BUTLER, Pennsylvania – An analysis of bird's-eye view footage of the Butler Farm Show, the site where Thomas Matthew Crooks shot former President Trump and killed a bystander, exposes apparent tactical deficiencies in the U.S. Secret Service's counter-sniper strategy on July 13, an expert says.
Crooks, 20, killed local firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounded James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, when he fired a volley of bullets toward Trump from a rooftop about 150 yards away at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Fairgrounds.
Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor, told “America's Newsroom” that he spoke to attendees who said the entire event felt “unsafe” compared to other demonstrations. They told him they were not searched with wands or scanned with a metal detector upon entering the venue.
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The Butler Farm Show, site of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, is seen Monday, July 15, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was injured July 13 during an assassination attempt while speaking at the rally. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Drone footage of the 100-acre site shows the stage and two red buildings, on top of which snipers were positioned.
While Crooks had a full view of them on top of the gray building located downstairs in front of the stage, Mauro said tree growth and the angle of the snipers made only part of that roof visible to them.
Mauro spoke to Butler residents who attended previous Trump rallies and who said the July 13 rally felt “very disorganized.”
A source familiar with the investigation told Fox News that the sniper who killed Crooks with one bullet had a “one in a million” chance and could only see the top of his head and the sights of his gun because of the edge of the roof.
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Pictured is the building where Thomas Crooks climbed to shoot former President Trump. Former New York Police Department Inspector Paul Mauro suspects Crooks used the hallway next to the two buildings to climb to the roof and hide his AR-15 in the air conditioning unit pictured. (Fox News)
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle previously said the sloping roof of the building where Crooks was located was a “security hazard” and that agents were stationed inside the building instead.
“If you look at the windows facing the stage, they appear to be very narrow and it's not entirely clear whether they can be opened,” Mauro said. “Federal officials have described those windows as an observation post. It's hard to imagine how those low windows, which don't even appear to open and are situated at ground level, could provide a good observation post for the officers inside.”
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Secret Service agents were positioned in the red buildings on the right and left. (Fox News)
Mauro said hallways connecting the building to another building next door provided an access point where Crooks could have climbed onto the roof. An air conditioning unit seen from above could be where he stashed his AR-15 before the rally, sources told Mauro.
Meanwhile, the images also show windows that gave officers a direct view of the roof from an adjacent building.
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Former NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro questioned how U.S. Secret Service agents stationed inside the building were able to adequately monitor the demonstration through these small, low windows that may not have been opened. (Fox News)
“It's almost impossible that they didn't see Tom Crooks walking up on that roof with an AR-15 in his hand,” Mauro said.
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Cheatle is scheduled to appear before lawmakers on Monday to discuss the assassination attempt. An independent committee has been appointed to review the agency's actions before and during the attack.
