Bodycam footage released on Thursday shows officers’ actions taken immediately before and seconds after the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The footage is taken from two officers from the Butler Township Police Department who attempted to stop the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was located on top of the American Glass Research (AGR) building with an AR-15-style weapon, Fox News first reported. The first piece of footage shows the officer with body camera footage being hoisted on top of the roof and then immediately ducking down and sprinting toward his car to grab a more powerful weapon.
“F*ck, this close, bro. Dude he turned around on me,” the officer lifted to the roof said about the shooter.
Crooks reportedly pointed his weapon at the officer before he ducked his head, according to Fox News.
“I pulled my head right in front of him, bro. He’s got a boot bag, he’s got mad s*it, an AR laying down. He’s laying down, he’s got a boot bag next to him,” the officer told the others.
LISTEN: Audio from local police in Butler, PA saying they told the U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday, 4 days before the Saturday rally, that they needed someone posted at the building Thomas Crooks shot Trump from pic.twitter.com/P2obsSHI7O
— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) August 8, 2024
Moments later, the officer demanded to be lifted onto the rooftop, where he approached three other law enforcement members. Officers can be seen standing over Crook’s corpse after counter snipers fatally shot him.
A second piece of footage shows the officer talking to another state or local law enforcement officer expressing how angry they were that they could not find Crooks. They reportedly discussed how law enforcement were on different radio frequencies, making it difficult to communicate.
“I’m f*cking p*ssed, bro. We couldn’t find him,” another officer said.
NEW: Bodycam footage shows immediate aftermath of Trump assassination attempt pic.twitter.com/dw0Fv2lU21
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 8, 2024
Additional footage shows an officer ordering people to exit the location as he had not confirmed Crooks was dead. Officers were unsure whether there were multiple threats at the time.
“Alright, threat one is down. Threat one is down,” an officer said over the intercom confirming Crooks’ death. “Threat one is down, we need to secure the rest of the area.”
Officers were unsure why the roof had not been occupied by law enforcement members, according to Fox News.
“I thought you were on the roof?” one officer said.
“If you’d all had a gun up there … I’d have shot him. He wouldn’t have ripped out a gun up there,” an officer said.
AMERICANS DESERVE ANSWERS! New police bodycam footage shows officer hoisted on roof, spotting Trump shooter before the attack. Why was Trump allowed on stage when a known threat existed prior to the event?pic.twitter.com/evsVpMP2TJ
— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) August 8, 2024
Footage released on July 31 showed a figure believed to be Crooks visibly walking across the roof nearly 3 minutes before the shooting occurred at 6:11 p.m EDT. The footage was taken by James Copenhaver, a victim shot twice during the incident.
The shooting injured the upper portion of Trump’s right ear and killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief, while he shielded his two daughters from the shooting. Copenhaver and 57-year-old David Dutch were also critically injured during the incident.
Whistleblowers told Republican Missouri Sen. John Hawley that Secret Service agents were initially assigned to be present on the roof but left the area due to the hot temperature. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle claimed no agents were stationed on the roof because of the unsafe “sloped roof.”
Cheatle resigned on July 23 following a joint statement from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and ranking member Jamie Raskin from July 22, which stated that she “failed to provide answers” about the “stunning operational failure” that occurred during the rally.
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