Dramatic video obtained by CNN shows, for the first time, the moment a police officer climbed up to the roof of a building overlooking the Donald Trump rally on July 13 and saw the former U.S. president’s would-be assassin just before the shooting began.
Other footage from the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which CNN obtained through a public records request, shows local officers lamenting that they told Secret Service to post officers near the building the gunman fired from days earlier.
A video from the Butler police officer’s body-worn camera shows how the officer was hoisted up by his colleague onto the roof, quickly dropping down after he sees the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Approximately 40 seconds later, Crooks turned back and fired eight shots at Trump, who was hit in the ear. Seconds later, a Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks.
After the encounter, the officer runs around to another side of the building before running to his police car to retrieve a rifle.
“F**king this close bro,” the officer who saw Crooks says to another officer. “Dude, he turned around on me.”
One officer asks where the shooter is and the officer, panting, says, “He’s straight up.”
“Who’s got eyes on him?” the officer asks. “He was right where you picked me up, bro. He was on that left side.”
Over the radio a voice says: “We have two civilians – tending to them,” and later, “I need an ambulance in the back.”
This video was released by Butler Township Police Department in response to CNN’s public records request that asked for any body-camera video or dash-camera video involving Butler Township officers or personnel related to the rally and shooting at Butler Farm Show on July 13. The township initially declined to release the content but did after CNN appealed.
'Don’t put up your head - he's right there'
On the dashboard camera of the officer who came face-to-face with Crooks, three shots can be heard ringing out, followed by five more shots fired in rapid succession.
“Don’t put up your head – he’s right there!” the officer shouts to others after opening his car half a minute after the shots were fired.
Shortly after, video shows law enforcement officers attempting to access the roof.
“He’s got glasses, long hair,” the officer who saw Crooks tells several others climbing up the side of the building. “Yo, Mike, I climbed the wall and I popped my head right in front of him bro, he’s got a book bag, he’s got mad sh*t, AR laying down.”
“But watch out because he can f**king come right down on you over there,” the officer warns.
The officer adds later: “Before you m*therf**kers came up here I popped my head up there like an idiot, by myself, dude. He turned around, I f**king dropped.”
When they ultimately access the top of the building, footage shows Crooks’ lifeless body, his rifle and a trail of blood running down the side of the roof.
Officers say they asked for Secret Service help earlier that week
In a separate video released by the Butler police, one officer can be heard telling colleagues about 10 minutes after the shooting that he had told Secret Service to post law enforcement by the building that Crooks fired from.
“I f**king told them they need to post the guys f**king over here,” the officer said. “I told them that, the f**king, the Secret Service, I told them that f**king Tuesday. I told them to post f**king guys over here.”
Another officer replied that he wasn’t “even concerned about it because I thought someone was on the roof. I thought that’s how we — how in the hell can you lose a guy walking back here?”
“I talked to the Secret Service guys, they were like, ‘Yeah, no problem, we’re going to post guys over here,’” the first officer said.
Secret Service posted three local counter snipers inside one of the adjacent buildings, one of whom took pictures of Crooks earlier that day and left his post to go looking for the soon-to-be shooter.
The Secret Service declined to comment.
Documents from shooting range show Crooks' preparation
On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley released documents obtained from the shooter’s gun club that revealed new details about Crooks’s preparation in the months leading up to the attempted assassination of Trump.
The records from Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, reviewed by CNN, show Crooks visited the gun range a total of 43 times after establishing a membership on August 10, 2023 – less than a year before the assassination attempt
Sign-in sheets provided to Grassley, an Iowa Republican, by Clairton Sportsmen’s Club also indicate Crooks spent the majority of his time at the rifle range – rather than other designated areas for firing pistols or shotguns – in the months immediately preceding the rally where he ultimately used the same type of weapon to shoot Trump.
Crooks attended target practice at the club three to six times per month in 2024, before making one final visit at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, July 12, 2024 – the day before the Trump rally, according to the records obtained by Grassley.
