(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In October 2024, the pro-transparency group Judicial Watch helped this publication file a lawsuit against Bethel Park Police Department over its refusal to release audio of the 911 call Thomas Crooks’s father made the day his son allegedly tried assassinating then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Nearly 14 months later, Judicial Watch and Headline USA have scored a major win. On Monday, Judge Daniel Regan ordered the Bethel Park Police Department to provide him with a recording of the 911 call, which he will review for potential release. Judge Regan also gave both parties 30 days to submit arguments about whether the recording should be made public.
The judge’s order is the most significant development to date in the lawsuit.
I'm off this week, but had to log in to share a major update in my lawsuit for the 911 call made by Thomas Crooks' father on July 13. Today, a judge ordered Bethel Park to provide the call to review for potential release.
The case was filed in Oct. 2024 w/ help of @JudicialWatch pic.twitter.com/di7DCq9iS9— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 2, 2025
Headline USA initially filed a request for the call in August 2024, only to have Bethel Park Police deny disclosure nine days later—citing Section 708(b)(18) of the RTKL, which exempts 911 recordings from public disclosure. However, the exact same RTKL paragraph cited by Bethel Police also states that law enforcement can release 911 recordings that are in the public interest.
That’s where Judicial Watch came in. The non-profit watchdog agreed to take on this publication’s case, filing a lawsuit in late October 2024 in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas to force Bethel Park Police to disclose the 911 call.
Then, after the lawsuit was filed, Allegheny County—where Crooks lived with his parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks—released a partial recording of the call to ABC News.
The call lasts roughly 2 minutes before abruptly ending.
“Hi, yes. Uh, my name is Matthew Crooks. I was calling in regards to my son, Thomas. Uh, he belongs to the Clairton Sportsman Club in Clairton, and I don’t have the number for Jefferson Police on hand. The reason I’m calling is he left the house here at about a quarter to two this afternoon, and we’ve gotten no contact from him, no text messages, nothing’s been returned, and he’s not home yet,” Matthew said.
“That’s totally not like him. So we’re kind of worried, not really sure what we should do.”
The recording ended after Matthew confirmed his son was 20 years old.
Presumably, the recording ended because Allegheny County’s 911 dispatcher hung up after transferring the call to Bethel Park Police. Bethel Park has indeed confirmed that the recording it’s refusing to release is longer than the one from the Allegheny County dispatch.
In June of this year, Judicial Watch attorney J. Chadwick Schnee filed a motion for Judge Regan to hold a hearing, where the parties would argue whether he should review the call for potential release. The hearing was initially set for Oct. 27, but Bethel Park told Schnee days earlier that it no longer opposed his motion—leading to Judge Regan’s Monday order.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
