Police testimony raises even more questions about Trump's assassination attempt [VIDEOS]

The Pennsylvania State Police have it revealed that in addition to would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, there were at least two other suspicious individuals seen at Trump's July 13 rally.

This revelation has raised questions about the security measures in place at the event.

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Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, detailing the presence of additional suspicious individuals identified before Crooks launched his attack on former President Trump .

Paris explained that before the rally he asked the Secret Service about the security of a building that Crooks later used to launch his attack. “We were told that Butler [Emergency Services Unit] The ESU was responsible for this area, by several agents of the Secret Service on this route,” he stated.

Lawmakers have been questioning law enforcement leaders about security failures at the rally. Just days after his testimony, US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

During his testimony, he confirmed that Crooks had been spotted outside the security perimeter several times before the shooting and was considered a suspect until moments before the shooting began.

“There was a text thread that went: He was photographed at some point when he used the range finder,” Paris said. “Suspicion grew. . . . I know this from an interview that was immediately relayed to the command post in the Secret Service.”

Experts say it's common to mark people as suspects in these events. “'Suspicious person'? Not uncommon. Very low bar. 'Real threat'? Much rarer, and Crooks progressed toward the latter,” said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector general.

Bill Gage, a retired Secret Service agent, emphasized the importance of thorough assessments in such events. “Every single incident I worked on, which is in the thousands, there were suspicious people and events that needed to be investigated,” Gage said, noting that definitions of suspicious behavior can vary between agencies.

The Paris testimony has raised new questions about the handling of the situation. Gage questioned the information relayed to the command post and the “text thread” communication about the initial sighting of Crooks. “Criminals 'run' from the officer when confronted? This is very strange behavior at an event,” he remarked.

During the rally, Crooks managed to climb onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire, killing Corey Comperatore, 50, and wounding David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. Former President Trump, who he was hit on the ear, he ducked. to cover himself and was later seen with blood on the right side of his head.

FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that Crooks had been investigating previous presidential assassinations and had focused heavily on former President Trump and the rally.

Crooks had registered to attend the rally the same day he Googled the distance from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy.

“Since the day of the attack, the FBI has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” an FBI spokesman said. “This was a heinous attack, and the FBI is devoting tremendous resources to learning everything they can about the shooter and what prompted his act of violence.”

Trump, speaking on Fox News' “Jesse Watters Primetime,” expressed frustration with the Secret Service for allowing him to take the stage without warning about any suspicious individuals.

President Trump says the Secret Service did NOT warn him before the assassination attempt, even though the shooter was seen long before he took the stage.

The first joint interview with President Trump and JD Vance airs Monday night only on Jesse Watters Primetime. pic.twitter.com/5s4iR95JwC

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) July 21, 2024