Grassley releases video showing aftermath of Trump assassination attempt

Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley released new body camera footage from the aftermath of the July 13 attempted assassination of Donald Trump, saying the footage raises new questions about how long law enforcement was aware of the shooter before he fired on the Pennsylvania rally.

The video, which Grassley’s office said was obtained in a congressional request to the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit in Pennsylvania, shows police officers speaking to an unidentified investigator on the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump. The shooter’s body is shown, blurred, next to the officers.

A copy of the video, which contains graphic imagery, can be seen on the NBC news site, or on Grassley’s page on X (formerly Twitter).

Grassley and other congressional leaders have raised questions in the days since the shooting about the security lapses that allowed the 20-year-old Crooks to climb onto a roof less than 500 feet from where the former president was speaking.

Crooks fired several shots from an AR-15-style rifle, hitting Trump’s right ear, killing one person and injuring two others, before he was killed by Secret Service snipers.

In the three-minute video clip, a local officer tells an investigator that a local police sniper saw Crooks and sent photos of him to other law enforcement before Crooks opened fire.

The officer who took the photos saw Crooks get off a bike and set down a backpack and then lost sight of him, the officer in the video says.

The video shows the officer showing pictures to the investigator that appear to have been shared between police, identifying Crooks as a suspicious person.

The investigator also mentions the reactions of spectators who were filming the shooter just before the shooting began.

Feds have 'failed to be transparent'

In a statement, Grassley said the Secret Service and other federal agencies have not been transparent in their communications about the assassination attempt.

“This assassination attempt is a matter of substantial public interest, and the public’s business ought to be public,” Grassley said in the statement. “I’m releasing these records as part of my efforts to get answers and hold agencies accountable.”

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Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned Tuesday, was criticized by members of Congress over a lack of substantive answers during a Monday congressional hearing.

In a congressional hearing Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said two Butler County officers who were stationed in a building overlooking the building where Crooks shot from left their post to search for him after identifying him as a suspicious person.

Paris said members of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit were speaking in a text thread after identifying Crooks as a suspicious person. That suspicion grew when Crooks used a range finder, a tool to measure distances, in the area of the rally.

The local police reported that to state police, who relayed the concerns to the Secret Service, Paris said.

Grassley reiterates request for documents

After releasing the video footage Monday, Grassley sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe asking for the Secret Service’s operational plan and other records related to the July 13 rally.

The letter also asks about the Secret Service and local law enforcement’s use of a drone to monitor the rally location. Grassley included a document showing that a Counter Unmanned Aerial System operator was on the list of personnel for the rally.

In the video, a person can be heard on a radio asking if law enforcement has access to a drone to secure a nearby water tower after the shooting. Grassley’s letter asks if the water tower was cleared before the rally, and if it had any role in the events.

NBC News has reported that Crooks flew a drone over the rally site a few hours before Trump began speaking, which may have helped him plan the attack.

Grassley asked the agencies if federal, state or local law enforcement deployed any drone or counter-drone technologies at the rally. He also asked if there was any request from local police to use drones and any policies or procedures the federal agencies have related to drone use.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced on Tuesday they are creating a 13-member bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination and the security failures that led to it.

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com