(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A Butler County judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking Pennsylvania State Police footage of a young man—possibly Thomas Crooks—walking around with a rifle before the deadly July 13 Trump rally, after the PSP said no such footage exist.
The lawsuit was filed by Butler resident Bradford Price, who said in court filings that he saw a “young man” open-carrying his rifle with a group of people walking behind before the event that day.
Price further said that he talked to a PSP trooper with the young man behind him—meaning that the trooper’s body cam should have captured footage of the person. Price argued in his lawsuit that it is imperative that the recordings are released for public viewing.
“This video footage should fill missing gaps of the incomplete timeline regarding the shooter’s whereabouts before the event if those video recordings conclusively demonstrate that this individual was in fact the AGR rooftop shooter,” he said.
But last week, the PSP said that the footage Price seeks doesn’t exist.
A Butler County judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking Pennsylvania Police recordings of a possible sighting of Thomas Crooks before the deadly July 13 Trump rally, after the PSP said no such footage exist.
The plaintiff was a rally goer who said he saw a “young man” open-carrying… pic.twitter.com/DijwZ0WZ0y— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) October 31, 2024
“PSP searched the video library of every PSP trooper that was assigned to the Butler Farm Show on July 13, 2024, during the period of time in Plaintiff/Petitioner’s request. No responseive [body cam or dash cam] footage was located,” the PSP said.
The police added that the trooper who spoke with Price on July 13 was not required to record his interaction.
Following the PSP’s response to Price’s petition, Butler County Judge Kelley Streib tossed his lawsuit on Monday.
Price’s siting of the young man happened around 3:30 p.m., according to his filing.
Video footage from the rally shows Crooks walking around the rally—without a gun—at 4:26 p.m., which was more than 100 minutes before his attack.
A police vehicle camera also captured Crooks walking alongside the road outside the event shortly after 5 p.m.
Law enforcement first identified Crooks as suspicious around 5:10 p.m., which was 61 minutes before his shooting. A sniper took pictures of Crooks four minutes later, and sent them to a group of other local law enforcement snipers at 5:38 p.m.
The shooting happened at 6:11 p.m.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
