Texts say police knew of would-be Trump assassin 100 minutes before shooting

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

NEWLY RELEASED TEXT MESSAGES REVEAL – FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S WOULD-BE ASSASSIN THOMAS CROOKS WAS ON AUTHORITIES’ RADAR NEARLY 100 MINUTES BEFORE HE FIRED AT TRUMP DURING A CAMPAIGN RALLY IN BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA ON JULY 13TH.

THE NEW YORK TIMES RECEIVED THE TEXT MESSAGES FROM THE OFFICE OF SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY AND VERIFIED THEM.

THE FIRST TEXT WAS SENT BY 4:26 P-M THAT DAY – FROM A LOCAL POLICE COUNTER-SNIPER WHO WAS LEAVING AFTER HIS SHIFT ENDED. AS HE WAS LEAVING, HE TEXTED OTHER COUNTER-SNIPERS SAYING HE HAD NOTICED SOMEONE HAD “SNUCK IN” AND PARKED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT’S VEHICLES WRITING “I’M JUST LETTING YOU KNOW BECAUSE YOU SEE ME GO OUT WITH MY RIFLE AND PUT IT IN MY CAR SO HE KNOWS YOU GUYS ARE UP THERE HE’S SITTING TO THE DIRECT RIGHT ON A PICNIC TABLE ABOUT 50 YARDS FROM THE EXIT.”

THAT COUNTERSNIPER CONFIRMED – THAT MAN WHO HE SPOTTED WAS LATER IDENTIFIED AS CROOKS.

44 MINUTES LATER -AT 5:10 PM- CROOKS WAS NO LONGER AT THE PICNIC TABLE. IN FACT, ONE OF THE COUNTER-SNIPERS WHO WAS UPSTAIRS IN THE AGR INTERNATIONAL WAREHOUSE TOOK PICTURES OF CROOKS WHO WAS BELOW THE COUNTER-SNIPERS, OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING. 

AT 5:38 PM – THOSE PICTURES WERE SHARED IN A GROUP CHAT AMONG OFFICERS. THE TEXT SAID “KID LEARNING AROUND BUILDING WE ARE IN. AGR I BELIEVE IT IS…” –WE BELIEVE THE WORD LEARNING WAS CORRECTED FROM LURKING – “I DID SEE HIM WITH A RANGEFINDER LOOKING TOWARDS STAGE. FYI. IF YOU WANNA NOTIFY SS SNIPERS TO LOOK OUT. I LOST SIGHT OF HIM. ALSO A BIKE WITH A BACKPACK SITTING NEXT TO IT IN REAR OF BUILDING THAT WAS NOT SEEN EARLIER… CALL IT INTO COMMAND AND HAVE A UNIFORM CHECK IT OUT.” 

AT 6:11 PM – SHOTS RANG OUT FROM ATOP THE AGR INTERNATIONAL WAREHOUSE – WHERE CROOKS WAS ABLE TO POSITION HIMSELF ABOUT 400 FEET AWAY FROM TRUMP AND HAVE A CLEAR LINE OF SITE TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT. 

SEVERAL BULLETS FLEW PASSED TRUMP’S HEAD – ONE CLIPPED HIM IN THE RIGHT EAR.

 ONE RALLY-GOER WAS KILLED AND TWO OTHERS WERE CRITICALLY WOUNDED.

 A SECRET SERVICE SNIPER TEAM FIRED AT CROOKS, KILLING HIM JUST SECONDS AFTER HE OPENED FIRE.

TESTIMONY FROM FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY AND THEN-SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR -KIMBERLY CHEATLE- ALSO HELP TO FILL IN SOME OF THE BLANKS.

INCLUDING THAT CROOKS DID RESEARCH ON PRESIDENT JOHN F KENNEDY’S 1963 ASSASSINATION.

(CHRISTOPHER WRAY / FBI DIRECTOR)

“ON JULY 6TH, HE DID A GOOGLE SEARCH FOR QUOTE ‘HOW FAR AWAY WAS OSWALD FROM KENNEDY?’”

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

ACCORDING TO WRAY’S TESTIMONY, ON JULY 5TH — CROOKS TRAVELED ABOUT AN HOUR FROM HIS HOME IN BETHEL PARK, PA – TO BUTLER – TO SCOPE OUT THE SITE OF TRUMP’S RALLY.

HE ALSO DROVE TO THE BUTLER SITE THE MORNING OF THE RALLY – AND LEFT AFTER APPROXIMATELY AN HOUR – TO BUY 50 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION FROM A SPORTS STORE BEFORE ONCE AGAIN — RETURNING TO THE RALLY SITE JUST BEFORE 4PM.

DURING TESTIMONY, FBI DIRECTOR WRAY SAID CROOKS HAD PURCHASED A 5-FOOT LADDER THE MORNING OF THE SHOOTING – BUT THAT THE LADDER WAS NOT FOUND AT THE SHOOTING SITE AND IT WAS UNCLEAR HOW CROOKS GOT ONTO THE ROOF OF THE WAREHOUSE WITH A RIFLE.

(CHRISTOPHER WRAY / FBI DIRECTOR)

“ I CAN TELL YOU THOUGH WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO YOUR QUESTION THAT, AND I DON’T THINK THIS HAS BEEN REPORTED YET, THAT THE WEAPON HAD A COLLAPSIBLE STOCK WHICH COULD EXPLAIN WHY IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LESS EASY FOR PEOPLE TO OBSERVE. BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS WE’RE FINDING IS THAT PEOPLE HAVE OBSERVED HIM, THE FIRST PEOPLE TO OBSERVE HIM WITH THE WEAPON IS WHEN HE WAS ALREADY ON THE ROOF AND WE HAVEN’T YET FOUND ANYBODY WITH FIRSTHAND OBSERVATION OF HIM WITH THE WEAPON WALKING AROUND BEFOREHAND, SO THAT DOESN’T MEAN HE WASN’T, OBVIOUSLY, BUT THE COLLAPSIBLE STOCK IS POTENTIALLY A SIGNIFICANT FEATURE.”

[LAUREN TAYLOR] 

THE LOCAL SWAT TEAM OUT OF BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA WHO WERE STATIONED IN THE AGR BUILDING – ALSO TOLD ABC NEWS – THEY HAD ZERO COMMUNICATION WITH THE SECRET SERVICE SNIPERS THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING.

(JASON WOODS / LEAD SHARPSHOOTER, BEAVER COUNTY SWAT TEAM)

“WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET A FACE TO FACE BRIEFING WITH THE SECRET SERVICE SNIPERS WHENEVER THEY ARRIVED AND THAT NEVER HAPPENED.”

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

THEN-SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE TOLD A CONGRESSIONAL PANEL  SHE WAS UNAWARE WHICH AGENCY HAD JURISDICTION OVER THE AGR WAREHOUSE BUILDING.

SHE RESIGNED HER POSITION THE DAY AFTER TESTIFYING ON CAPITOL HILL.

THE FBI IS STILL INVESTIGATING THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP.

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