Video shared on social media shows spectators pointing out Thomas Matthew Crooks to police shortly before he allegedly shot former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Posted Sunday on X, the 52-second video shows onlookers yelling to police officers as Crooks can be seen stretching out on the roof of a nearby manufacturing plant.
Trump can be heard speaking in the background as the camera zooms in on Crooks atop the building.
"Look they're all pointing," the man behind the video camera says, with people pointing and looking at Crooks. "Yeah, someone's up on the top of the roof. Look. There he is right there. Right there, see him? He's laying down."
Another man can be heard yelling to an officer before a woman points and yells, "Right up here! He's on the roof!"
Police officers were not seen taking action in the video.
Newsmax contacted the Butler City Police Department on Monday morning for comment about the video and was told to reach out to Pennsylvania State Police or the Secret Service.
The video emerged while other reports said local police spotted Crooks just moments before an assassination attempt against Trump and failed to stop him.
One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump, and that's when Secret Service snipers shot him, said the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by the Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired shots toward a stage where Trump and was speaking during the rally.
One rally attendee died, two other spectators were critically injured, and Trump was shot in the ear.
The U.S. Secret Service said Monday it will participate fully in probes announced by President Joe Biden and members of Congress, after its agents failed to prevent the gunman from shooting and killing one rally attendee and injuring Trump and two other spectators.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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