Photo: Alamy
New information has emerged about potential red flags on suspicious activity before the shocking near-assassination of President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The revelations come at the behest of a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit, which forced the release of 37 pages of FBI files, most of which were “heavily redacted,” the organization said in a press release.
The files are alarming because they reveal that there were allegedly reports of an “unknown male acting suspiciously” before the shooting began:
“Prior to the start of the shooting, [Redacted] received reports over the radio about an unknown male acting suspiciously. The unknown male had bags and was wearing a gray T-shirt with ‘Demolition Ranch’ written on the front of it. One report included the unknown male looking at a law enforcement sniper position. Several operators were communicating information about the unknown male back and forth over the radio–including to/from Command, to the Secret Service, to PSP [PA State Police], to ‘everybody.’”
For reference, Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who attempted to assassinate President Trump, was wearing a “Demolition Ranch” shirt on that day in Butler.
To be clear, Demolition Ranch is a YouTube channel primarily focused on firearms. The channel did not belong to Crooks, nor was he officially associated with it.
Another excerpt from the newly unsealed files revealed the observation of someone from the Saxonburg Police Department, again detailing reports of suspicious activity before the shooting:
“[Redacted] was on the counter assault team. His position was in the turret inside the armor vehicle next to the barns behind the stage. [Redacted] stated sniper teams called out and sent photos of a suspicious person with a range finder. [Redacted] stated he watched a guy fitting the description walking from the water tower to the stage area and out of view. He did not see anything on the individual.”
It also appears, based on an interview summary in the files of July 16, 2024, that rally attendees recognized that there was a shooter on the roof fairly quickly. A female interviewee’s story suggested the following:
“Shortly thereafter, at approximately some time after 6PM, she heard another white male yell the following, ‘He’s got a gun, everybody run!’ This white male appeared to be in his late [redacted] who was seen wearing a white shirt, who had dark colored hair and a [redacted]. She remembered seeing a ‘panicked’ look on his face. After he yelled, [redacted] heard six gunshots that sounded like they came from the two open windows. She took [redacted] and ran towards the vehicle along with many others from the crowd.”
While not conclusive, the files seem to suggest that there were potential red flags that should have alerted the Secret Service or local law enforcement on the ground that Crooks was present and potentially dangerous, moments before the shooting.
“These documents raise troubling new questions about Secret Service failures to protect President Trump. And it shouldn’t have taken years and a federal lawsuit to get this basic FBI material about the near assassination of President Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement.
