(Ken Silva, Headline USA) There were two snipers posted inside the second floor of the AGR building used by alleged gunman Thomas Crooks to shoot at Donald Trump. Both failed to spot Crooks before his assassination attempt.
Ever since then, excuses have been made for the failure of the local snipers, Greg Nicol and Mike Murcko. Local officials have insisted that the snipers didn’t have a vantage of Crooks, and would have had to lean out of their windows to see him on the rooftop. Meanwhile, some media members have reported rumors that Nicol locked himself out of the building while searching for Crooks—and that the shooting happened right when Murcko went downstairs to let him back inside.
However, a time-stamped transcript of encrypted radio communications from July 13 tells a different story—showing that both Murcko and Nicol received warnings about an armed man on the rooftop at least seven seconds before he opened fire, and that Murcko radioed that Crooks was down after the shooting. The transcript further reveals other new details about the July 13 Butler rally, raising still more questions in the process.
🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨We obtained a transcript of local law enforcement radio comms from the J13 Butler Trump rally.
The transcript appears damning for the local snipers who failed to spot Crooks from their 2nd-floor post inside the AGR building. For instance, it shows that those snipers… pic.twitter.com/LPT0FD2gYy— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) October 28, 2024
The transcript was obtained by Headline USA via a Right to Know Law request. The Washington Post and Congress have both obtained and cited the same transcript—but they omitted key details, and they haven’t published the actual document.
This article marks the first publication of the full transcript. However, reader beware: The document includes a disclaimer that it’s “not a legal transcript of the radio transmissions,” and was only compiled to assist in making a rough timeline of events—a fact that neither the Post nor Congress has disclosed.
But while it’s incomplete, the transcript does appear to be damning for the local snipers. Indeed, it shows that Butler ESU Commander Ed Lenz was told there was a gunman on the AGR roof by 6:08 p.m., nearly three minutes before the shooting. Lenz responded to that information by telling local sheriffs that the man on the roof wasn’t one of his officers. For some reason, Lenz didn’t immediately relay that same info to Nicol and Murcko, who were on another channel, according to the transcript.
🚨NEW TRUMP SHOOTING REVELATIONS🚨
A previously secret transcript shows that Butler ESU commander Ed Lenz knew about an armed man being on the AGR rooftop by 6:08 p.m.–some 3 minutes before the assassination attempt.
The transcript also shows that Lenz told his local snipers… pic.twitter.com/Wr6JOodx9t— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) October 28, 2024
Still, the transcript shows that Lenz did tell Nicol and Murcko that there was “a male on the roof with a long gun” at 6:11:25 p.m., which was about seven seconds before Crooks opened fire. Lenz was in the middle of his transmission when shooting began.
Seven seconds may not have been enough time for Murcko to respond before Crooks began firing, but another 15 seconds ticked off before a Secret Service sniper finally put the kill shot in him—meaning that Murcko and Nicol knew Crooks was on the rooftop for more than 20 seconds, but did nothing. Then, at 6:12:11 p.m., Murcko radioed that “shooter is down, 10Sierra3, shooter is down”—undermining the excuse that he couldn’t see Crooks from his post.
CORRECTION: I've obtained the transcript of local radio comms from Butler, which confirms that it was indeed Murcko–NOT Nicol–who radioed that the shooter was down.
I previously reported that it was Nicol, based on a report that the DHS commissioned. However, that DHS report… https://t.co/1TGoCNks9I pic.twitter.com/1RgKoWBo0G
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) October 28, 2024
The transcript does appear to corroborate Nicol’s claim that he left his post to search for Crooks. About a minute after the shooting, Murcko says over the radio that he’s not sure where Nicol is—suggesting that he indeed left his post. Another minute later, a dashboard police camera shows Nicol leaving the first-floor exit of the AGR building.
Along with new details of the actual shooting, the transcript includes other previously unreported revelations about the leadup to the assassination attempt, including that officers apparently had someone detained around 6:03 p.m. Who they detained and why is still unclear, as part of the transcript is redacted. Butler County officials told Headline USA that the redaction was made to protect the identity of a minor who was reported missing at that time, but the redaction is about three lines long. This publication is appealing to remove the redaction.
Lenz didn’t respond to an email with details question about the transcript, including questions about why certain communications weren’t included in the document.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
