CNN
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Dramatic video obtained by CNN shows, for the first time, the moment a police officer climbed onto the roof of a building overlooking Donald Trump’s July 13 rally and saw the former president’s would-be assassin just before the shooting began.
Other footage from the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, obtained by CNN through a public records request, shows local officers lamenting asking the Secret Service to station agents near the building from which the shooter fired shots days earlier.
Video taken by the Butler police officer’s body camera shows how the officer was hoisted onto the roof by his colleague, then quickly lowered back down after seeing the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
About 40 seconds later, Crooks turned and fired eight shots at Trump, hitting him in the ear. Seconds later, a Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks.
After the encounter, the officer runs to the other side of the building before running to his police car to retrieve a rifle.
“Damn, that’s so close, man,” the officer who saw Crooks said to another officer. “Dude, he turned around to look at me.”
A police officer asks where the shooter is and the officer, gasping, replies, “He’s here.”
“Who’s got an eye on him?” the officer asks. “He was right where you picked me up, bro. He was on the left side.”
On the radio, a voice says, “We have two civilians taking care of them,” then later, “I need an ambulance in the back.”
This video was released by the Butler Township Police Department in response to CNN’s public records request that requested any body camera or dash cam video involving Butler Township officers or personnel related to the rally and shooting at the Butler Farm Show on July 13. The township initially declined to release the content, but did so after CNN appealed.
On the dash cam of the officer who came face to face with Crooks, three gunshots can be heard, followed by five more shots fired in rapid succession.
“Don’t look up, he’s there!” the officer shouts to the others after opening his car half a minute after the shots.
Shortly after, video shows law enforcement officers attempting to access the roof.
“He’s got glasses, long hair,” the officer who saw Crooks climb the side of the building told several others. “Hey, Mike, I climbed the wall and I put my head right in front of him, man, he’s got a backpack, he’s got some crazy stuff, AR’s laying down.”
“But be careful, because it could fall on you there,” the officer warns.
The officer later adds: “Before you motherfuckers came here, I looked up like an idiot, all by myself, man. He turned around, I fucking fell.”
When they finally reach the top of the building, footage shows Crooks’ lifeless body, his rifle, and a trail of blood running down the side of the roof.
In a separate video released by Butler police, an officer can be heard telling his colleagues about 10 minutes after the shooting that he had asked the Secret Service to station law enforcement near the building from which Crooks fired.
“I told them they had to fucking post the guys here,” the officer said. “I told them the Secret Service, fucking, I told them Tuesday, fucking. I told them to fucking post the guys here.”
Another officer responded that he was “not even worried about it because I thought somebody was on the roof. I figured that’s how we… how the hell do you lose a guy coming back here?”
“I talked to the Secret Service guys, they said, ‘Yeah, no problem, we’ll post some guys here,'” the first officer said.
Local law enforcement can’t say future Trump rallies will be safe
The Secret Service stationed three local snipers inside one of the adjacent buildings, one of whom had taken photos of Crooks earlier in the day and left his post to search for the would-be shooter.
The Secret Service declined to comment.
On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley released documents obtained from the shooter’s gun club that revealed new details about Crooks’ preparation in the months leading up to the Trump assassination attempt.
Clairton Sportsmen’s Club records, reviewed by CNN, show that Crooks visited the range a total of 43 times after creating his membership on August 10, 2023, less than a year before the assassination attempt.
Sign-in sheets provided to Grassley, an Iowa Republican, by the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club also indicate that Crooks spent the majority of his time at the range — rather than other areas designated for shooting pistols or shotguns — in the months immediately leading up to the rally where he ultimately used the same type of weapon to shoot Trump.
Crooks attended shooting practice at the club three to six times a month in 2024, before making a final visit at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, July 12, 2024 — the day before Trump’s rally, according to records obtained by Grassley.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
