Trump assassination attempt task force chair questions 'frozen' response to shooter after touring site
Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, chairman of the House task force on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, on Monday questioned what appears to have been a "frozen" response from law enforcement when they first spotted gunman Thomas Crooks.
Kelly's comments came after his second visit to the site of the assassination attempt at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Crooks shot at Trump during the former president's campaign rally on July 13, killing one attendee and severely wounding two others.
"I just want to know, who was quarterbacking it? Who was the one that made the decision? … And when the sniper already had the shooter in his sights and, what we've heard so far, he was waiting to get authorization to take the shot. … Some quarterback's got to make that call. If they're not making that call, the team can't move. And that's what I see here. It was kind of frozen for a while," Kelly told Fox News Digital.
Kelly, who is originally from the Butler area, added that he believes it is too early to tell if there was any kind of criminal negligence in the assassination attempt.
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"The worst thing you can do in life is not be prepared," the Pennsylvania lawmaker said.
The bipartisan task force assigned to investigate the shooting — a House resolution that passed with a 416-0 vote — is still working to interview federal, local and state officials, as well as rally attendees, to get a better idea of what went wrong on July 13. Multiple members noted during their Monday visit to Butler that the task force has the power to subpoena federal agencies for information.
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Ranking Member Jason Crow, D-Colo., a decorated former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday that part of the goal of the task force is to help restore confidence in Americans that their leaders are protected.
"I definitely took note today that there were a lot of lines of sight that appear to have been unsecured," he said. "And certainly, at this point, a lot more questions than answers."
He and other lawmakers in attendance at the assassination attempt site on Monday were able to see exactly where Trump had been speaking on stage in proximity to the American Glass Research (AGR) building that Crooks fired at least eight shots from. The FBI previously said he climbed HVAC equipment and piping on the side of the one-story, industrial building to get to his shooting perch.
The gunman was on the rally grounds for at least 70 minutes the morning of the shooting and flew a drone over the area for about 10 minutes that afternoon.
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Video footage recently shared with Fox News Digital from Iron Clad USA, a clothing brand that was selling merchandise at the rally, shows Crooks walking around the area at least an hour and a half before he began firing.
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Text messages obtained by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley show that snipers spotted shooter Crooks approximately 90 minutes prior to the moment he fired multiple rounds toward the former president, ultimately killing 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and injuring 74-year-old James Copenhaver and 57-year-old David Dutch.
Local law enforcement also spotted Crooks on the roof of the AGR building minutes before shots rang out, when one police officer boosted another one up to look at the roof of the AGR building. That is when the boosted officer spotted Crooks, but the 20-year-old gunman pointed his AR-15-style rifle at the officer, causing him to ultimately lose his balance and fall to the ground.
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Those two officers apparently called in reports of a suspicious person on the roof, but the gunman fired shortly afterward.
In body-worn camera footage from the Butler Township Police Department, law enforcement officials can be heard saying they told the U.S. Secret Service to cover the roof of the AGR building.
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Kelly said the task force has been investigating the assassination attempt since early August.
FBI officials are trying to determine Crooks' motive behind the assassination attempt and whether he had any co-conspirators, though the agency has said there are no signs to indicate there were others involved.