A new video shows would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks walking around by himself and looking toward the rooftops near former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley shared the video on his “DC_Draino” social media account alongside the caption, “NEW EXCLUSIVE video shows the shooter walking around by himself looking up at rooftops near Trump.” “How was he not detained?!” O’Handley added. “Especially after getting caught with a range finder?!”
Another caption on the video claims that Crooks was spotted walking around at the campaign rally and looking at the surrounding buildings over an hour prior to the assassination attempt against Trump.
In response to the video, one social media user tweeted, “If this isn’t suspicious what exactly does Secret Service look for?”
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reported that the man who captured the video of Crooks confirmed that the video was taken at roughly 5:06 p.m. on Saturday, over an hour before Crooks shot Trump’s right ear at 6:11 p.m.
“I wanted to pan the crowd because it was a massive crowd, so I was just taking in the moment. So this was before the shooting,” the man told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “Obviously had no idea how that day, how that day would end.”
The man who recorded the video added, “When I saw the video last night, when I was going back through my my video clips and saw him, I was chilled to the point where I couldn’t fall asleep right away.”
READ MORE: Video: New video shows Trump after assassination attempt
According to a new ABC News report, law enforcement sources indicated that Crooks was also seen walking near the magnetometers at the rally just minutes before the shooting occurred. The anonymous law enforcement sources also noted that people reported Crooks as a suspicious person prior to the assassination attempt.
Sources told ABC News that when a law enforcement official tried to approach Crooks, the 20-year-old suspect disappeared into the crowd.
According to ABC News, after disappearing into the crowd, Crooks used air conditioning units to help him climb onto the top of a roof. After climbing onto the first building’s roof, Crooks reportedly made his way toward an adjacent building that was taller and which gave him a better angle to target the former president. Sources told ABC News that Crooks was able to slowly make his way toward the top of the sloped-roof building.
