DONALD Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into the attempted assassination at his rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month. In a call with reporters Monday, the FBI did not provide a specific date for the interview, but said it would be a “standard victim interview that we do for other crime victims.”
“We wanted to get his perspective on what he observed,” said FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek.
Despite examining a wealth of evidence, investigators have yet to determine a motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks opening fire on July 13. Newly released text messages show the 20-year-old was spotted by a local Swat team more than 90 minutes before the shooting. The messages, obtained by The New York Times and ABC News, add to a growing list of security failures that predate the attempted assassination of the former president.
On Monday, the FBI said investigators believe Crooks did “meticulous planning” before the July 13 rally and made “significant efforts” to conceal his activities. The planning was done in a way that did not “raise significant suspicion” from his parents, Rojek said.
Several investigations have been launched into what went wrong in securing the Butler Fair Show area on July 13. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after admitting failures.
On the day of the shooting, the agent was in charge of security inside the fenced area, while local law enforcement was responsible for the area outside the fence.
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At 16:19 local time (21:19 BST), a local police sniper sent a text message to two colleagues on the second floor of a warehouse watching the location, informing them that he was about to finish his shift.
As he left the building, he saw a young man sitting at a picnic table and alerted the others, saying in a text message “someone followed our trail and snuck in and parked near our car just to let us know.”
By 5:38 p.m., Crooks had moved from the desk to a warehouse, an American Glass Research (AGR) building, and photos of him were taken and shared in a chat group. “The kid was hanging around the building we were in. AGR I think. I saw him with a rangefinder pointed at the stage. FYI. If you want to alert the SS snipers to be on the lookout. I lost track of him.”
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Other messages obtained by CBS, the BBC’s news partner, show that at 5:51 p.m., a photo of Crooks was forwarded to a local officer, who said commanders were “requesting directions.” About 20 minutes later, Crooks was killed, shot by the Secret Service after opening fire from the roof of an adjacent warehouse.
While the FBI investigation focuses on Crooks and his motivations, Rojek said investigators believe he arrived at the scene at 1:50 p.m. on the day of the shooting, and flew a drone around the area for 11 minutes shortly afterward.
The FBI believes Crooks left the area around 4 p.m. before returning and being identified as a suspicious person shortly after 5 p.m.
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At about 5:30 p.m., he was seen using a rangefinder, according to the FBI timeline, less than half an hour before he was seen walking near the AGR building with a backpack. At 6:11 p.m., he was confronted by a local police officer, about 30 seconds before he fired eight shots toward Trump and the crowd.
Crooks is now believed to have conducted “initial surveillance” of the location on July 11, two days before the rally. The newly released text messages extend the period of time during which the 20-year-old shooter raised suspicions.
Earlier reports suggested he was on the radar of local law enforcement about an hour before the shooting. Witness told the BBC shortly after the shooting that they had spotted the shooter on the roof and raised the alarm. It remains unclear why there was a breakdown in communication between local law enforcement and the Secret Service.
Local Swat team members told ABC News on Sunday that they had no contact with agents and no face-to-face briefings took place.
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also announced a 13-member bipartisan task force that will investigate the attempted assassination of Trump. The committee—made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats—includes Pennsylvania Republican Mike Kelly, whose district includes Butler, and Tennessee’s Mark Green, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate will appear in separate hearings before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee on Tuesday. (BBC/Z-3)
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