Shooters noticed bandits 90 minutes before Trump shooting: NYT

Security at former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, first noticed the man who later shot Trump more than 90 minutes before the shots were fired, according to texts reported by The New York Timesadding to the criticism of the Secret Service’s handling of the event.

A local counter-sniper first noticed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks at 4:26 p.m., just over an hour and a half before he climbed onto a nearby rooftop and shot Trump, cutting off his ear, killing a supporter in the crowd and wounding two others. .

The officer, who was finishing his shift, notified colleagues via text message about a suspicious man sitting at a picnic table near his overlook. Additional texts around 5:40 p.m. show officials discussing that they should inform the Secret Service after Crooks was located again, this time using a rangefinder.

“Call command and ask a uniform to check,” the text says.

The series of security breaches that allowed Crooks to position himself to shoot Trump shocked Congress, triggering a House investigation as well as an independent investigation. Secret Service Director Kimberley Cheatle resigned from her position last week after being questioned by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the assassination attempt.

Police at the scene were unable to find Crooks again after being informed of his presence near the building he later climbed. Shortly after Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m., members of the crowd pointed out a suspicious man on a nearby rooftop.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified last week that a local Butler police officer was then taken to the roof to confront Crooks, but was met with a gun pointed at him. Without his hands free to grab his gun and fire back, he fell to avoid being shot.

Just “seconds” later, Wray said, Crooks fired eight shots at Trump. He was quickly shot and killed by a team of Secret Service countersnipers.

The motive for the shooting is unknown, although investigators found that Crooks looked at several possible targets before deciding on Trump, including President Biden. It is believed that he suffered from a depressive disorder.

The new details move back the timeline to when Crooks was first spotted, which was believed to be about an hour before the shooting.

“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” Cheatle said at the Oversight Committee hearing last week. “As director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security breaches.”

“We need to know what happened and I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again,” she continued. “Thinking about what we should have done differently is never far from my thoughts.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story