WATCH: Bombshell New Footage Of Trump Assassination Attempt Shows Officers Took Action An Hour Before Shooting

Newly released footage from the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, shows multiple officers surrounding the building minutes before the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire. The video also showed police clearing the perimeter of the AGR International building, the roof used by Crooks to open fire from, over an hour before the shooting took place at 6:11 PM.

The footage shows officers asking bystanders to clear the area between the AGR building and Butler Fair Show grounds where Trump was speaking at 5:02 PM. The footage, taken by Butler native Dave Stewart, then picks back up just before the shooting, showing multiple officers surrounding the building with weapons drawn as they searched for the 20-year-old.

With Trump able to be heard in the background, officers can be seen walking around the building to get eyes on Crooks, who, at this point, is crawling up the roof with his rifle to open fire. The footage provides increased context to the events just before the gunmen grazed President Trump's ear, killed one supporter, and seriously injured two others.

According to Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris, Butler County Emergency Services Unit officers confronted Crooks just before the shooting, with one of the policemen coming face-to-face with the gunman. The officer attempted to climb up on the roof but retreated after Crooks aimed his weapon at the officer.

"When the one local officer hoisted the other one up, and subsequently falls," Paris explained, adding that Crooks was "already, I believe, close to being in his final position there. And I'm told it's – again, sequence of events, not a timeline based on the prior criteria laid out – but seconds after that is when the first shots rang up."

The failure of Secret Service and local authorities to keep the Republican nominee safe has continued to develop and the extent of their failure was recently exposed by text messages between members of local law enforcement, as previously reported by the DC Enquirer.

More than an hour and a half before the shooting, texts show that one of the local counter snipers, whose shift was ending, exited the AGR International building, where the gunman would later open fire from, and saw 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The local officer sent a text to a group chat with other members of the security team to let them know that Crooks knew that the local countersniper team was positioned on the second floor of the AGR building.

"Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know. I'm just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there," the text, obtained by the New York Times, read. "He's sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit." Other officers in the group chat responded with a thumbs-up emoji and wrote, "Roger that."

A half-hour after the departing officer saw Crooks, the 20-year-old was seen again just below the countersniper team positioned on the second floor of the AGR building. One of the officers took a picture of Crooks at 5:38 PM and asked for the Secret Service to be notified.

"Kid learning around building we are in. AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage," the text sent 31 minutes before the shooting, reads. "FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him," the text says. "Also a bike with a backpack sitting next to it in rear of building that was not seen earlier. Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out."

At 6:11 PM, a Secret Service sniper team eliminated Crooks after he fired eight rounds at the Republican nominee and supporters in the crowd. 

Watch the newly released footage below:

Sniper’s Nest Video Released By Dave Stewart Of Butler, PA From 7.13.24 Trump Attempted Assasination
-His Cell Phone Was Confiscated By FBI Initially & Recently Returned Allowing The Release Of This Video @JackPosobiec @elonmusk @CollinRugg @RealAlexJones @AlexBerenson… pic.twitter.com/447kGf5d7H

— Matt Lautner (@mattlautner) July 29, 2024

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