FBI Director Christopher Wray has revealed new details Wednesday about the investigation into Trump rally shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
incoming update…
Sarah Taylor, an Air Force veteran, said she witnessed glaring security lapses at the Trump rally in Butler, PA, on July 13. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar/ Sen. Ron Johnson’s office/ Sarah Taylor)
Butler County, Pennsylvania’s
top prosecutor said Wednesday that testimony provided to federal lawmakers this week suggesting two snipers were in the building next to the roof from which the would-be Trump assassin was able to get a clear shot of the former president before opening fire at a rally on July 13, was “misstated.”
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger pointed at testimony provided by Pennsylvania State Police commissioner Christopher Paris, which was given to the House Committee on Homeland Security on Tuesday.
In a press release, Goldinger explained that 20 minutes before Thomas Matthew Crooks started firing shots at former President Trump, two local snipers saw the gunman seated outside and took a picture of him before circulating it and passing it along to the Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police.
The DA said Crooks moved his location to the opposite side of the building, and both local snipers moved within the building to the other side to match the suspicious person’s movements.
While both officers were on the second floor, one ran outside to look for Crooks, Goldinger explained, after spotting the would-be assassin running off with a backpack.
Goldinger told Fox News one sniper remained in the building while the other went outside.
The sniper who went outside could not find Crooks and returned inside. That’s when, according to Golding, both snipers heard the gunfire.
Goldinger told Fox News the entire building was the post for the two snipers and it is a mischaracterization to say otherwise.
He also said if the local snipers had remained at their original location inside the building, they would not have been able to see Crooks. Instead, Goldinger said, they would have needed to lean out of the window to see Crooks.
Fox News‘ CB Cotton contributed to this report.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
The House of Representatives unanimously voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
None of the lawmakers in attendance voted against the measure, while the 416 who were present voted yes. Also in attendance were 10 Democrats and six Republicans who did not vote.
The new task force will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats, with the members likely being announced this week.
House GOP leaders raced the bill to the floor after the deadly shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally nearly two weeks ago. One attendee died and two others were injured, with Trump himself getting shot in the ear and evacuated off stage by Secret Service.
The vote was bipartisan, as expected — the hours following the shooting prompted a flurry of bipartisan condemnations against political violence, as well as scrutiny of the security situation that allowed a 20-year-old gunman with an assault rifle onto a rooftop just outside the rally perimeter.
the
unanimous bipartisan vote.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald L. Rowe, Jr. will testify before three Senate committees Thursday, on the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Along with Rowe, the deputy director of the FBI will also testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is holding a hearing in partnership with the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Rowe was appointed to the position of acting director after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday.
Cheatle’s resignation came after her lackluster testimony on Capitol Hill on Monday, which resulted in bipartisan demands for her to step down from her position after failing to protect Trump.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced Rowe’s appointment Tuesday, saying he has served as Deputy Director of Secret Service since April 2023.
Rowe is a 24-year veteran of the agency and previously served as the Secret Service’s Assistant Director for the Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs, Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Protective Operations, and in other leadership positions.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Col. Christopher L. Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing at the Canon House Office Building on July 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is examining the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump on July 13th in Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/ )
In addition to would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, other suspicious people were noted by security at the Butler, Pennsylvania
event, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.
„Was [Crooks] the only one determined to be suspicious that day“, Rep. Andrew Garbarino asked Paris during a hearing with the committee.
„No, he was not“, Paris replied.
„They identified Crooks for not matriculating“, Paris said. „Crooks never made it through the secure perimeter into the venue space itself.“
There were at least two other suspicious people identified and tracked by the law enforcement that day – but after spotting Crooks with a rangefinder, he became a „special individual“, who was „even more suspicious“, he said.
the commissioner’s testimony.
Fox News’ Christina Coulter contributed to this report.
The parents of Thomas Crooks, Matthew and Mary Crooks return to their home in Bethel Park, PA on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Mary Crooks has not been seen in public since her son attempted to assassinate former President Trump on July 13 in Butler, PA. (Derek Shooks for Fox News Digital)
Mary Crooks, the mother of would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks, was pictured outside for the first time since her son shot the former president, injured two rallygoers and shot dead former fire chief Corey Comperatore.
The gunman’s mother, who is blind was guided by her husband Matthew Crooks from their blue Toyota Tacoma into their Bethel Park home around 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
Her husband opened her car door for her and grabbed onto her hand as the pair entered the house.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Wednesday that 14 guns were found in their home. The weapon Crooks used in his attempt to assassinate former President Trump was bought by Matthew Crooks in 2013, and later sold to his son.
David Dutch apparently suffered two gunshot sounds at the Trump rally in Butler, PA. (Rebecca DROKE / AFP)
One of the two surviving men who sustained wounds when a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
on Saturday has been released from the hospital, while the other remains in serious but stable condition.
The survivors, 74-year-old James „Jim“ Copenhaver, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and 57-year-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania were at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when a gunman opened fire on former President Trump, grazing his ear.
Both men were transported to the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment.
On Wednesday, Dutch was discharged from the hospital, according to hospital officials.
Copenhaver remains in the hospital in serious, but stable condition.
Video provided by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., show officers racing to get to the building the would-be assassin of former President Trump, showing confusion on how to access the roof and more.
Exclusive video obtained by Grassley from Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, in compliance with congressional requests, show the officers racing to the AGR building after the shooting, and when they arrive, the officers are not sure how to access the roof.
The videos also show the shell casings being pointed out and counted, with officers noting that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had a rangefinder and cell phone on him.
There were also discussions heard on the video about Crooks having a potential detonator, though the officers were not sure if the device was active or not.
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawling on a roof moments before he attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (DJ Laughery (background))
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that the first time anyone from law enforcement saw would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks with a weapon was seconds before he opened fire.
Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon and was asked about the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
He was asked about the amount of time that passed between law enforcement officials seeing Crooks with a weapon and the moment shots were fired.
A local law enforcement officer saw Crooks on the roof without a weapon minutes before the shooting, though seconds before the shooting the same law enforcement officer saw him with a weapon.
“That is the first time, to my knowledge, the first time anybody from law enforcement saw him with a weapon,” Wray said. “That is seconds before he shot at President Trump.”
Wray was then asked how close the assassin’s bullet came to killing Trump.
“My understanding is that either it, or some shrapnel is what, you know, grazed his ear. So, I don’t know that I have the very distance…,” Wray answered before being asked if he would say very, very close.
“Yes,” Wray said.
Thomas Matthew Crooks (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
FBI Director Christopher Wray
said Wednesday that the weapon used in the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 was purchased by the shooter’s dad and sold to the shooter 10 years later.
Wray was asked about the history of the weapon used by Thomas Matthew Crooks when he opened fire at the presidential rally.
“I’m told that the father purchased the firearm in 2013, so quite a while ago, and then he sold it to his son in October of 2023,” Wray said.
The AR-style weapon was seen in law enforcement body camera footage released on Tuesday, near the shooter’s body on top of the roof he fired eight shots from before being killed by a counter sniper.
Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Wray is testifying before the committee amid calls by some hardline conservatives for his ouster. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via )
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that a Steam account previously reported to have belonged to would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks belonged to someone else.
Wray was asked about a post allegedly made by Crooks on the gaming platform, which read, “July 13 will be my premier, watch as it unfolds.”
Wray said the information was released as the FBI was obtaining real-time information, but the agency has since learned the profile page that made the post was not the shooter.
Instead, he said, it was another individual who was making a “sick joke.”
After the shooting, the person who made the post created a profile page pretending to be the shooter, Wray said, and that person has since confessed to that.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress on July 24, 2024. ( )
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the people of Israel were relieved former President Trump
emerged safe and sound after being attacked at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Netanyahu made the comments as he addressed a joint session of Congress Wednesday afternoon amid his country’s continued fight against the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
“Like Americans, Israelis were relieved that President Trump emerged safe and sound from that dastardly attack on him…dastardly attack on American democracy,” Netanyahu said. “There is no room for political violence in democracies.”
The City of Hancock Police Department released photos of an ATV driver suspected in three politically motivated crimes. (City of Hancock Police Department)
A Michigan man was found dead after allegedly telling police that he would confess to crimes targeting supporters of former President Trump and law enforcement.
One incident involved a four-wheeler that the driver used to plow down an 80-year-old man who was placing Trump signs in his yard. The elderly victim was hospitalized Sunday in critical condition.
The Hancock City Police Department received a message from an individual in Quincy Township on Monday who stated they wanted to „confess a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours“, according to a press release from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office. The caller further told police to „send someone to pick me up“, the press release said.
Officers and deputies responded to the address and discovered a 22-year-old male suspect at the scene who was „deceased with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound“, the sheriff’s office said.
The press release stated that the crimes reported in the City of Hancock „appear to be politically motivated, involving victims who displayed Trump election signs and law enforcement stickers and flags commonly referred to as ‘thin blue line’ paraphernalia.“
the politically motivated attacks on Trump supporters.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee is providing new details to the timeline of the Trump assassination attempt
on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Wray revealed Wednesday that shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks conducted a Google search for „how far away was Oswald from Kennedy“ on the same day he registered to attend the rally.
Crooks also visited the rally site about a week before the shooting and spent about 20 minutes there, Wray said.
the Google search Crooks conducted before shooting.
Fox News‘ Rebecca Rosenberg and Bryan Llenas contributed to this report.
Thomas Matthew Crooks had three explosive devices in his vehicle and home when he attacked former President Trump. (Bethel Park School District/ )
FBI Director Christopher Wray offered new details about the explosive devices found in Thomas Matthew Crooks‘ car and home during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Wray is facing questions from lawmakers about the FBI’s investigation into Crooks‘ attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He said the FBI found 3 ‘relatively crude’ devices and the bombs were rigged for remote detonation.
Wray did not detail the size of the detonator but said Crooks was able to carry it with him onto the rooftop along with his rifle.
The FBI director also said that the state of the on-off switch on the detonator indicated it would not have worked had Crooks attempted to activate the bombs after opening fire on Trump.
FBI Director Christopher Wray
said Wednesday that „we now believe that the subject climbed onto the roof using some mechanical equipment, on the ground and vertical piping on the side of the AGR building, in other words, we do not believe he used a ladder to get up there.“
He also said „outdoor events, whether they’re political rallies or. a college football game in an open stadium, a concert, these are places that are, often, you know, particularly challenging to secure adequately, because the range of threats that can face them are higher.
