Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was captured in a chilling video lurking near the former president’s rally stage just an hour before he unleashed a hail of bullets.
The disturbing footage, shot by a member of the crowd, appears to show the 20-year-old gunman stalking near a building he would climb 60 minutes later in order to open fire.
In the harrowing clip, obtained by WTAE, Crooks does not appear to be holding the AR-style rifle he used to shoot Trump through the ear at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The cameraman said he had been trying to capture the huge crowd waiting to watch the Republican nominee speak, but later realized he had caught a more terrifying detail in the background.
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks is seen lurking near the rally stage just an hour before he opened fire in chilling new video
The footage was revealed amid a series of stunning developments that raise more questions about the massive security failure that led to the attempt on Trump’s life.
It emerged the gunman’s’ father called police on the day of the shooting because Crooks didn’t return from what he thought was a Saturday trip to the local gun range.
And it was revealed Crooks was at the former president’s rally three hours before opening fire, sparking the suspicions of the Secret Service because he was carrying a rangefinder used by hunters to take long shots.
He later climbed onto the roof of the building he was lurking near, shot Trump and killed retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore.
On the day of the attack Crooks had told his boss he needed the day off from work on Saturday and gave colleagues a final chilling message: That he would be back on Sunday.
The cameraman revealed he was trying to capture the huge crowd waiting to watch the Republican nominee speak, but quickly realized he had caught more terrifying detail
The last photo of would-be Trump assassin, Thomas Crooks, 20, showing him clad in a t-shirt branded with the logo of YouTube channel Demolition Ranch
His father told law enforcement he assumed his son had gone to the shooting range at the The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club to practice with his rifle and would be back by 1pm on Saturday, CNN reported.
But as time went on he grew more concerned and phoned local law enforcement.
At around 3pm on Saturday, Crooks was spotted at the rally’s security screening area and tried to pass through metal detectors with the rangefinder, which is used by shooters to measure distance.
The device, which looks like a small pair of binoculars, would not have prevented him getting into the rally but did put him on law enforcement’s radar.
Witnesses said he was acting strangely, furiously checking his phone and operating the rangefinder.
The Secret Service watched him but lost track of Crooks when he left the secure area.
He is then believed to have collected the rifle from his car, which also contained a bulletproof vest and two explosive devices.
Then, about 40 minutes before the shooting, Crooks was back on the Secret Service radar.
A photograph showing the sniper appearing to crawl on the ground while scouring the area was circulated to law enforcement as a suspicious sighting at 5:30pm.
Around 6:11pm, Crooks took up a position on a slanted roof and shot at Trump, wounding him.
Cleary exhausted, his eyes showing the strain and trauma of the past few days, Matthew Crooks opens the door to several members of the FBI
Witnesses reported having seen Crooks crawling onto the roof of the American Glass Research building.
A Secret Service counter-sniper team codenamed ‘Hawkeye’ also spotted him looking at their position through the rangefinder.
The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club where Crooks’ father believed him to be heading around 1 pm states on its web site that its high-power rifle range ‘has 10 firing benches with targets at 50, 100 and 187 yards.’
Crooks is believed to have been firing from about 165 yards when his bullet struck Trump in the right ear.
When approached by DailyMail.com earlier this week, club president Bill Sellitto, 77, was clearly emotional and deeply distressed, describing the shooting as ‘appalling’.
‘This isn’t us,’ he said. ‘We are a community. We are having a youth day very soon, more than 100 kids. Members of five different police forces train with us, we support them, and they are part of our community.’
The latest bombshell developments raised more questions about the massive security failures that led to the attempted assassination of the former president.
Law enforcement took a photo of Crooks an hour before the shooting, adding to mounting evidence that they knew of his presence well before he pulled the trigger.
It showed him wearing a T-shirt with the logo for popular YouTube channel Demolition Ranch.
Two more newly released images also show a bicycle owned by Crooks that was recovered close to the scene, and a remote detonator, which was recovered from his dead body alongside his cellphone.
It was later revealed that the detonator was connected to explosives found in his car.
Police personnel stand over Crooks body on the rooftop of America Glass Research, located just a couple of hundred yards from where Trump was speaking on Saturday
The backpack affixed to this bicycle was reportedly related to Crooks’ assassination attempt
The remote detonator is seen next to Thomas Crooks’ cellphone
Trump took to the stage at 6:03 pm, an hour behind schedule. The gunfire rang out at the venue approximately 6:11 pm.
In the wake of the shooting investigators were hunting for any clues about what may have drove Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, to carry out the shocking attack.
The FBI said they were investigating it as a potential act of domestic terrorism but the absence of a clear ideological motive led conspiracy theories to flourish.
Investigators believe that Crooks acted alone and have confirmed that there is no social media presence that would indicate the attack was politically motivated.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe sais a local officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who saw the officer and turned toward him just before the officer dropped down to safety.
Slupe said the officer couldn’t have wielded his own gun under the circumstances.
There two counter sniper teams set up to monitor any threats against Trump
This 2021 photo provided by Bethel Park School District showsThomas Matthew Crooks
The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump, and that’s when Secret Service snipers shot him, according top officials.
WPXI reported that Crooks was on the roof with a gun for fewer than seven minutes before he was confronted by the police officer.
Crooks used an AR-style rifle, which authorities said they believe was purchased by his father.
The distance of the shot was one from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target.
It is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle.
Alongside the explosives in Crooks’ car, investigators also recovered a bullet proof vest and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, which had been purchased, alongside a ladder, on the same day as the shooting.
Another bulletproof vest, and third remote-controlled bomb was later discovered at the house he shared with his parents.
The latest revelation that a transmitter was also with him has raised fears that Crooks may have been planning to continue his killing spree if he had escaped from the roof with his life, and may have had an accomplice to help him.
Hours earlier Crooks had asked his boss for the day off, telling him he had ‘something to do’, before travelling to Saturday’s rally.
The would-be assassin told colleagues at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center that he would see them on Sunday.
Crooks worked there as a dietary aide providing food and care for post-hospital elderly and sick people.
‘We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,’ administrator Marcie Grimm said in a statement.
A colleague at the facility said Crooks never expressed political views at work and wasn’t a ‘radical’.
‘It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing, and I just wish I knew why,’ he added.
US former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seen with a bandage on his ear after being wounded in an assassination attempt as he arrives during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024
The would-be assassin was a registered Republican and 2022 high school graduate. Records show he donated on the day of the 2020 inauguration to a progressive group backing President Joe Biden.
He graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in May with an associate degree in engineering science, according to school officials who said they were ‘shocked and saddened by the horrific turn of events’.
Crooks’ father Matthew was seen on Tuesday morning for the first time since the shooting as he opened the door of the family home to FBI agents.
Both of Crooks’ parents are behavioral therapists and Crooks’ father said he was baffled by his son’s actions.
The Justice Department, the Secret Service and the FBI, are due to brief senators about the investigation on Wednesday.
