new information about the attempted murder.
One hour prior to starting to shoot, Thomas Matthew Crooks—carrying a backpack and a range finder—was identified as being suspicious, according to a statement released by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., following the briefing.
Barrasso declared, “This was a cover-your-ass briefing.” He had a backpack and a range finder. He vanished from the Secret Service’s view.
At 5:51 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police reported a suspicious person to the Secret Service, approximately half an hour after the initial call. The sources stated that around 5:53 p.m., the Secret Service informed their snipers.
Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m. Police were alerted by attendees that Crooks, 20, was on a rooftop at 6:09 p.m. At 6:11 p.m., two minutes later, Crooks started shooting at Trump.
The sources added that Crooks paid a visit to the scene of last week’s attempted assassination, which was also reported to the senators.
Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle ought to be fired, according to Barrasso.
Barrasso declared, “No one has taken responsibility.” “There has been a death. It nearly killed the [previous] President. It is necessary to remove the Secret Service chief.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the agency.
In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Cheatle stated that while she was still unsure of all the facts surrounding the incident, she did know that Crooks was found to be suspect very quickly before he started firing.
According to Cheatle, a local police sniper squad was within the building where Crooks fired at Trump, and it was decided not to place policemen on the roof due to its slope.
Cheatle stated on Tuesday, “The roof of that specific building slopes upwards at its highest point.” “There’s a safety consideration there, too, as we wouldn’t want to place someone on a sloped roof,” the speaker said.
The claim made by local law enforcement officers that Crooks was in the same building as local snipers was refuted. As Cheatle stated, the local sniper team was not in the building, a Secret Service official informed NBC News on Wednesday. It was located in a different building inside the same complex.
According to the three individuals, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated during the briefing on Wednesday that investigators had not determined a motive for the killing.
Wray said legislators that, based on the sources, the FBI has spoken with 200 persons and looked over 14,000 images, including pictures and livestreamed footage of the event.
Crooks used encrypted communication and had little to no social media presence, according to Wray.
According to the sources, Wray added that investigators had not discovered any international connections to the attack. Recently, the Biden administration learned of information on an Iranian plot to kill Trump; however, according to U.S. officials, there was no link between the threat and the shooting incident last week.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official told NBC News that Crooks, a dietary aide at a nursing facility, requested the day off on Saturday but informed his employer he intended to return to work on Sunday.
Trump claimed on social media following the shooting that a bullet had entered the top portion of his ear. He wore a bandage over the majority of his ear during his appearance at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
The shooting claimed the life of Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire company chief from Buffalo Township. James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, were the other two victims of injuries. The hospital where they are receiving treatment stated that their situations were upgraded from critical to serious on Wednesday.
Cheatle was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday to attend a public hearing later this month. The committee described the attempted assassination as “a total failure of the agency’s core mission.”
Cheatle is available to testify later this month or early next month, according to a letter obtained by NBC News from an official with the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of the Secret Service.
Using the initials for the Secret Service, the official responded, “Regarding the horrible events that took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, the Department and USSS are equally concerned.” “And are dedicated to making every effort to uncover the truth about what transpired.”