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- Bodycam Footage Adds More Questions About Secret Service’s Awareness of Trump Assassination Threat: ‘This Is Him’
Bodycam Footage Adds More Questions About Secret Service’s Awareness of Trump Assassination Threat: ‘This Is Him’
Newly released bodycam footage shows Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials standing over the body of the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump, with one stating, “This is him.”
The graphic video captures images of the dead body of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks with law enforcement officials seemingly confirming that photos identified him as a suspicious person before he opened fire had been circulated.
“So this is the guy,” one Secret Service agent says, seemingly confirming Crooks had already been identified as a threat.
“This is him,” a Beaver County officer replies.
To be clear, these utterances could also just be the officers confirming that the body was that of the shooter.
The video was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who accused the Secret Service of withholding information from the public and called for further transparency in the case.
Secret Service Bodycam Revelations
The Secret Service’s handling of the assassination threat has come under even more scrutiny following the release of the bodycam footage.
Various reports have discovered the agency had multiple opportunities to step in and stop the attack – including hours before the shooting when he attempted to enter a secure area with a rangefinder, and still nearly an hour before when agents had shared “a photograph showing the 20-year-old sniper appearing to crawl on the ground while scouring the area.”
That photo having been circulated is addressed in this new bodycam video.
“That’s the sniper that sent the original picture and seen him come from the bike and set the bookbag down and then lost sight of him,” one officer informs a Secret Service agent.
They then scroll through photos of the suspicious target on an iPhone.
They lost him after ‘setting a bookbag down’. Can you imagine if that backpack had explosives in it?
BREAKING: Bodycam footage from roof following attempted assassination of President Trump
Officer says Secret Service sniper took multiple photos of Thomas Crooks before the shooting. pic.twitter.com/E4dVx7SbwN
Grassley Demands Transparency
While it remains unclear if systemic incompetence is exclusively to blame for the near-successful assassination attempt, the bodycam footage shows a greater need for investigation.
“Federal agencies, particularly the Secret Service, have failed to be transparent with the American people,” Grassley said in a statement.
“This assassination attempt is a matter of substantial public interest, and the public’s business ought to be public.”
Trump has openly questioned some of the reasoning behind the Secret Service being unable to stop the attempted assassination that ended up killing retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, who died shielding his family with his body.
“Somebody should’ve made sure there was nobody on that roof,” Trump said. “They said they didn’t have the manpower for it, which is crazy.”
The New York Post reports that law enforcement sources labeled the shooter a “threat” 10 minutes prior to the start of the rally, “but allowed Trump to go on stage anyway.”
Two other rallygoers were critically wounded in the attack.