Last Saturday, in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump was shot in the ear and narrowly saved from a fatal head wound from an assassin’s bullet. Retired firefighter Corey Comperatore was fatally struck by a bullet, and two other pro-Trump rally-goers were seriously injured.
Over the last week, much of the federal narrative has broken down trying to explain the events. As the sniper’s body was recovered on the roof of the American Glass Research company’s warehouse in Butler, Pennsylvania, within a few days it emerged that snipers were in the second floor overlooking the sniper’s body in an adjoining building.
One often-repeated part of the official story is that a Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy climbed on top of the roof moments prior to the shooting to confront alleged shooter Thomas Crooks, and Crooks responded by pointing a weapon at the Deputy, who then fell off of an eight-foot ladder
Later reports claim that the deputy hurt his ankle and is now walking with a medical boot. Here’s the New York Post repeating that story nationally.
Here is the relevant excerpt from the CBS Story about the rooftop fight between the Sheriff’s Deputy and Crooks:.
Here is the transcript:
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe confirmed to KDKA-TV that an armed municipal officer with Butler Township encountered shooter Thomas Crooks before he fired shots from a rooftop building outside the perimeter of former President Trump’s rally.
The sheriff said he was not made aware of any potential threats, but confirmed an officer encountered the shooter on the roof, and didn’t fire his weapon.
“All I know is the officer had both hands on the roof to get up on the roof, never made it because the shooter had turned towards the officer, and rightfully and smartly, the officer let go,” Sheriff Slupe said.
Sheriff Slupe says before the shooting, the officer and others were previously alerted to a suspicious person and began searching for him right away.
Sheriff Slupe said this officer was hoisted by another officer to the roof of a building where the shooter had taken a position.
The shooter, Crooks, focused his rifle on the officer who let go and fell off the roof. Then, the 20-year-old began firing into the crowd.
And here is the text from the report.
Witnesses on the ground who saw the rooftop sniper say that local police did not confront the sniper moments before the shooting, and no one saw any confrontation by Crooks before shots rang out.
Key witness Greg Smith exclusively told the Gateway Pundit:
“I saw him [the sniper] right before he shots happened, and I didn’t see him turn around and confront anyone. I never saw that and it didn’t happen. We asked all the people around us and in our group and we didn’t see that. I heard the story about the officer falling and hurting his foot, no one saw that. I’ve heard the stories, but I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Explosively, he also relates that the snipers in the 2nd floor section of the AGR building were watching the rooftop shooter as the shots rang out – and did nothing!
“I was looking all around to get law enforcement’s attention before the shots, and I could tell it was coming, because as I was standing there for several minutes I kept thinking ‘why is Trump still talking?’ You expect someone to be on the radio or whatever the protocol is, to get Trump off the stage. I knew this isn’t good. I expected the shots to start, and then they did. It was mass chaos. I was looking at the guys on the second story, my eyes were jumping three or four different places, I could see that they saw him and were looking at him and watching what he was doing, but they didn’t do anything.“
Butler County Sheriffs Deputies have said that their body cameras were turned off and there is no footage available from the incident.
Federal authorities have blamed Butler County for failing to secure the AGR Building, claiming it is outside of their “security perimeter.” Butler County has responded by saying they were only asked to take care of traffic control.
Local witnesses say that there was zero police presence on the ground the entire day around the AGR Building north of the Butler Farm Field where the Trump rally was held, and they saw no law enforcement whatsoever.
Key assassin witness Greg Smith tells the Gateway Pundit: “We didn’t see a single law enforcement officer the entire time until they were running around the building looking for the guy. We didn’t see a single bit of law enforcement.”
Witness Smith describes seeing snipers out of the second floor warehouse building as part of the AGR complex. Some online have speculated that these individuals were Butler County Emergency Services snipers or SWAT responders, but so far that has not been made clear and officials are not providing any answers. But the witnesses described seeing the snipers in the windows of the AGR building.
“They were watching us. I would look up from time to time, and we would always see them there. I gave this same testimony and descriptions about the snipers in the second floor to the State Police Detectives in my driveway,” said Smith.
Smith also says that it is unrealistic to get on top of the AGR building with a five foot ladder. He said that it would require “at least a 12 foot ladder” or better to get on top of the building. Federal officials continue to maintain Crooks used a five foot ladder to get on the roof.
Few details have emerged from the shooting that appear to be reliable and backed by third-parties. Federal authorities have spoken primarily through ‘off the record’ statements to friendly media outlets.
Many of the details and narratives offered by the anonymous law enforcement quotes to friendly media have proven later to be false. As one example, the ‘five foot ladder’ narrative from federal authorities collapsed this week.
Posted images online show police vehicles underneath the nearby water tower. But whomever these law enforcement officers were, they were not seen by the collected witnesses who observed the rooftop sniper and were screaming for law enforcement to help.
New footage has been released of Thomas Crooks walking around and looking up at the roof before he attempted to assassinate former President Trump. pic.twitter.com/MaP1Gguv33
— Upward News (@UpwardNewsHQ) July 17, 2024
The Gateway Pundit has produced this map to help better explain where Thomas Matthew Crooks has been observed at the American Glass Research building in Butler, Pennsylvania, and points in the warehouse complex where different claims are being made.
Mainstream media has repeated the “Officer climbed to roof and confronted Crooks” story.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy who alleges to have confronted Crooks, fallen, and injured his ankle, has not been named. Calls to the Sheriff’s Office were not returned for this story, however the department had previously said it was referring all media inquiries to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The New York Post declared the as-yet-unnamed falling-ladder Deputy as a hero.
The FBI’s Public Affairs Officer coordinating the media response to this incident, Bradford Arick of the Pittsburgh FBI Field Office, who responded, “The FBI continues to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and as potential domestic terrorism. We encourage the public to continue sending their tips and information. The FBI continues to determine the sequence of events and the shooters’ movements prior to the shooting. I can neither confirm nor deny the information.”
President Trump’s next rally is Saturday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the first since the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Trump concludes a week-long Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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