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Footage shows Trump shooter opening fire, getting killed by sniper team

July 14, 2024 | | Print Article

Witnesses captured the harrowing moments leading up to and following the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump raising questions as to why the threat wasn’t neutralized sooner.

Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, as the struck president sought cover and his U.S. Secret Service detail rushed to protect him, rooftop snipers could be seen taking action to eliminate the suspect, who has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

However, images of the defense of Trump were not the only ones circulating online, as a video of the alleged would-be assassin was captured as he reportedly opened fire.

Video obtained by TMZ from rally-goer Mike Difrischia focused on the suspect before panning away as shots could be heard ringing out leading to the death of one attendee and the wounding of two other spectators in addition to the wound to the president’s ear.

Image via TMZ

That footage was juxtaposed with video from the crowd posted by Nico Mitchell showing the protective detail seemingly engaging with the suspect as panic washed over the rally.

Image via X

Commentary on that post challenged when the snipers had spotted the threat to the president, but not near as much as testimony from a witness speaking with BBC News reporter Gary O’Donoghue.

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In video later shared by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk with the caption, “The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign,” a man wearing a Trump 2020 visor with a “4” drawn over the “0,” recounted how he and others and allegedly seen the suspect moving into position and had fruitlessly attempted to warn authorities.

“We noticed a guy crawling…bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us. So, we’re standing there…you know we’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof,” said the man as O’Donoghue asked, “And he had a gun, right?”

“He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle, absolutely. We’re pointing at him. The police are down there running around on the ground. We’re like, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle.’ And the police were like, “Huh, what?’ like, they didn’t know what was going on, you know. We’re like, ‘Hey, right here on the roof. We can see him from right here. We see him,'” continued the witness account.

The man also noted how they were pointing toward the rooftop where the suspect was reported to have fired from, believing that the protective detail that neutralized the threat could see them, but that that had also proven ineffective in stopping the assassination attempt.

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While Musk had also announced his full endorsement of Trump Saturday shortly after the tragedy, others added to concerns about how security was handled as one image captured confirmation that the suspect had been eliminated with the caption, “The photo of Secret Service approaching the shooter on the roof has been confirmed. This confirms that Secret Service let a man pull up on a roof with a rifle and DID NOTHING.”

Kevin Haggerty
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