At 6:11 pm on Saturday, July 13 at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shots rang out. Pres. Trump grabbed his ear and dropped to the ground, and now we know Trump was hit in the ear by a bullet that missed his brain by about 2 cm; two rally-goers were also injured, and retired firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed. More than two weeks later, there are many still-unanswered questions. Here are several; some I have thought of myself, the rest are from other folks. What questions do you have from that horrific event?
Full disclosure: I have no background in law enforcement, crowd security, rally planning, criminal psychology, or ballistics. However, even as a layman who has been a social studies or language teacher since 1987, these questions seem bizarre to say the least and lots of what we’re hearing, or not hearing, just doesn’t seem to add up. (The first question is probably the biggest.)
- How did a scrawny 20-year-old with no evident military or law-enforcement background get on the roof of the AGR building with a long gun and direct line of sight to Trump, only 150 yards away, and get off multiple shots? (This shocking video that went public July 31 allegedly shows Crooks running along the top of the building and getting into position.)
- CNN is known to be no friend of Donald Trump, and thus seldom airs his rallies in full. In fact, they usually show clips then cut away to something else. Why was CNN running the entire Butler rally from the beginning?
- Why were some attendees who were outside the security zone under some shade trees, able to see the man with a gun and call out to security, but Crooks still was able to take shots?
- Why were some US Secret Service (USSS) personnel aware of Crooks’ as a threat some 90 minutes in advance and even had photos of him near the building, but let him take shots?
- Why did USSS allegedly deny an offer from local police to have drones in the air that day, but Crooks was flying his own drone? If USSS was “understaffed” as they claimed, why would they deny offers of help?
- Dave Stewart from Butler, PA was at a grassy area between the AGR building and Trump stage. He claims shortly after 4:00 he and other viewer were told they were trespassing and had to leave the area. As shown in this stabilized video, as early as 5:02 a man in a gray t-shirt and cap was gesticulating wildly and trying to shoo people away from the area. Why? Who was that man?
- Is Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) correct when he alleges a whistleblower claim that there was supposed to be law enforcement presence on that roof that day, but that agent abandoned the post due to hot weather?
- If there was alleged danger in the area, why was Trump allowed to take the stage?
- If this local SWAT team from Beaver Co. Pennsylvania noticed at 4:26 that Crooks was suspicious, why didn’t USSS take their warnings and Crooks was he allowed to make his shots almost two hours later?
- Why did that local SWAT team have NO face to face meeting with USSS that day?
- Why were snipers assigned to a room with a clear view through a window of the sloped roof Crooks used, but then those snipers were moved out before Crooks arrived?
- Why did local police say they had no communication with the USSS until after the shooting?
- The Heritage Foundation claims they used cell phone pings and identified someone who visited Crooks’ residence and workplace in Pennsylvania, but that phone was also identified at a building in Washington near FBI Headquarters in June. Who owned that phone?
- Then-Director of the Secret Service Kim Cheatle, who later resigned in disgrace, claim the AGR building roof was unprotected because the roof had a slope and that was dangerous, even though the slope was negligible?
- If sloped roofs are dangerous, why was the sniper who did kill Crooks stationed on a roof that had a steeper pitch than the AGR building?
- As this video alleges, was there a second shooter? Why does there appear to be a window in an adjacent building to Crooks, with the window open offering a direct line of site to the stage (starting at about time stamp 6:00)?
- Why was someone with FBI attire seen power-washing the AGR roof shortly after the shooting, even though other FBI officials have claimed the agency’s job is to secure and examine crime scenes, then when they are done, they hire private contractors to clean up?
- Why don’t we know who the security commanders at the rally were, both Secret Service and local police?
- Why did Director of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, say shortly after J13 he had 100% confidence in Cheatle and the Secret Service?
- When Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tried to visit the Butler site himself shortly after J13, why did the FBI not allow him to access the site, even though he is a Senator and thus approves the FBI and Secret Service budgets?
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has expressed distrust in the Executive Branch conducting their own investigation and established an independent investigation from the House. Then why did he not include two House Republicans who have military experience and have visited the Butler site on their own, Reps. Cory Mills and Eli Crane?
- Was this all just one colossal intelligence and planning failure? If it was truly from enormous stupidity, why didn’t Cheatle resign immediately, and why has no one else been fired or disciplined?
- Why did FBI Director Christopher Wray tell Congress on July 24 he wasn’t sure if it was a bullet or shrapnel, although the FBI later claimed it was a bullet, and an MD and Member of Congress Ronny Jackson confirmed it was a bullet?
- How is it possible that the NEW USSS Director Ronald Rowe claims to be unaware we live in a dangerous world, when he told Congress USSS had “A failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees.”
Here is a timeline, as collected by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.).
There is much more, but here’s a final question. The shooting was on July 13; why are these questions still unanswered?
–Scott Dreyer
Updated 7-31-24