Audio from body camera footage of police talking to each other at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally in July revealed an officer saying that he had warned the Secret Service (USSS) to post up by the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks took his shots at Trump days before the event.
According to body cam footage reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, an officer told other local police, referring to the USSS, “I f*cking told them that they needed to post guys f*cking over here…I told them that f*cking Tuesday.”
“I talked to the Secret Service guys. They’re like, ‘Yeah, no problem. We’re going to post guys over here,'” he added in audio captured by his body camera. USSS leaders, including now-resigned USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle as well as Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe, have said that local police officers were supposed to be securing the building where Crooks took his shots.
Crooks was able to fire off eight shots prior to being killed by a counter sniper closer to the stage where Trump was giving his speech. In one of the videos, an officer’s accounts says that they were looking for a “a gentleman with a flat face” that was “creeping people out.”
Within minutes after the shooting, an officer arrived at the warehouse and told another, “I thought you guys were on the roof. I thought it was you. I thought it was you.” A reply came saying, “No,” along with an explanation that nobody was up on the roof. “What the f*ck,” the officer said in frustration. “Why were we not on the roof? Why weren’t we?”
