Speaking with ABC News over the weekend, local SWAT officers who were on duty during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump earlier this month revealed they had no communication with Secret Service leading up to the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where he was shot by would-be assassin Thomas Crooks.
One officer explained he began thinking something was amiss when Secret Service snipers failed to meet with his team before the speech as is standard procedure.
🚨 A local SWAT officer just told ABC that his team had NO COMMUNICATION with the Secret Service prior to the shooting
This makes NO SENSE.
The officer says they were supposed to have a meeting with the sniper team when they arrived, which never happened.
“I then started… pic.twitter.com/r73vgyGgDL
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 28, 2024
Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) also recently obtained text messages from Pennsylvania’s Beaver County Emergency Services Unit that show counter-sniper teams stationed at the Donald Trump rally in Butler were suspicious of shooter Thomas Crooks 90 minutes before he fired at the 45th President.
A screenshot of one message shows an officer who was leaving his post for a shift change warned his colleagues “someone” was parked near their vehicles an hour and a half before the deadly shooting.
“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” the officer wrote about Crooks.
“I’m just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there he’s sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit,” he added.
An hour later, other counter-snipers also messaged about Crooks using a range finder and suggesting Secret Service be notified.
“Kid learning around building we are in. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him. Also a bike with backpack sitting next to it in rear of building that was not seen earlier.”
Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle stepped down from her position last week after Congress roasted her over her security failure (or participation in a stand down) during the Trump rally.
However, America is still looking for answers regarding the near-murder of Donald Trump.
