Trump assassination attempt: Senate to grill Secret Service, FBI officials

Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe Jr. shared several pictures from the sniper's viewpoint that demonstrated how Thomas Crooks found a perch that was not covered by Secret Service countersnipers.

Rowe testified that the Pittsburgh field office conducted the advance, walked the site with other agencies and local law enforcement, and identified the AGR building during security preparations. He said the Secret Service coutnersnipers met with their counterparts and the team leads had met to coordinate security for former President Trump's event.

He therefore had no explanation as to why the assailant was not seen before he opened fire on Trump.

"This is what our counter sniper team saw. Shooter. No elbows. You barely make out the crown of his head below it. The assailant up prone," said Rowe, pointing to a photograph that showed the coutnersniper's point of view. 

"These were discussions that were had between the Pittsburgh field office, the local counterparts, and everyone supporting that visit that day. And that's why when I laid in that position, I could not, and I will not, and I cannot understand why there was not better coverage, or at least somebody looking at that roof line when that's where they were posted." 

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate revealed Tuesday that investigators believe they have found a social media account associated with Trump rally shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.

"Something just very recently uncovered that I want to share is a social media account, which is believed to be associated with this with the shooter," Abbate said.

The FBI deputy director indicated this social media account was active from 2019-2020 and that there were "over 700 comments posted from this account." 

"Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature," Abbate said. 

"While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it is important to share and noted today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect on the shooter's potential, motive and mindset. These are the facts, in part, that the investigation has revealed to date while the shooter is dead. Our work is very much ongoing and urgent." 

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate gave a brief timeline of the facts that have been established to date by the investigation into the Trump rally assassination attempt. 

"On July 3rd, the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was announced," Abbate said. "On July 6th, the shooter registered to attend the rally and performed a search for, quote, how far was Oswald from Kennedy? On July 7th, the shooter traveled from his home to the Butler Farm Showgrounds and remained there for approximately 20 minutes. We assess this shows advanced planning and reconnaissance on his part. On July 12th, the shooter traveled from his home to the Clairton Sportsman Club, where he practiced shooting.

"On the morning of July 13th, at approximately 10 a.m., the shooter returned to the Farm Show grounds and remained there for about 70 minutes before returning home again. At approximately 1:30 p.m., while at the residence, the shooter's father gave him a rifle for the purpose he believed of going back to the sportsman club. 

"About 25 minutes later, the shooter, purchased ammunition while enroute to the Butler Farm Showgrounds. The subject then arrived at the scene was moving around the farm showgrounds close to the American Glass Research Building, from which he ultimately committed the attack. Shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:51 p.m., the shooter flew a drone approximately 200 yards from the Farm Showgrounds for about 11 minutes. The drone and controller were later found in the subject's car. Analysis has not revealed any photos or video taken by the drone, but we can confirm that he was livestreaming at the time and would have been able to view to view it on his controller. 

"The first reported citing the shooter by local law enforcement, was at approximately 4:26 p.m.. At approximately 5:10 p.m., the shooter was again identified by local law enforcement as a suspicious person around the building, and approximately 5:14 p.m., a local Swat operator took a photo of the shooter. At about 5:32 p.m., local Swat observed the shooter next to the building using his phone, browsing news sites and with a range finder. At approximately 5:38 p.m., the photo of the shooter, taken earlier.

"Subsequently, approximately 25 minutes prior to the shooting, the U.S. Secret Service command post was notified of a suspicious person. Officers lost sight of the subject from approximately 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m., but continued to communicate with each other in an attempt to locate him. Recently discovered video from a local business shows the shooter pulling himself up onto the AGR building rooftop. At approximately 6:06 p.m. and approximately 6:08 p.m., the subject was observed on the roof by local law enforcement.

"At approximately 6:11 p.m., a local police officer was lifted to the roof by another officer, saw the shooter, and radioed that he was armed with, quote, a long gun. Within approximately the next 30s, the shots were fired." 

Ranking member Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called out Google and the mainstream media for attempting to bury the Trump assassination story in the weeks since the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"Eighteen days ago, a would be assassin managed to climb onto a roof 400 feet from the stage where the former president, and leading presidential candidate Donald Trump was speaking. The assassin's bullet struck President Trump narrowly missing a fatal blow thanks to a last minute head turn. Tragically, not everyone was so fortunate. A beloved husband and father in the audience was killed and his life stolen in an instant. Two others remain seriously injured. Their futures uncertain, the lives of law enforcement officers working the event and those in the audience have been forever changed," Paul said. 

"Yet the media has shamefully moved on to other stories, and Google has been caught trying to suppress iconic images of a bloody Donald Trump images showcasing the resolve of our nation in the face of the attack. But the American people have not forgotten, and we will not forget. There is no question that this was a monumental failure by the Secret Service. They had one job and they failed." 

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., gaveled in Tuesday's hearing, calling the attempt on former President Trump's life an "attack on democracy." 

"Americans should be able to attend a political rally and express their political beliefs without without fear of violence. And political candidates for our nation's highest office should be confident that their safety will never be compromised for their service," Peters said. 

"And although we're still learning about the shooter's motive, this attack was a shocking reminder that the threat of political violence is alive and well in our country. By all accounts, this was a inexcusable security and planning failure, and we need to get all of the facts about what happened that day and how we can ensure an attack like this is never, never allowed to happen again." 

Peters said the committee will ask questions about the Secret Service's advanced planning efforts, the decisions surrounding sniper and countersniper team placement and communications breakdowns during Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has diligently sought records and testimony from the FBI, Secret Service and local law enforcement as his office conducts oversight after the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Grassley spoke to Fox News on Tuesday to preview his line of questioning when Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testify to lawmakers. 

"Well, I'm going to start out by asking about the drones. Why the Secret Service had drones and it wasn't workable when they were ready to put it up into the air. And I think that's a shortcoming, since the shooter had a drone that flew over the area," Grassley said. 

"Then we're going to follow up with this communication breakdown between law enforcement — local law enforcement and Secret Service, and why they didn't have a meeting before the event happened or a few days before the event happened. There's just a lot of shortcomings." 

Donald Trump during his speech at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. (Getty Images)

Former President Trump's speech in Nashville, Tennessee, over the weekend was briefly delayed by the Secret Service over another security concern, just two weeks after he survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump was prepared to take the stage on Saturday afternoon inside the Music City Center for the 2024 Bitcoin conference when Secret Service agents had him wait as two credentialed and screened attendees were removed from the venue for not following proper entry protocols, a Secret Service spokesperson confirmed to Fox News.

The former president was told by his Secret Service detail to wait until the two individuals were located before he could take the stage to give his keynote address.

The spokesperson said there was never a threat to Trump.

"It was determined that there was no protective interest with these individuals and there was never a threat to the former president," the spokesperson said.

Both individuals were questioned by law enforcement after they were found and removed from the event, the New York Post reported. Neither person was charged in connection with the incident.

The two people were stopped at an initial checkpoint before bypassing the second screening, according to the outlet.

It remains unclear how the individuals made it past the screening.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this update.

A diagram illustrates approximate coverage areas by local sniper teams from both Beaver and Butler counties at the rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The former president was shot at in an assassination attempt at the rally, resulting in the death of one of the rally goers. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley )

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley's office released several records related to the attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday. 

In a planning diagram, the locations of various snipers for Butler County and Beaver County can be seen. The approximate coverage of each sniper team was labeled, with each focused on the area surrounding where the stage would be. 

However, would-be assassin Thomas Crooks' location on top of a warehouse owned by AGR International was not included in the area covered by snipers. His placement is detailed in an after-action report from Beaver County, which reiterated the position of their sniper, not far from Crooks' position. 

The documentation compiled by Grassley also demonstrated the sightings of Crooks, and observation of his suspicious behavior leading up to the shooting that evening. 

Roughly an hour before the attempted assassination, snipers noticed Crooks, reporting that he was sitting at a picnic table nearby. 

"I did see him with a range finder looking towards the stage," a text to a group chat of multi-county snipers read at 5:38 p.m. "If you wanna notify [Secret Service] snipers to look out. I lost sight of him."

The author of the message also said a bike and a backpack had appeared in the building's rear. 

Photographs of Crooks and the bike and backpack were exchanged by local police over text message.

Just minutes before Crooks opened fire, the local officers assisting with the event weren't sure where he had gone.

One person responded, "not sure" when asked what direction Crooks had traveled in. "He was up against the building," they wrote at 6:00 p.m. "If I had to guess towards the back. Away from the event."

Five minutes later, it was communicated over the radio that the suspect was at the picnic tables and moving towards Sheetz with a backpack. Between 6:06 and 6:12, an individual, the name of whom is redacted in the after-action report, attempted to tell patrol officers about Crooks' presence around the building on the side of the fairgrounds. 

But at 6:12 p.m., shots were fired. 

Grassley's office indicated that his oversight of the attempted assassination is ongoing. 

Fox News Digital's Julia Johnson contributed to this update.

A screenshot of text messages obtained in the investigation of the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. (Obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley )

New texts between members of Beaver County emergency services in Pennsylvania show just how understaffed they were ahead of a rally for former President Trump earlier this month when a would-be assassin shot him and others, killing a spectator. 

In a discussion between team leaders at the emergency services, who were requested to assist with the rally in nearby Butler County where the event took place, several unnamed people discussed their lack of available workers. 

According to one leader, his team was busy and could not work the rally, remarking that "everyone else is either working, on vacation or hurt," in texts provided to Fox News Digital by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The senator's office revealed an overview of all records received by Grassley regarding the attempted assassination on Monday. 

Text messages between the team leaders of the Beaver County emergency services unit showed that they were asked to assist Butler County with security for the Trump event only days before the rally. A message was sent to team leaders on July 8, asking who would be available to help for the July 13 event. 

"It is probably going to be a 12 [hour] detail. Right now I am looking for 6 guys available. If absolutely needed we can split the shift," a text to the leaders read. 

At one point, someone said they may tell Butler County, where Trump's rally took place, that the emergency services from Beaver County may need to be "on call" instead. 

Fox News Digital's Julia Johnson contributed to this update.

The parents of Thomas Crooks, Matthew and Mary Crooks, return to their home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Questions about whether the parents of would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks could face charges resulting from their son's shooting crimes have arisen as officials release more information about his secluded personality and lack of a social life.

"You'd have to prove in some way beyond a reasonable doubt that [Crooks' parents] aided and abetted his ability to plan this attempted assassination or, in some way, knew what he was doing and provided him some means to do it," Pennsylvania-based attorney Matthew Mangino of Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George told Fox News Digital. "That would be difficult to prove, I would think, beyond a reasonable doubt."

Mangino added, however, that "civil liability is a completely different story." 

Pursuing civil action against Crooks' parents would require "a preponderance of the evidence that … they could have or should have intervened to protect, not only the former president, but the public," as well as the victim who died.

Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this update.

Buildings that are adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, site of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are seen Monday, July 15, 2024, in Butler, Pa. Thomas Crooks fired from the roof of the building complex and wounded Trump on July 13 during an assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The FBI on Monday morning told reporters that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks accessed the roof of a building near former President Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, by climbing up HVAC equipment and piping.

Crooks then traversed multiple rooftops before he found his shooting position on top of a building owned by American Glass Research (AGR), located near the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds about 150 yards from where the former president spoke at his rally.

The FBI hosted a press conference call with reporters more than two weeks after 20-year-old Crooks fired at Trump with a DPMS AR-15-style firearm with a collapsable stock during the rally in an assassination attempt that nicked the president's ear but left one man dead and two others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

While investigators determined that Crooks did purchase a ladder just hours prior to the assassination attempt, he left it at his residence in Bethel Park and did not use the ladder at the rally later on.

Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge at the FBI's Pittsburgh field office, said the agency has examined more than 2,100 tips related to the assassination attempt since July 13.

Leading up to the shooting, Crooks apparently conducted internet searches for current and former presidents. 

Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this update.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week in the wake of mounting pressure following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Fox News reviewed the letter Cheatle sent to the U.S. Secret Service Tuesday morning, just a day after taking bipartisan heat during testimony before the House Oversight Committee Monday and over a week after a would-be assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to take the life of Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. 

"To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure," Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency. "On July 13th, we fell short on that mission."

Cheatle said that the "scrutiny" over the last week "has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases." 

"As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse," she wrote. 

Biden, who did not fire Cheatle in the 10 days since the shooting, said he is "grateful to Director Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service," and that he will appoint a new director soon. 

"As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service," Biden said. "We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Jacqui Heinrich and Peter Doocy contributed to this update.

Tuesday's hearing comes after the FBI released new details regarding the investigation into the would-be presidential assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks. 

The FBI told reporters on Monday that Crooks had a long-standing "interest in science" and "experiments," and as a result, his family "wasn't concerned" about the myriad packages he was receiving at their house.

"The shooter had a long interest in science and things like this and had been doing experiments and things like that over a period of time," said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh Field Office. "For that reason, [his family] wasn't concerned that [the packages] were focused on committing an attack of this nature of harming other people."

Crooks, 20, made 25 gun-related purchases online between spring 2023 and the first half of this year, and bought materials used to make explosives six times, all with aliases, according to the agency.

President Biden is now tasked with appointing a permanent head of the Secret Service. Biden wrote in a statement that he plans to make his choice "soon."

"The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again," Biden wrote. "As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon."

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Christina Coulter contributed to this update.

Ronald Rowe, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, leaves the U.S. Capitol after a briefing with senators on Thursday, July 25, 2024. The former director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

A former colleague who knew acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. from his time serving with the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida praised him as "very intelligent" and "well-rounded."

West Palm Beach Assistant Police Chief Tony Spatara told CBS 12 that he met Rowe at the police academy in 1995 at what is now Palm Beach State College. 

"Knowing him personally, I am very proud he achieved his goal and then some in the Secret Service," Spatara said. "Ron is a very intelligent person who is well rounded, has a multitude of experience." 

After graduation, Rowe joined the WPBPD's SWAT team and was selected to serve on high profile law enforcement task forces as the city battled a crack cocaine epidemic, CBS 12 reported.

Spatara recounted a time Rowe sprung into action while providing security detail at St. Mary's Medical Center. 

“There was a patient there that was a drug seeker. The doctor knew that. He threatened the doctor with a gun, and Ron interceded and stopped that situation from getting worse," said Spatara.

The assistant police chief said Rowe is the "exact" right person to lead the Secret Service as if faces an accountability and credibility crisis following the nearly successful attempted assassination of former President Trump. 

"I think they made the correct decision in selecting him. I don’t know of a person in this country that’s more up to the task of taking on the challenge of what’s upcoming.”

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this update.

The new acting director of the Secret Service will testify before Congress on Tuesday alongside a senior FBI official regarding the assassination attempt against former President Trump.

Acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy director Paul Abbate will appear for a joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. It is the first time a member of the Secret Service will appear before Congress since the resignation of former chief Kimberly Cheatle earlier this month.

The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for Rowe's prepared remarks to the committees.

Rowe has assumed the helm of the Secret Service as elected officials and the public grow increasingly wary of the agency following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Rowe is now responsible for leading the more than 7,800 special agents, uniformed division officers and technical law enforcement officers, as well as administrative and technical staff.

Prior to joining the Secret Service, Rowe was a member of the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida. 

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this update.