Did Donald Trump Plan His Own Assassination Attempt? Strange Details of the Incident

On Saturday, June 13, 2024, former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump faced an assassination attempt while speaking to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania. As Trump addressed the crowd, gunshots rang out. 

Trump grabbed his ear and ducked as his security detail quickly escorted him off the stage, his fist raised despite bleeding from his ear. 

Secret Service agents shot and killed the assailant, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had fired an AR-15 rifle from a nearby roof. Two people were injured, and one person died during the incident.

An Inexperienced Assassin 

Investigations into the assassination attempt are ongoing. According to available information, Crooks was a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and a registered Republican.

In 2021, he reportedly donated $15 to ActBlue, a Democratic political action committee. 

As the BBC notes, he graduated from high school the following year in 2022. His firearm reportedly belonged to his father. Beyond these basic facts, information is scarce, including Crooks’ motivations. 

That said, certain things about the assassination attempt stand out as inconsistent. As the New York Post reports, multiple witnesses allege that they saw Crooks on the roof and tried to tell police, who did not act. 

Witnesses Warned Police 

The New York Post reported that several witnesses saw Crooks on the roof before the shooting and tried to alert police. In a BBC interview, one witness mentioned that Crooks was visible for several minutes, and attendees pointed him out to the Secret Service.

However, due to the roof’s slope, Crooks might have been hidden from view. Another witness described seeing Crooks move between buildings and said law enforcement had been notified.

Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), criticized the Secret Service on the platform, suggesting the resignation of the agency’s head and the security detail leader.

The Assassin Climbed Onto an Unguarded Roof

Questions arose about the lack of Secret Service presence on the surrounding roofs. Photos from the BBC show Trump’s stage in front of several buildings with sloped roofs, including a factory from which Crooks fired.

The distance between the factory roof and Trump’s stage was about 400 feet, within the range for a rifle shot.

ABC News reported that the Secret Service is investigating why the roof was unguarded. Crooks, dressed in grey camouflage, remained still while in position. 

The distance from which he fired is similar to the marksmanship test for the U.S. Army recruits. Despite this, the Secret Service counter-sniper team neutralized him after he fired multiple shots.

Trump’s protective detail could have had a visual of the unguarded roof in a range of Trump’s stage and taken note of a security threat.