Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump on Saturday, had reportedly been identified as “a character of suspicion” an hour before the shooting, and can be seen walking the perimeter of the rally in newly released footage.
On Wednesday, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming told Fox News reporter Aishah Hasnie that law enforcement had identified Crooks “as a character of suspicion, because [they] saw a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred.”
Following a briefing with the Secret Service and FBI, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said Wednesday she was “appalled to learn that the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage. ”
A rally attendee who said he was trying to take a video to show the size of the crowd clearly captured a person matching the gunman’s description in the background.
The footage, obtained Wednesday by Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE, shows what appears to be Crooks scouting out the area before the assassination attempt.
The Trump supporter who filmed the video, requesting to remain anonymous, told the outlet he “was chilled” and did not sleep well after realizing he’d inadvertently captured the gunman prior to the shooting.
A timestamp on the footage shows it to be 5:06 p.m. when Crooks was spotted. That was around the same time Crooks was identified and listed as suspicious by law enforcement stationed around the perimeter.
They reportedly took note of his odd behavior, radioed their concerns and snapped a photo which was circulated to others officers in the area.
But Crooks wasn’t seen again until about one hour later, when witnesses saw him climbing up the side of a building roughly 135 meters from the stage, just a few minutes before Trump started speaking.
From there, he fired multiple shots, piercing the upper ear of the former president, killing local firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding two other spectators.
Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pa., was reported missing by his parents on the day of the shooting and had allegedly told his coworkers he would be back on Sunday after taking Saturday off.
