(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Rep. Clay Higgins’s, R-La, preliminary findings on the Trump assassination attempt corroborate reports that it was a local cop—not the Secret Service—that initially stopped gunman Thomas Crooks’s shooting spree at the July 13 deadly rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Washington Post initially revealed the unnamed local cop’s heroics on July 30. According to the Post, Crooks fired eight times before the local cop returned fire, which stopped Crooks’s spree. It wasn’t until about 10 seconds later when a Secret Service sniper fired the final shot at Crooks.
The Post’s reporting was called into question when the Butler County coroner said earlier this month that Crooks was only hit with one gunshot. How could both the local cop and the Secret Service have shot Crooks if he only had one entry and exit wound?
Higgins’s preliminary findings explain how: the local cop’s shot hit Crooks’s rifle.
“The 9th shot fired on J13 was from a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards away from the AGR building. Shot 9 hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face/neck/right shoulder area from the stock breaking up,” Higgins said, calling the local cop a “total badass.”
Clay Higgins's report debunks a lot of bullshit artists.
It also supports what I've been emphasizing for weeks: The 9th shot was from a local cop, and it stopped Crooks's shooting spree. Then, (another whole 10 seconds later!) the SS fired the last shot. pic.twitter.com/SCQ4JRwELS— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 15, 2024
“When he had sighted the shooter Crooks as a mostly obscured by foliage moving target on the AGR rooftop, he immediately left his assigned post and ran towards the threat, running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing 8 rounds. On his own, this ESU SWAT operator took a very hard shot, one shot. He stopped Crooks and importantly, I believe the shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ AR,” Higgins added.
The fight wasn’t over there. According to Higgins, who’s on the House Task Force to investigate the assassination attempt, Crooks “popped back up” a few seconds later and looked to continue shooting. Thankfully, his rifle was apparently damaged, explaining why he stopped firing even though he wasn’t hit.
Finally, 15 seconds after Crooks’s first shot, the Secret Service put the kill shot through his skull. Higgins said he believes it was the “southern” Secret Service team that shot Crooks, based on the alignment of the entry and exit wounds. Higgins said the bullet entered somewhere around the left mouth area and exited from the right ear area.
Higgins gave the Secret Service the benefit of the doubt, saying it was tough, though not impossible, to spot Crooks from their vantage points.
“Crooks’ firing position did NOT offer excellent concealment from the southern counter-sniper team. However, it should be noted that the would-be assassin perfectly positioned himself to minimize the threat of counter-fire from the ground or the USSS counter-sniper teams. Crooks’ firing position was also several feet back from the actual peak of the AGR rooftop,” he said.
“By choosing this position, Crooks effectively minimized the sky-lined profile of his head and upper body.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
