Astonishing New Bodycam Footage Shows Moment Trump Rally Cop Discovers Would-Be Assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks After Stumbling Across Shooter on Rooftop
New footage has been released from the day Donald Trump was almost killed in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania police have released never-before-seen bodycam footage of the moment two officers discovered Donald Trump’s would-be assassin on the roof of a factory building.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old loner who fired off eight shots at the 78-year-old ex-president’s head during a MAGA rally last month, was confronted by two Butler Township police officers just moments before pulling the trigger of his AR-15-style rifle.
An officer with the Butler Township Police Dept. came face-to-face with shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks just moments before the shooting.
One of the two officers is heard saying on the newly released footage: “F---ing this close, bro. Dude, he turned around on me.”
According to the bodycam footage, which was released for the first time by the Butler Township Police Department on Thursday, the two officers stumbled across Crooks on the roof of the American Glass Research building around 6:10pm on July 13.
One officer is seen hoisting his partner up and onto the roof of the AGR factory where Crooks, a math geek from Bethel Park, was laid out in a sniper’s position as Trump gave a speech just 150 meters away.
Crooks reportedly turned around and aimed his AR-15-style rifle at the officer – causing the officer to duck and drop down eight feet to the ground before ever having a chance to grab his own weapon.
The officer was forced to drop down from the factory roof after Crooks aimed his AR-15-style rifle at the cop.
Roughly 40 seconds later, the lone gunman opened fire and struck Trump in his right ear as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee addressed thousands of his supporters.
One rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, 50, was also struck by a bullet and killed. Two other attendees were seriously injured.
The officer who climbed atop the roof and saw Crooks for the first time said: “Before you motherf---ers came up here, I popped my head up there like an idiot by myself, dude.
“Then he turned around and I f---ing dropped, and I started f---ing, I was calling out, ‘Bro, f---ing on top of the roof.’ F---ing, we’re not on the same frequency?”
Madman Crooks was said to be a loner at high school – but there have been denials he was ever bullied and the motive behind his Trump rally bloodbath are still shrouded in mystery.
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Additional footage released by the BTPD this week shows the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper within moments of opening fire at Trump, and one clip from the never-before-seen bodycam footage shows officers standing around the 20-year-old’s dead body.
Other officers with the BTPD appeared to blame the Secret Service for the failure to secure the factory roof Crooks used as his assassination attempt vantage point.
One officer, around ten minutes after the shooting unfolded, said: “I f---ing told them they need to post the guys f---ing over here.
“I told them that, the f---ing, the Secret Service, I told them that f---ing Tuesday. I told them to post f---ing guys over here.”
Another BTPD officer added: “I wasn’t even concerned about it because I thought someone was on the roof. I thought that’s how we – how in the hell can you lose a guy walking back here?
“I talked to the Secret Service guys, they were like, ‘Yeah, no problem, we’re going to post guys over here.’”
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, 53, had no choice but to resign after the agency’s disastrous response to the fatal shooting in Butler on July 13.
The Secret Service, whose failure to stop Crooks before he opened fire and almost killed former President Trump last month led to the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle, released a statement following the newly released bodycam footage.
Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “The U.S. Secret service appreciates our local law enforcement partners, who acted courageously as they worked to locate the shooter that day.
“The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was a U.S. Secret Service failure, and we are reviewing and updating our protective policies and procedures in order to ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again.”
RadarOnline.com has reached out to the Butler Township Police Department and Secret Service for comment.
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