I wrote earlier about a great video compilation from MilkBarTV that showed the Trump assassination attempt from a variety of angles, and it also showed there were almost two minutes after people spotted him before the shots rang out. I also mentioned the witness who told the BBC he thought it was even longer than that.
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But now, according to the local news, Nicole Ford with WPXI, it is so much worse than just a couple of minutes — they spotted the shooter on the roof nearly a half hour before the shooting.
Channel 11′s Nicole Ford confirmed that Beaver County’s ESU team had eight members at the rally, including snipers and spotters. According to Ford’s sources, one of them noticed a suspicious man on a roof near the rally at 5:45 p.m., called it in and took a picture of the person. We have learned from our sources the person in that picture is Thomas Crooks. We’re told it’s not clear if Crooks had a gun with him at that point.
They even saw him before then.
According to multiple sources, a law enforcement officer had also previously seen Crooks on the ground and called him in as a suspicious person with a picture prior to 5:45 p.m. Our sources tell us an officer checked the grounds for Crooks at that point, but did not see him where the first picture was taken.
It was 26 minutes, running from 5:45 p.m. to 6:11 p.m., which is when the shot hit Trump.
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Stunning Report by BBC From Witness About Shooter at Trump Rally: ‘Guy on Roof’
That’s stunning news. It sounds like law enforcement folks were aware and making reports. So, how do you get from him getting onto the roof to being able to get off a shot? It’s just insane, and the Secret Service leadership needs to answer for those failures. The agents who were right on Trump acted bravely, but the advance team missed securing the roof.
There were reports about a cop climbing a ladder to confront the shooter on the roof and then backing down when the shooter pointed a gun at him. While he didn’t engage him at that point, there was speculation that interaction might have caused him to rush his shot and that, plus Trump turning his head as he talked about the immigration graph, may have saved his life.
But there’s one more stunning piece of information that makes it worse. Guess what that building was, the one that the shooter was on? It was a staging area for the local police involved in security for the event. Unbelievable.
The building where gunman Thomas Crooks scrambled onto the roof and opened fire was the staging area for the local police tactical team doing overwatch of the crowd, two law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Sources previously told ABC News that the building had been swept, but investigators are trying to determine whether roof access had been properly locked down.
The gunman gained roof access without a ladder, according to a source briefed on the preliminary findings.
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SEE ALSO:
Concerning AP Report About Cop Confronting Trump Shooter Before Shots Fired
Shocking Report: Secret Service Resources Diverted From PA Trump Rallyto Jill Biden, More Troubling Info
Editor’s Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity.