The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump was reportedly confronted on the rooftop by a local law enforcement officer who backed down.
Many attendees of the rally noticed a man climbing onto the roof of a nearby building minutes before the shooting happened.
They were able to notify local law enforcement officials on site for the event, according to the Associated Press, and an officer climbed the roof and encountered 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks then aimed his rifle at the police officer, who quickly retreated back down the ladder without engaging with Crooks or attempting to otherwise alert Secret Service.
Crooks was able to re-establish his aim at the former president and take multiple shots before Secret Service snipers returned fire and killed him.
Questions remain over why the officer backed down and the time between his retreat and the first shot.
Not much is currently known about Crooks, who used his father’s legally purchased AR-15 in the attack.
He donated money to a progressive PAC in 2021, but was a registered Republican.
However, Pennsylvania is a closed primary state which only allows voters to participate in the primary of their registered party. Many progressive social media accounts advocated changing party registrations to vote against MAGA candidates in the midterms and against Trump during this primary season, leading to speculation about the shooter’s political beliefs.
The FBI has not identified any social media posts or writings by the suspect that would shed light on his political ideology at this time.
Crooks had bomb-making materials in his home and in the car he drove to the rally, but he is believed to have acted alone.
Trump Heads to Milwaukee
The Republican National Committee said its convention would take place as planned.
Trump will deliver his speech on Thursday, though he told the Washington Examiner that he has rewritten it in light of Saturday’s attempted assassination.
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” he said.
Along with rewriting his speech, Trump reportedly spent most of Sunday on the phone with friends and officials.
Ohio Pastor Darrell Scott said Trump “was in great spirits” when they spoke in the morning.
“He was great, like he always is. He didn’t even make a big deal of it,” Scott said. “He was actually trying to downplay it somewhat, asking how I was doing.”
This is the time for conservatives to stand up not tone it down. Democrats are saying tone it down to cover up their hate filled rhetoric that has led us to where we are. They are enablers and encourage this type of hateful attempt on a political rivals life. The Democrat party is the biggest threat to the safety and security of our country.
You bet.
Cop failed to perform his sworn duty. People died as a result. Trump missed death by about 1 inch.
Wait for the facts before jumping to a conclusion. If the cop could have stopped the shooter and didn’t I’ll be right there with you criticizing him but if like usual there are two sides to the story we are best to wait and hear all sides before co denning anyone.
After an in-depth closed door debriefing by the SS, The FBI, The CIA, The local Senior officer in charge there in Pennsylvania, I would then let the press at the officer who encountered the shooter on the roof ( Crooks ). My biggest question is why no one else attempted to intervene at some point. Many People from different vantage points were indicating that there was a person on the roof there, easy to see. No one in authority except this one lone officer took notice or seemed to understand what the attendees were pointing at or screaming about. How did a ladder get placed nearby to use to climb up on the roof? That is even a bigger question. Makes one wonder if there was more than one involved. Inclosing here, with the amount of money the U.S. wastes every year on junk why cant we afford to put 500 SS agents on duty during one summer every 4 years for 4-5 months 250 as go ahead advance teams and then leap frog them to each venue that the candidates are speaking at. Hell there are only 2 candidates, much different than previous years.. I guess I am just pure stupid to believe that that might be a good plan.
Cop scared?
Poor Mgmt
Poor Training?
Use gun when had chance
What do we know about the cop that confronted Crooks on the roof? Is he a Biden sympathizer or a Trump hater? Did he try to let anyone on the SS detail know what he saw? Why is it that nothing is being told about this guy?