(Ken Silva, Headline USA) At the outset of Tuesday’s congressional hearing into the July 13 Trump assassination attempt, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said his agency’s counter sniper “neutralized the assailant within seconds.”
But according to a Tuesday report in the Washington Post, Rowe’s statement is misleading. The Post reported that it was a local cop who shot Thomas Crooks after the would-be assassin fired eight times. Immediately thereafter, he was struck by a shot from a local cop. It wasn’t until about 10 seconds later when a Secret Service sniper killed Crooks, the Post reported.
“The shot from the local officer caused the would-be assassin to temporarily recoil from his perch on a rooftop, according to the two officials and a Washington Post analysis of video evidence,” the Post reported.
“Crooks’s retreat coincided with a 10-second pause in shooting, according to audio experts who examined the gunshots, a critical period that ended when the Secret Service countersniper shot and killed him.”
Best audio Ive heard at the Trump assassination attempt
People asking why Trump would expose himself after being shot.
He already knew the shooter was down pic.twitter.com/jRwx4XSe8d
— THE RED DRAGON (@TWTHEREDDRAGON) July 14, 2024
The Post also reported that the local officer who shot at Crooks was assigned to a barn behind and to the north of the rally stage, along with a counterassault and quick-reaction force team from Butler County.
“The officer, who was not a sniper, had left the barn and was outside on the ground nearby when Crooks began firing from the rooftop about 110 yards away,” the Post said.
The Post also interviewed Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, who confirmed that a member of the county’s Emergency Services Unit—which is similar to a SWAT team—fired a shot at Crooks that prompted a reaction from the gunman.
“I don’t know if the officer actually hit Crooks and don’t believe he fired the neutralizing shot,” Goldinger, who oversees the emergency services unit, told the Post in a text message.
SS Acting Director Rowe was still testifying at Tuesday’s hearing as of the publication of this article. He had not yet been asked about the Post’s report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
