WATCH: Bodycam Footage Shows Officials Identifying Thomas Crooks at Trump Rally

On July 13, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted an assassination on Donald Trump, the former president and now Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. Newly released bodycam footage from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), offers a chilling glimpse into the events of that day.

The footage, which was released in compliance with congressional requests, captured the intense moment of communication between law enforcement officials as they identified and responded to the threat posed by Crooks. According to the video, Beaver County snipers had identified Crooks earlier in the day and had been monitoring his movements. The clarity and detail provided by the bodycam video surpass what has been shared with the public by the Secret Service thus far.

“This is him,” one official is heard confirming on the bodycam as they reviewed images of Crooks sent out by the sniper team. The discussion in the video revolves around a bike and a suspicious device, with officers coordinating a response to ensure the safety of the rally attendees and the former president.

Crooks’s assault on the rally led to tragic results: one attendee was killed, and two others were critically injured. Crooks himself was neutralized by the Secret Service’s Counter Sniper Team after he opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle from a nearby rooftop. Despite the response, the incident exposed glaring vulnerabilities in the protection protocols for such significant political events.

WATCH:

The motives behind Crooks’s actions remain shrouded in mystery. Investigations into his background have revealed a complex web of political affiliations and activities. Although Crooks donated to a Democratic voter turnout group in January 2021, records show that he registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania later that same year.

On Monday Sen. Grassley claimed to have produced evidence from an agency whistleblower showing that the Secret Service assigned three “post” officers to Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally, or additional detail members responsible for securing a certain segment of the perimeter. In contrast, Jill Biden’s visit to Pittsburgh drew 12 post officers.

The disclosure was uncovered as part of Sen. Grassley’s investigation into correspondence within the Secret Service about how to staff both Trump and Jill Biden, who were just 33 miles apart that day. “Transparency brings accountability,” Grassley wrote on X when releasing the footage.

NEW My office has obtained docs from law enforcement on July 13 assassination attempt of Pres Trump I’m writing Secret Service Acting Dir Rowe & DHS Scty Mayorkas AGAIN 2get badly needed answers/clarity pic.twitter.com/LyQMzYGCkD

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 23, 2024

On Tuesday Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle tendered her resignation just one day after an incendiary congressional hearing. Cheatle previously declined to resign in an interview she gave earlier. The shooting nearly became a constitutional crisis and prompted a reckoning among lawmakers about the state of today’s political dialogue as well a bipartisan calls for increased security around presidential candidates.

Authorities reported seeing Crooks canvassing the area where he later took the shot, though was not determined to be suspicious. During the rally, another local officer encountered Crooks crawling along the ground with a rangefinder and reported it to headquarters only for agents to find Crooks missing when they returned. The FBI is investing why another officer backed away from Crooks on the roof seconds before he fired at Trump, striking the former president’s ear before agents shot and killed him.

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