(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On July 13 at 5:38 p.m., Beaver County ESU sniper Greg Nicol spotted Thomas Crooks using a rangefinder around the ARG building he’d use about 33 minutes later to shoot at presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Nicol would eventually leave his post in a failed attempt to find Crooks before he opened fire at 6:11 p.m. Had Nicol stayed in his post, he arguably could have seen Crooks on the rooftop and prevented a tragedy.
How Nicol lost Crooks has been one of the most controversial issues stemming from the July 13 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Washington Post has reportedly obtained a time-stamped transcript of encrypted radio communications, which explains how the deadly blunder transpired.
According to the Post, after initially seeing him at 5:38 p.m., officers “lost track” of him for about 20 minutes. Then, Nicol again spotted Crooks at 6:02 p.m.—this time on the side of the building facing away from the Trump rally.
Crooks was walking northeast, and Nicol apparently thought he was headed to a Sheetz gas station about a quarter-mile outside the rally site.
“He just went towards the Sheetz,” Nicol reportedly said.
Washington Post has an explanation for how Nicol lost sight of Crooks. According to the Post, he thought Crooks was headed around the AGR building towards a nearby gas station. Instead, he went between 2 of the building sections and climbed on top, as this graphic shows https://t.co/eolnXoIzcL pic.twitter.com/2CidmO0GqP
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 5, 2024
Nicol, who shot himself in a “freak accident” last December, was wrong. Instead of going all the way around the AGR building to the Sheetz gas station, he instead made his way to an HVAC unit next to the AGR building—using that equipment to gain access to the roof of the building, according to the Post.
But Nicol’s information had already circulated to local law enforcement.
“All units be advised also that individual is headed towards Sheetz,” a sheriff’s deputy reportedly radioed to his colleagues at 6:04 p.m.
Nicol, for his part, moved through the building trying to shadow Crooks, who was outside, and keep eyes on him, according to his recent interview with ABC News. But Nicol reportedly lost sight of Crooks as the counter sniper made his way down to the building’s first level.
It wasn’t until 6:08 p.m. that Crooks was finally spotted on the roof. That led to another ongoing controversy: Questions remain as to how and why Secret Service and other counter snipers didn’t stop Crooks in the three minutes from when he was reported on the rooftop to when he opened fire. Questions also remain about why the Secret Service waited 15 seconds before returning fire.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
