By Steve Neavling
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump, caught the attention of local snipers nearly 100 minutes before the former president took the stage in Butler, Pa., according to text messages obtained by The New York Times.
At 4:19 p.m., a sniper leaving the area where local SWAT members had set up spotted Crooks sitting on a picnic table near a warehouse. At 4:26 p.m., he texted that the man would have seen him come out of the building with his rifle and “knows you guys are up there.”
By 5:10 p.m., Crooks had abandoned the picnic table and was right below the countersnipers, one of whom even took pictures of the would-be assassin.
At 5:38 p.m., one of the officers said they should inform the Secret Service.
“Kid learning around building we are in. AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.”
By 6:11 p.m., Crooks was dead on the roof of a warehouse connected to the one where the countersnipers had assembled. He was shot by the Secret Service.
The text messages show that the shooter had aroused police suspicion more than 90 minutes before the shooting, longer than the 60 minutes suggested during congressional hearings.
The acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee today.
