Authorities were aware of the presence of the would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks more than 90 minutes before he opened fire at the former president’s Pennsylvania campaign rally, roughly a half-hour more than what officials previously claimed, according to newly released text messages.
Text messages between members of the Beaver County Emergency Service Unit obtained by the New York Times revealed a more concrete and earlier timeline leading up to the shooting that grazed the former president’s ear, injured two rallygoers and killed one.
The messages also revealed that Crooks, 20, was aware of the law enforcement presence as he prepared his assassination attempt on the GOP nominee.
“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” a counter-sniper texted a colleague as he headed out around 4:26 p.m.
“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 sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit,” he wrote of the suspicious person who turned out to be Crooks.
At around 5:10 p.m., Crooks was below the counter-snipers who were inside the AGR International building warehouse where the 20-year-old eventually climbed onto the rooftop and fired his AR-15 from, the Times reported.
One of the counter-snipers took photos of him and shared them in a group chat at around 5:38 p.m.
An officer also wrote in a text that they should tell the Secret Service about the suspicious person as the range finder he had on him alarmed authorities, the newspaper reported.
“Kid learning around the building we are in. AGR I believe it is,” the text reads. “I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage [sic]. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.”
“Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out,” an officer texted, according to another message provided to the Times by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office.
The photos were shared with the Secret Service through a series of steps at the command centre, according to the newspaper.
Another message in the group texts guessed that Crooks moved toward the back of the complex of AGR buildings “away from the event” at about 6 p.m.
But it was around that time that Crooks was on the roof just minutes before he opened fire.
The texts show authorities knew about the suspicious person who ended up being Crooks close to 100 minutes before the shooting – not the about 60 minutes before the assassination attempt that has previously been mentioned at a congressional hearing, per the Times.
Members of Trump’s Secret Service detail lodged complaints that they were not informed that local cops were tracking a suspicious person at the rally in Butler, PA, according to a Washington Post report.
Trump was injured in the ear by one bullet while three rallygoers were shot, including Corey Comperatore, 50, who was killed shielding his family from danger. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper soon after.
The gunman planned the shooting in advance, federal authorities have said, but his motive is still a mystery.
The Secret Service has been under fire since the shooting as lawmakers have questioned how the federal agency could have allowed the Crooks the opportunity to squeeze the trigger.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down last week amid the outcry.
