According to an investigation by Republican Rep. Clay Higgins, would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was incapacitated by a local police officer before he was killed by the Secret Service.
This finding is contained in a “preliminary investigative report” that Higgins published last month.
This preliminary investigative report is reflective of my determination to deliver full truth to the American people.https://t.co/0dqew07iZk
— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) August 15, 2024
The report notes that after eight shots were fired by Crooks, a 9th shot was fired by a local SWAT operator.
“The 9th shot fired on J13 was from a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards away from the AGR building,” the report reads. “Shot 9 hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face/neck/right shoulder area from the stock breaking up.”
“The SWAT operator who took this shot was a total badass; when he had sighted the shooter Crooks as a mostly obscured by foliage moving target on the AGR rooftop, he immediately left his assigned post and ran towards the threat, running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing 8 rounds,” the report continues.
The shot he took not only “stopped Crooks” but also “damaged the buffer tube” on his AR, meaning “Crooks’ rifle wouldn’t fire after his 8th shot.”
Seconds later, a Secret Service sniper killed Crooks with a shot that “entered somewhere around the left mouth area and exited the right ear area.” It was “instant over” for the would-be assassin.
This finding that the Secret Service was essentially bested by local police comes as whistleblowers say the federal agency is “woefully unprepared” and inadequately trained to properly protect high-profile political figures like former President Donald Trump.
According to the whistleblowers, when Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were recently assigned to protect figures like Trump, they were prepped with a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams.
NEW Whistleblower tells me most of the agents at the Trump rally the day of the assassination attempt were Homeland Security NOT Secret Service — and the only training they received was a 2-hour online “webinar”! Outrageous pic.twitter.com/iwNwjN2lfZ
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 4, 2024
“Imagine 1,000 people logging onto Microsoft Teams at the same time after being informed at the last minute that everyone needed to log in individually,” one whistleblower said, according to Fox News.
“Once it got rolling, the Secret Service instructor couldn’t figure out how to get the audio working on the prerecorded videos [which I’m told are the same videos as last year]. All told, they restarted the videos approximately six times …. The content was not helpful,” they added.
Even worse, the whistleblowers have claimed this webinar hasn’t been updated since Crooks’ almost successful attempt on Trump’s life.
“Nothing new, nothing improved since the assassination attempt on former President Trump,” one whistleblower said.
Other HSI agents who were also working the day of the attempted assassination meanwhile said they “only receive[d] one PowerPoint presentation for training.”
These whistleblower allegations were made to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. Appearing this Tuesday on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” he slammed the Biden-Harris administration over its “nightmare” handling of the assassination attempt.
“This is a nightmare — the only reason we know about this stuff is because of whistleblowers,” he said.
His office previously alleged that the lead site agent at the assassination site had a record of being inexperienced and “incompetent.”
“The site agent, the lead agent, was known to the Trump campaign to be inexperienced, to be ineffectual, to be, frankly, incompetent at their job,” Hawley previously said. “I’m also told by whistleblowers that on that day, she was not enforcing the normal security protocols.”
“She was not checking people’s IDs. She did not use Secret Service agents. Most of the agents there that day were not Secret Service agents. They were Homeland Security agents,” he added.
Dovetailing back to Higgin’s report, it also claims that Crooks’ body was cremated just 10 days after the attempted assassination despite the ongoing investigation into his actions.
“[T]he FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13,” the report reads. “On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc.”
“Yes, Butler County Coroner technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI,” the report continues.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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