Text messages have revealed that police snipers noticed Thomas Matthew Crooks at the site of former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly two hours before the assassination attempt on July 13, 2024. The shocking incident, which resulted in a bullet grazing Trump’s right ear, has sparked multiple investigations by Congress and the executive branch.
On July 29, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released text messages from a counter-sniper of the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office. The messages indicated that the officer spotted Crooks acting suspiciously around 4:26 p.m., approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes before the shots were fired at 6:11 p.m. “Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” wrote the unnamed officer in a message to other local police counter-snipers on duty. The officer also mentioned that Crooks seemed aware of the police presence.
At 5:38 p.m., another counter-sniper, Gregory Nicol, noted in the group chat that Crooks was using a rangefinder to examine the rally site. Nicol suggested notifying Secret Service snipers to keep an eye out and asked others in the group to “call it in to command and have a uniformed officer check it out.” Nicol later expressed his assumption that someone would address the situation.
By 5:45 p.m., photos of Crooks and his bicycle were shared among the officers, who observed him walking around the AGR Building, which he later climbed to fire at Trump. At 6 p.m., officers communicated with their command center about Crooks’ location, but it remains unclear when the command center responded to the situation. At 6:11 p.m., Crooks fired eight shots at Trump before being shot and killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
Grassley’s office also published a timeline from the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office, showing a discrepancy in the first observation time of Crooks, with the timeline noting 5:10 p.m. instead of 4:26 p.m. Grassley’s summary emphasized that local law enforcement was aware of Crooks’ presence more than 90 minutes before the shooting and had communicated this to federal counterparts.
The Secret Service has faced criticism for not identifying Crooks as he climbed the roof. Kimberly Cheatle, the agency’s director, resigned on July 23 amid bipartisan criticism of her handling of the incident.
