Secret Service continues to face questions as FBI investigates Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says all 100 U.S. senators joined in on a call with Secret Service and FBI officials to discuss protocols surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

According to the Republican, the officials spent a majority of the call "filibustering."

"It was a 45-minute briefing and they spent 30 minutes just filibustering, walking through all the things they did that day; walking through a detailed timeline of every other factor of what they did in the field, what they did on the stage, what they did backstage — everything except how they didn't stop a man with a rifle from shooting the former president," Cruz said on "Jesse Watters Primetime."

He added: "That detail they just omitted."

Cruz also called for the head of the U.S. Secret Service, Director Kimberly Cheatle, to resign. He also said President Biden should fire her "yesterday."

Photos of the attempted assassination suspect Thomas Crooks.

Fox News has learned that U.S. senators were told during an all-member briefing on Wednesday, July 17, that former President Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, wrote a threatening message on a gaming platform ahead of his shooting.

On "Steam," a popular platform where gamers purchase games and communicate, Crooks allegedly wrote: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.”

When investigators reviewed the laptop, they found a few searches in July of: Trump, Biden, when is DNC convention, and July 13 Trump rally.

Investigators found no evidence of a particular ideology on the laptop, which the FBI believes is notable, and nobody in interviews reported Crooks discussing politics.

The senators learned that the suspect had two cell phones. The primary phone was recovered from the scene along with a remote transmitter. A secondary cell phone was found at the home, it had only 27 contacts. The FBI is in the process of tracking down and interviewing those people.

Fox News Channel Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

L-R: Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and John Barrasso of Wyoming.

GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and John Barrasso of Wyoming confronted U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention Wednesday to demand she answer questions about the agency’s stewardship of former President Trump’s rally over the weekend that led to an assassination attempt.

In a video posted on X , the senators said they had just confronted Cheatle in person at the RNC, “asking for specific answers about what happened with President Trump in Pennsylvania and how that shooter was able to get off a clear shot when the FBI and the Secret Service knew there was a suspicious person an hour in advance.”

Blackburn and Barrasso both took part in a briefing between the Secret Service and Senate lawmakers earlier in the day. Barrasso told Fox News earlier that the meeting was a “100% cover-your-a—briefing.”

Blackburn said that Cheatle would not answer their questions, telling the Republican senators it was not the time or place.

“This was after we’ve been through a conference call today where the questions queue got cut off,” Blackburn said. “But I’ve got a message for her: she can run but she can’t hide because the American people want to know how an assassination attempt was carried out on former President Donald Trump.”

A source told Fox News' Aishah Hasnie that Cheatle is visiting a luxury suite and described her confrontation with Blackburn and Barrasso as “wild.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is seen in the U.S. Capitol before the Senate passed procedural votes on the House passed foreign aid package on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., tells Fox News that Senators were told law enforcement identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as a person of interest more than an hour before shots were fired at former President Trump.

Mullin relayed that senators were told that the Secret Service realized the building on which the shooter was perched was outside the perimeter of the rally.

Officials didn’t clarify whether local law enforcement was supposed to be on top of the building.

The shooter was identified as a person of interest around 5:07 or 5:08 because he had a backpack and a range finder. Shots rang out more than an hour later, at around 6:11

Around 19 minutes before shooting, Secret Service agents were actively looking for Crooks but couldn’t find him.

But unlike some of his colleagues, Mullin stopped short of calling on U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign, saying, "I think there's a lot more investigation that's got to take place before you can start saying who's got to be fired. I don't want to just fire somebody for the sake of firing them."

"I’m not calling for anybody’s head to roll yet, but someone does need to lose their job over it,” Mullin said.

He said Thursday’s briefing between Senate lawmakers and the Secret Service was helpful, but ultimately led to more questions that weren’t answered.

Mullin said he still has the following questions: Did somebody make contact with Crooks? What caused the Secret Service to start actively looking for him? How did they lose him? Why did they allow the President to take the stage when they were looking for him for 10 minutes?

Fox News' Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.

An ardent Trump supporter captured video of the 45th president arriving at a Pennsylvania hospital moments after he was shot.

Rick Foerster, the owner of Apparel by 45, told Fox News Digital his wife, Karen, was in the same hospital where Trump was taken following the fateful shooting at his Butler campaign rally on July 13.

The supporter said that he had VIP tickets for the rally at the Butler Fairgrounds and arrived promptly at 9 a.m. on Saturday to secure front row seats.

The rally, which was not scheduled to begin until 5 p.m., was set in a massive field in 97-degree heat with no shade.

"There was nothing between us and the stage except a metal barrier," he said. "I'm literally 15 feet from the podium."

"At about 4:30 p.m., my wife was getting dizzy and faint, and so we went to get help, and they took her to a cooling tent," Foerster said. "Her blood pressure spiked, and they decided to take her to the nearest hospital by ambulance."

Foerster said that his wife began receiving care for dehydration when he noticed that a nurse had the rally on.

Read more about Foerster’s first-hand account.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks is alleged to be the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

The man who attempted to assassinate former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday used his cellphone to search for images of President Biden and the former president ahead of the event, according to reports.

CBS reported that sources familiar with a briefing between lawmakers and investigators on Wednesday said Thomas Matthew Crooks searched for the images as well as information on symptoms of depressive disorder.

Crooks also reportedly went to the site of the rally at least once before Saturday’s attempted assassination.

FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly told members of Congress that his agency conducted over 200 interviews as part of the investigation, and searched over 14,000 images.

Still, a motive for the shooting has yet to be determined.

House Republican leaders are calling for accountability after the failed assassination attempt against former President Trump on Saturday.

"I think there are so many questions that need to be answered, and I don't know who is to blame. I don't know what the breakdowns are, I clearly know there were breakdowns. But let's find out who's responsible and then people need to be held accountable," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital.

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said the shooting was likely the result of a "major security breakdown."

"One of my initial reactions as I was watching this unfold on television was anger – how could this happen? How can a person with a gun get to a rooftop that overlooks the stage that close to the former president?" Hudson told Fox News Digital.

This is an excerpt a story by Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind.

United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle looks on during a press conference at the Secret Service's Chicago Field Office on June 4 2024 in Chicago, Illinois, ahead of the 2024 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has agreed to comply with a subpoena from House Oversight Accountability Committee chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., to testify before house lawmakers on the assassination attempt of former President Trump last weekend.

The hearing will take place as scheduled next Monday, July 22. It will mark the first congressional hearing into the assassination attempt.

An Oversight Committee spokesperson said that Americans “demand and deserve answers from the Director and the attempted assassination of President Trump and the Secret Service’s egregious failures.”

Comer said earlier Wednesday that the Secret Service initially committed to Cheatle’s attendance but that Homeland Security officials appear to have intervened and there has been no "meaningful updates or information" shared with the committee.

Comer said the "lack of transparency and failure to cooperate" with the committee called into question Cheatle's ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the subpoena.

Cheatle has been under heavy scrutiny in the days following the assassination attempt as lawmakers and federal agencies, including the FBI, have opened investigations to figure out what went wrong.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report .

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. Secret Service did not request waivers to fly drones over a presidential campaign event for former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, to provide agents with aerial views.

A federal source told Fox News earlier on Wednesday that the Secret Service uses drones but could not confirm whether they were used during the rally.

The FAA confirmed the Secret Service did not even apply for Special Government Interest (SGI) waivers to fly drones over an event that ended promptly when a shooter on top of a roof attempted to assassinate Trump.

The FAA said SGIs are fast-tracked certificates that permit the operation of drones in restricted airspace.

“The FAA did not issue any event SGI waivers prior to last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania,” an FAA spokesperson told Fox News. “On-scene law enforcement could have been operating drones under their individual agency authorizations.”

Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.

Representative Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. (Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto it is very concerning that the shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Trump was identified as suspicious by local law enforcement an hour before the shooting on Saturday.

Green was a guest on “Your World” Wednesday, when he spoke about the committee’s meeting with the U.S. Secret Service earlier in the day.

“It’s very, very concerning that that individual was identified by local law enforcement, and we haven’t gotten details, even today, on the briefing we just had,” Green said. “They wouldn’t answer the question about what happened between that suspicious moment and what the rules of engagement are for local law enforcement interacting with the Secret Service.

He added that it makes no sense that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted a “full hour before” with a rangefinder, and not even apprehended or detained.

When it came to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Green said he did not think she should be in her position, bringing up a comment in which she told ABC News security was not placed on top of the roof of the building Crooks fired his gun from because of the slope.

“Whoever made the decision not to cover that building…that’s probably the biggest flaw in this thing,” Green said. “Look, the vast majority of the people with the Secret Service are doing a great job. But those decisions that resulted in this failure…at least Director Cheatle was brave enough to say that, in this particular call we just had, that that can’t happen again. Not ever.”

A hospital spokesperson tells Fox News that the two victims who were injured during the assassination attempt on former President Trump over the weekend are showing steady signs of recovery.

A spokesperson for Allegheny General Hospital told Fox News National Correspondent CB Cotton that the two injured victims are now in serious but stable condition – an improvement from their previous status of “critical condition.”

David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, were both injured when a gunman from a nearby rooftop opened fire on the former president during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Another bystander, former fire chief Corey D. Comperatore, 50, was killed in the attack protecting his wife and daughter.

Former President Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents after the shooting, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Over two dozen Texas lawmakers are calling for the House Oversight Committee to look into "political rhetoric" used against former President Trump in their investigation into the assassination attempt that nearly took his life.

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into the assassination attempt after the former president was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday.

State Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Texas, spearheaded a letter to the committee and Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., Wednesday, requesting they also look into "grotesque depictions of President Trump and the tens of millions of fellow Americans that support him as ‘enemies’ or ‘threats to democracy’ ahead of the assassination attempt."

"Americans deserve answers," the lawmakers wrote, first thanking the committee for opening an investigation into the deadly incident. "At minimum, we need to understand how the attempted assassination was able to occur and what will be done to ensure it does not happen again."

Read more about the Texas lawmakers’ request.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Sen. Mitch McConnell sought to remind readers of the similarities between now and the 1930s. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined a growing list of lawmakers who are calling on U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign after a botched security detail in Butler, Pennsylvania nearly led to the assassination of former President Trump.

“Last week’s near-assassination of former President Trump was a grave attack on American democracy,” McConnell wrote in a post on X. “The nation deserves answers and accountability. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.”

Cheatle has been under heavy scrutiny in the days following the assassination attempt as lawmakers and federal agencies, including the FBI, have opened investigations to figure out what went wrong.

Cheatle said in an interview with CNN the Secret Service was "solely responsible" for security at Trump's rally, where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb on top of a nearby building and fire a rifle at Trump. One spectator was killed, and the Republican candidate and two others were injured during the attempted assassination on Saturday.

She is also facing harsh criticism after claiming during an interview with ABC News that personnel were not positioned on top of the building where the Trump rally shooter opened fire because of a "sloped roof," despite images showing snipers set up on a sloped roof behind the former president’s podium.

"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside," she said.

The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Trump on Saturday was identified as suspicious by law enforcement more than an hour before he opened fire, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News after a briefing between Senate lawmakers and the U.S. Secret Service.

“He was identified as a character of suspicion because [he had] a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred,” Barrasso said. “So, you would think over the course of that hour, you shouldn't lose sight of the individual. Somebody ought to be following up on those sorts of things. No evidence of that happening at all.”

Fox News was told that the Secret Service was aware of the threat before Trump walked on stage and narrowly survived an assassination attempt.

A Secret Service agent in charge of security for the event was on the phone with local and state police about the threat while the shooting took place, Barrasso said.

Barrasso said there was no talk of reports that local officers engaged with the shooter before he opened fire.

"They shut it after just a couple of questions and didn't get to any of the meat of the matter," Barrasso said.

Barrasso called for U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign.

"The American people shouldn't feel comfortable with this," Barrasso said. "This is a total failure [on behalf of] the Secret Service. We need replacement at the top."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who also took part in a briefing with the Secret Service and the FBI, said she was “appalled to learn the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage.”

“I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position,” Blackburn wrote in a post on X. 

Fox News’ Aisha Hasnie contributed to this report.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., tells Fox News that the Secret Service’s meeting with Senate lawmakers on Wednesday was a “100% cover-your-a—briefing” after the assassination attempt on former President Trump last Saturday.

Barrasso’s office said “no one has taken responsibility” despite the gunman having been “identified as being suspicious one hour before the shooting.”

“He had a range finder and a backpack. The Secret Service lost sight of him. No one has taken responsibility. No one has been held responsible. Someone has died. The President was almost killed. The head of the Secret Service needs to go,” Barrasso said, referring to USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle.

Two people were injured and another attendee was killed in the assassination attempt on Trump. In the days since, the Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny for the security lapse, with calls mounting for Cheatle to resign.

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The widely circulated photograph showing a pair of U.S. Secret Service counter snipers on a rooftop overlooking Saturday’s Trump rally does not show the agents who neutralized the threat, authorities said.

There were four counter-sniper teams overlooking the event, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News Digital, two from the USSS and two local teams.

The photo shows the “second team,” he said, which did not fire the fatal shot.

The Secret Service took down Thomas Matthew Crooks , the 20-year-old would-be assassin, after he killed a spectator and critically wounded two others minutes after former President Donald Trump took the stage. The Republican candidate was struck in the ear and went to a nearby hospital for treatment.

A local marksman also engaged the suspect but did not fire the fatal shot, Butler County officials have confirmed.

Butler Country District Attorney Richard Goldinger told Fox News that officer had been placed on a routine administrative leave, standard procedure for all police-involved shootings.

A federal law enforcement source also confirmed that there was a local tactical team was stationed in a building on the property where the sniper fired from, however it was unclear whether it was the same building. There are several structures on the lot, which was outside the Secret Service’s secure perimeter. 

This is a report by Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz. Fox News’ CB Cotton and Matt Finn contributed to this report.

A federal official tells Fox News that multiple agencies from Butler, Pennsylvania were involved in security for former President Trump’s rally on Saturday.

The local agencies included the Butler Township Police, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, and the Butler Emergency Services Unit.

The federal source told Fox News that the U.S. Secret Service was responsible for everything going on inside the rally while local authorities were responsible for everything outside of the secure area.

Federal source says the AGR (American Glass Research) building where Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly fired from is considered the exterior, or “outside of the secure area.”

A federal law enforcement source affirmed a recent Facebook post from Butler County Commissioner Edward R. Natali who claimed Butler Township police were only in charge of traffic.

The federal law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News that a local response team was in the AGR building, though it remains unclear if that unit was in the building directly beneath the shooter. The AGR property is expansive with individual buildings or sections.

A federal source also confirmed to Fox News that the Secret Service uses drones but could not confirm whether they were used during the rally.

Fox News' Matthew Finn contributed to this report.

Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee will meet next week to discuss the FBI's investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump and the “ongoing politicization” of the law enforcement agency.

The hearing, titled "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," will be held at 10 a.m.

Committee members will “examine the FBI’s investigation into the assassination attempt against President Trump and the ongoing politicization of the nation's preeminent law enforcement agency under the direction of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland,” according to the committee's website.

FBI Director Christopher Wray briefed lawmakers on the investigation into the shooting on Wednesday in a private meeting.

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired at former President Trump during Saturday's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The Department of Homeland Security opened a second investigation into the U.S. Secret Service for its handling of providing security for former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with the latest focusing on the counter sniper team.

The office of Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, who was appointed as the inspector general by former President Trump in 2019, opened the investigation.

The investigation was recently listed on the Office of Inspector General’s website page that lists ongoing projects.

The most recent investigation is “to determine the extent to which the [Secret Service] Counter Sniper Team is prepared to respond to threats at events attended by designated protectees.”

Additional projects listed on the page include an evaluation of the Secret Service’s process for securing Trump’s July 13, 2014 campaign event.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifies about the Bureau's budgetary needs during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Washington, DC, June 4, 2024. (Getty Images)

FBI Director Christopher Wray is joining House and Senate lawmakers Wednesday for a virtual briefing to discuss the assassination attempt on former President Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

The FBI said earlier this week it was investigating the assassination attempt as a potential act of terrorism.

On Sunday, Robert Wells, the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at the FBI, said the agency would be using “every resource that we have at our disposal.”

“We have a 24/7 command post in Pittsburgh as well as here at FBI Headquarters and we are dedicating every resource that we have at our disposal,” he said.

Authorities approach the suspected gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, from where he fell after the U.S. Secret Service returned fire after an apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

The Butler County, Pennsylvania district attorney said local police engaged with a man mere moments before he opened fire and nearly assassinated former President Trump at a rally on Saturday.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger confirmed with Fox News that a local police sniper engaged the gunman but did not fire a shot to kill would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Goldinger said he did not know if the sniper injured the gunman or not.

The officer is now on administrative leave, Goldinger added, which is standard protocol during an officer-involved shooting.

Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.

U.S. Representative James Comer (R-KY) is seen as former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci appears for a hearing on the Coronavirus Pandemic at Rayburn House Office Building on Monday June 3, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

House Oversight and Accountability Committee chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has formally subpoenaed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on the attempted assassination of former President Trump over the weekend.

The hearing, scheduled for next Monday, will be the first congressional hearing into the assassination attempt.

Comer said initially that the Secret Service committed to her attendance but that Homeland Security officials appear to have intervened and there has been no "meaningful updates or information" shared with the committee.

Comer said the "lack of transparency and failure to cooperate" with the committee called into question Cheatle's ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the subpoena.

Cheatle has been under heavy scrutiny in the days following the assassination attempt as lawmakers and federal agencies, including the FBI, have opened investigations to figure out what went wrong.

Cheatle said the Secret Service was working to understand how Saturday's shooting happened and to make sure something like it never does again.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general also says it's investigating the Secret Service's handling of security on the day of the assassination attempt. The agency said Wednesday the objective is to evaluate the Secret Service's "process for securing" Trump's Saturday event. The Secret Service has said it will participate with congressional committees looking into the shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kamala Harris dressed in all black holds mic during event

Speaking for the first time publicly since the assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump at a rally on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the violence against Trump.

“As we all know, it was a heinous, horrible, cowardly act,” Harris said. “Thankfully, he was not seriously injured.”

Harris added that her and her husband's thoughts immediately went to Melania.

"The bottom line is, no one should have to fear for the safety of a loved one because they serve in public office," Harris continued.

Harris also shared her condolences for Corey Comperatore, who was struck by gunfire and killed while protecting his family.

"Our heart goes out to the family of Corey Comperatore a true hero who died protecting his family. And Doug and I, of course, are holding them close in our hearts. We are also wishing those who were critically injured that day a swift and full recovery. And we are thankful to the United States Secret Service, the first responders and local authorities."

Harris said that the shooting also raised questions about how they should engage with each other during the campaign.

"The United States of America, I believe, is the greatest democracy the world has ever known. But in the aftermath of this weekend's shootings and shooting, one of the questions we now confront is about the way we should engage with one another in this campaign," Harris said. "On Sunday evening, our president, Joe Biden, issued a call for unity. And there must be unity around the idea that while our nation's history has been scarred by political violence, violence is never acceptable. There can be no equivocation about that."

Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which alleged shooter Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Donald J. Trump, in the aftermath of the attempted assassination at a campaign rally on July 14, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images)

Local police reportedly told the U.S. Secret Service that it lacked the manpower to monitor a building that was eventually used by a gunman to shoot former President Trump during his rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

Per reporting from the Washington Post, Richard Goldinger said the Secret Service had been informed that local police “did not have manpower to assist with securing that building.”

The building, owned by Agr International, was located just outside the perimeter of the rally, approximately 150 yards from where Trump was speaking. The rooftop, which the gunman accessed, gave him a clear line of sight to Trump.

The U.S. Secret Service is being investigated for how it failed to prevent the gunman – later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks – from climbing onto the rooftop of the building and shoot Trump.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by U.S. Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

The Butler Township manager, Thomas Knights, defended local police officers' response to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at his rally on Saturday.

Knights' comments come amid some sparring between the U.S. Secret Service and the Fraternal Order of Police as both federal and local law enforcement take criticism from the public for being unable to stop the would-be Trump assassin before he fired, though Knights says that tension has not "spilled over into" Butler.

"I think there's some misconception about [the] overall response. I can only speak for our officers transitioning from what was supposed to be a primary traffic control assistance to where it became … a suspicious person," the township manager, who supervises all Butler department heads including the police chief, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday.

"I think our law enforcement did exactly what training taught them to do. … How subsequent events played out, that's another thing for what I hope to be a really complete report on the incident to educate everybody."

Knights added that to his knowledge, the Secret Service has not been in "any direct communication" with Butler officials.

Read more about Knight’s defense of local police.

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

Butler, Pennsylvania Town Commissioner Edward R. Natali said on Tuesday that the local police department was not responsible for securing the building a shooter propped himself on before nearly assassinating former President Trump at a rally on Saturday.

Natali posted on Facebook that he wanted to be clear that the Butler Township Police Department (BTPD) “had no security detail for this event.”

“There were seven officers all assigned to traffic detail. Period,” Natali wrote. “The BTPD was NOT responsible for securing AGR or any other location. Anyone who says so, reports on it, implies it, etc... is uninformed, lying, or covering their own backsides. I trust I am being loud and clear.”

He expressed disappointment that an article published by a local radio network reported that an unnamed Secret Service agent pointed the finger at “local police,” adding the tactic was a “very transparent deflection.”

“As Sheriff Slupe stated, the BTPD officers in the general vicinity left their traffic detail to respond to the report of a suspicious person. With reports of the suspect on the roof, a first officer being assisted by a second officer was pulling himself up to see on the roof. The suspect turned his firearm on the first officer, who as Sheriff Slupe stated, was not in position to wield his weapon to defend himself,” Natali said. “He fell to safety and was injured in the process. The fact of the matter is the encounter with the officer most likely forced the shooter to hurry his shots.

“It is completely disgusting to see finger pointing has become the priority, when we had four people shot, with one of the four fatally wounded,” he added. “I am sure it is comfort to all family members, including President Trump’s family, that it is more important to affix the blame, rather than the problem. The men and women who serve in the BTPD are dedicated to their jobs, the wellbeing of their fellow citizens, and they love their community.”

Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.

Former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore is pictured with his daughters in an undated family photo. (Helen Comperatore/Facebook)

Former President Trump will attend the funeral of the firefighter who was killed during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last Saturday, according to reports.

During the rally, Trump was nearly assassinated when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from on top of a roof, grazing the president’s ear and ultimately killing Corey Comperatore.

The New York Post reported that a source close to Trump was asked if he would be attending the father of two’s funeral a week after skirting death, and he was told, “of course he is.”

The widow of the volunteer firefighter also told the Post on Tuesday that the former president called her and was "very kind," a report says.

Helen Comperatore wrote on Facebook that Trump phoned her on Tuesday, three days after her husband Corey was struck with gunfire while trying to protect his family during the campaign event in Butler, according to the New York Post.

"He was very kind and said he would continue to call me in the days and weeks ahead," the widow reportedly wrote. "I told him the same thing I told everyone else. He left this world a hero and God welcomed him in. He did not die in vain that day."

Helen Comperatore told the New York Post on Monday that her husband’s final words were "get down!"

James "Jim" Copenhaver, one of the two victims who were critically wounded during the assassination attempt against former President Trump on Saturday, sustained "life-altering injuries," his family said in a statement.

Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, is still hospitalized but in stable condition as of Tuesday afternoon after he was wounded by gunfire at Trump's rally in Butler.

"The Copenhaver family would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support for James ‘Jim’ as he recovers from the injuries that he tragically sustained during President Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024," his family said in a statement. "Jim would like to especially thank the first responders, medics, and hospital staff who have provided him with initial and continuing care. Additionally, Jim would like to express his thoughts and prayers for the other victims, their families, and President Trump. He prays for a safe and speedy recovery for them all."

The family added that Copenhaver's injuries were "life-altering."

Joseph Feldman, a spokesperson for the Copenhaver family and attorney for the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman, told Fox News Digital that Copenhaver remains in critical but stable condition and was able to speak on Tuesday.

"He's a tough guy," Feldman said.

"The Copenhaver family would like to thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and support as Jim and his family recover from this horrible, senseless, and unnecessary act of violence," they wrote.

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

Thomas Matthew Crooks likely scouted the Butler Farm rally site and planned his attack extensively before attacking a Trump rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, Saturday in a failed attempt to kill the former president, according to a retired Secret Service agent and security expert.

"It’s clear now the gunman did an advance of the target before the event," said Bill Gage, who is now a consultant at Safehaven Security Group.

"[Arthur] Bremer, [Lee Harvey] Oswald and [John] Hinckley, they all scouted before," he added, referring to men who attacked Presidents Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, respectively.

Crooks, 20, was carrying a range-finder and behaving suspiciously when he showed up "in or just-outside" the venue Saturday before former President Donald Trump took the stage, according to law enforcement sources. Other evidence that emerged Tuesday: He purchased ammo hours before the rally. Crooks also bought a ladder at Home Depot, Fox News confirmed.

"He knew that there were elevated positions there i.e., those buildings off in the distance and that he would need a ladder to access," Gage told Fox News Digital. "It is being reported that he didn’t use it – but the purchase indicates to me that there was some advance planning involved."

Crooks knew he'd need a rifle, not a handgun, he said. The killer packed explosive materials into his vehicle. He also brought body armor, which he didn't wear when he climbed the roof – a choice likely aimed at avoiding detection, Gage said.

Crooks didn't use the ladder. He climbed up an air conditioning unit to get onto the roof, ABC News reported earlier.

"But buying a ladder is very telling," he added. "Sometime between the announcement of the event and Trump taking the stage, he scouted out the location and decided that a rooftop attack with a rifle was the best plan."

David Katz, a former DEA special agent and federal firearms instructor who is now the CEO of Global Security Group, said the range-finder Crooks was carrying is also a sign of the preparations he took ahead of time.

"That tells me this kid not only practiced but was aware of how to sight-in his rifle at that distance and probable declination of angle," he told Fox News Digital. "It tells you the exact distance to your target, and the angle up or down, and you just dial in."

Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this update.

Former President Trump's would-be assassin would have been at work on Saturday, but told his boss that he needed the day off because he had "something to do," according to reports.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents after firing five rounds, grazing Trump's ear, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and injuring two others at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

But law enforcement sources told CNN that the 20-year-old told his boss that he would be back at work on Sunday. 

Crooks listed himself as unemployed in 2020, but he worked most recently as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a state-licensed transitional facility.

The center's administrator, Marcie Grimm, said in a Sunday statement that Crooks "performed his job without concern" and his background check was clean.

Crooks' "newer model" phone and a gray 12-button remote transmitter were recovered from beside his body after he was shot, according to photos obtained by WPXI.

The transmitter is believed to have been connected to an explosive device in Crooks' car – investigators suggested in an interview with the New York Post that he may have planned to stage a distraction during the shooting. 

Fox News Digital's Christina Coulter contributed to this update.

Former President Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. (AP/Gene J. Puskar)

Thomas Matthew Crooks’ parents were looking for him on Saturday in the hours leading up to the Trump rally shooting and eventually called law enforcement to indicate that he was missing and they were worried, Fox News has learned.  

It’s unclear what his parents told authorities, but the call happened on Saturday before Crooks later opened fire at Trump during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

The parents are being cooperative with authorities and the FBI is still trying to determine a motive for the attack, sources also told Fox News. 

Fox News' David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Former President Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. (AP/Gene J. Puskar)

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appeared to backpedal Tuesday as her agency and local law enforcement pointed fingers over the security lapse at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally.

Cheatle said in an interview with CNN the Secret Service was "solely responsible" for security at Trump's rally, where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb on top of a nearby building and fire a rifle at Trump. One spectator was killed, and the Republican candidate and two others were injured during the attempted assassination on Saturday. 

She told CNN that no assets from the rally were diverted on the day Trump was shot, even though other events in the state required Secret Service protection.

"At that particular site, we divided up areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service is totally responsible for the design and implementation and the execution of the site," Cheatle told the outlet. 

Previously, the Secret Service director told ABC News that local law enforcement was responsible for the AGR International Inc., building, where Crooks found a sniper's perch.

Donald Trump Jr. fired back at MSNBC after multiple commentators appeared to question the validity of the Trump assassination attempt and the seriousness of his father's injury. 

"He wasn't shot in the face enough for them, it wasn't enough?" he said during "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. "That's the point. They can't help themselves. The Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. It's so asinine that they could say that… You see the photograph at the time. There's blood everywhere."

MSNBC host Ari Melber called Trump's ear bandage a "spectacle" after the former president made his first public appearance since a would-be assassin tried to gun him down during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. 

"A spectacle for this candidate who we know is, by his own admission, obsessed with assorted spectacles," Melber said. "There is a political quest here to mine and use Donald Trump's injury, and whether his allies and Republicans or the candidate himself do that in a way that overextends their credibility, will be decided by the voters."

Helen Comperatore, left, wrote in a Facebook post that former President Trump had called her on Tuesday following the rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. (Jeff Swensen/Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The widow of the volunteer firefighter who was shot and killed over the weekend at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania says the former president called her and was "very kind," a report says. 

Helen Comperatore wrote on Facebook that Trump phoned her on Tuesday, three days after her husband Corey was struck with gunfire while trying to protect his family during the campaign event in Butler, according to the New York Post. 

"He was very kind and said he would continue to call me in the days and weeks ahead," the widow reportedly wrote. "I told him the same thing I told everyone else. He left this world a hero and God welcomed him in. He did not die in vain that day." 

The Iranian regime’s plot to assassinate former President Trump is the latest in a string of attempts by Tehran to lethally target American officials and Iranian American dissidents.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has effectively put bounties on the heads of Trump, his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton for their roles in the U.S. drone strike that eliminated the global Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

According to the U.S. government, Soleimani was responsible for the murders of over 600 American military personnel in the Middle East.

Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security received intelligence from a human source about the planned Iranian assassination of Trump. The Iranian plot is not linked at this stage to the assassination attempt on Trump that the now-dead shooter, Thomas Crooks, carried out in Pennsylvania.

Khamenei, has been described as being hell-bent on assassinating Trump since 2020 following the former president’s order to kill Soleimani in Iraq. In 2022, the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute published an Iranian-produced animation video depicting the targeted assassination of Trump by the Islamic Republic that was uploaded to Khamenei’s official website.

Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which shooter Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Trump on Saturday. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania man who tried to assassinate former President Trump on Saturday accessed his roof firing perch by clambering up an air conditioning unit, according to a report.

Thomas Crooks, 20, repeatedly discharged an AR rifle – believed to belong to his father – during a Saturday rally in Butler, striking Trump in the ear and killing a rally attendee, ABC News reported.

Officials said the troubled loner purchased a ladder from a local Home Depot prior to the shooting but did not use it to scale the building, positioned roughly 150 yards from where Trump spoke.

Instead, he used an air conditioning unit adjacent to the building as a foothold and climbed on top of the structure.

Critics have questioned how Crooks was able to position himself so close to Trump despite the presence of local police and Secret Service agents.

One Trump super-fan from Texas has immortalized the moment former President Trump raised his fist in defiance after surviving an assassination attempt with a tattoo on his back.

Adrian West Jr. filmed the tattooed man in Austin after they met in line to get into a club on Saturday evening, according to Storyful.

“Donald Trump’s the f------ man — let’s go,” the man says in the video, turning around to show his fresh back tattoo of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air with Secret Service agents surrounding him.

Trump said on Truth Social that he had been shot in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. 

The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by Secret Service agents, but not before he managed to climb onto the roof of a nearby building and take a sniper's position in what should have been a secured perimeter. 

One attendee, Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief of Buffalo Township, was killed, and two others – identified by Pennsylvania State Police as David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74 – were injured during the incident.

The FBI is leading an investigation into the shooting, while the Department of Homeland Security has launched an independent review of the security at Trump's rally. 

Fox News Digital's Scott McDonald contributed to this update. 

A cell phone and transmitter found near Thomas Matthew Crooks' body. (WPXI)

A new photograph shows the cell phone and transmitter device that authorities found next to shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks' body after the attempted assassination of former President Trump. 

The photo was obtained by local news station WPXI.

Crooks opened fire on Trump from a rooftop about 130 yards away from the Republican candidate as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

One attendee, Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief of Buffalo Township, was killed, and two others – identified by Pennsylvania State Police as David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74 – were injured during the incident.

The FBI confirmed that Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents shortly after he opened fire on Trump. 

Crooks had explosives inside his car, found parked near the Pennsylvania rally, and bomb making materials at his home, sources told Fox News. 

The sources could not say how many explosives or what kind, but emphasized that more than one was found, including an IED found inside a car. 

Fox News Digital's Scott McDonald and Danielle Wallace contributed to this update.

A government watchdog has launched an investigation into the U.S. Secret Service's handling of security for former President Trump's rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot in an assassination attempt. 

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general said Wednesday the objective of the probe is to “[e]valuate the United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service) process for securing former President Trump’s July 13, 2024 campaign event.”

There was no date given for when the investigation was launched. The notice was among a long list of ongoing cases that the inspector general’s office is pursuing.

President Biden announced earlier this week he had directed an independent review of security at Trump's rally.

The Secret Service faces heightened scrutiny after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb on top of a building and establish a line of sight to Trump about 130 yards away as the president spoke. The would-be assassin's bullets clipped Trump in his right ear and killed Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief of Buffalo Township. Two other Trump rally attendees were injured. 

The FBI confirmed Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents. 

Fox News Digital's Scott McDonald and the Associated Press contributed to this update.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will receive separate, all-member virtual briefings on the attempted assassination of former President Trump on Wednesday.

The Senate briefing will start at 3 p.m. ET. The House briefing will begin a half-an-hour later.

Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate will lead the briefings. 

In addition, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is expected to formally issue a subpoena for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle. That would compel her testimony at a hearing on Monday.

The House Homeland Security Committee said this week it was also seeking more information on Saturday's events.

"The Committee has been in contact with the United States Secret Service and has just requested an official briefing for our members on the attempted assassination of President Trump this evening in Pennsylvania," the Homeland Security Committee said in a statement hours after the shooting. 

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has vowed to summon Cheatle "and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI" before the House to demand answers.

Fox News' Chad Pergram and Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this update.

Donald Trump Jr. had a surprising reaction Tuesday to reports that Iran plotted to have his father, former President Trump, assassinated, calling it "maybe the great political endorsement ever."

The eldest Trump son, who is a vocal surrogate for his father's campaign, made the comment in an interview on "Hannity" live from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee just as the former president arrived donning a visible bandage on his right ear for the second night in a row.

"I think it’s sort of a great endorsement. When people like Iran want to take you out, that probably means it's good for America, bad for Iran," Trump Jr. said. "That may be the greatest political endorsement ever. But when that happens, their capabilities are much more than a kid with a rifle."

The Department of Homeland Security received intelligence from a human source on an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Trump, Fox News has been told by two federal law enforcement sources. CNN first reported that there has been an increase in Secret Service protection for Trump in recent weeks because of this intelligence. DHS and Secret Service have increasingly been concerned about Trump holding outdoor events, Fox News is told. 

The plot doesn't appear to be connected to Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, the gunman who shot Trump during his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, the sources said.  Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations denied the allegations, calling them "unsubstantiated and malicious" in a statement to Fox News Digital. Trump directed the January 2020 strike that killed Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Forces.

Fox News Digital's Yael Halon contributed to this update.

The attempted assassination of President Trump shocked Americans on both sides of the aisle, with many seeing the close call as a time to reflect on the state of the nation and turn down the temperature of political rhetoric. 

Fox News Digital spoke to Americans in New York City, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee, about their reaction to what happened, the way Trump handled the moment while under fire and their predictions about what the failed assassination means for the country. 

Tom in Milwaukee told Fox News Digital that it is "really, really a sad thing" that the country has gotten to the point where somebody has to take a shot at the former president" and while he said he won't be voting for Trump in November, he was sorry to see it happen and would keep the former president in his prayers. 

"I hope that the Republicans have a great convention here," he said of the Republican National Convention taking place in Milwaukee this week. He also noted Trump had indicated he would be taking a softer tone in his political rhetoric, "which we should all follow." 

John from Milwaukee also described the weekend's assassination attempt by 20-year-old Pennsylvania native Thomas Matthew Crooks as a sad moment where violence came to fruition based on the way Trump has been discussed since 2015. 

"A lot of the rhetoric that has been pushed out there and some people are reacting to it," he said. "It is not surprising, but it is a sad moment."

"I thought he handled it well," he added of Trump's defiant reaction. "I have to give him credit for the wherewithal with the showmanship that he has and also that he wanted to let his supporters know that he was OK, but also taking advantage of the moment, to capitalize on the moment as well."

Luke from New York City described it as a "very sad" and "very tragic" situation that people in the country are acting out violently over politics. 

"It's absolutely terrible that our country is so divided," he said. "I'm not a Trump supporter, I'm not a Republican, I'm on the far, far left. But despite that, of course, violence is always terrible."

"Our country is in a terribly sad state," he added. "It's embarrassing to be an American right now, to be honest with you."

Fox News Digital's Kendall Tietz, Nikolas Lanum, Amanda Cappelli, Joshua Q. Nelson, Kira Mautone and Gabriel Hays contributed to this update.

David "Jake" Dutch is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. (Facebook)

David "Jake" Dutch, one of the two victims critically wounded by gunshots at the Trump rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, walked down the bleachers with a T-shirt bunched up against his wounds before getting help, friends told Fox News Digital.

Dutch, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, was struck twice at the Trump rally — once in the stomach and once in the liver, according to those who know him at the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars lodges in Lower Burrell. 

"He's been a tremendous help to this club," VFW commander Lee Johnson told Fox News Digital. "He's involved with a couple different things we have here at the club. And I just feel so bad for David, his wife … great people. They've been members here for a long, long time."

Johnson added that all the members are wishing Dutch a speedy recovery.

The 57-year-old was apparently showing signs of responsiveness Tuesday, Johnson said, though he did not know the full extent of the Marine vet's recovery or condition.

Another VFW member described Dutch as a "wonderful man" who loved his country and loved former President Trump; it had been a dream of his for a long time to attend a rally, she said.

Other friends at the American Legion described Dutch, who works at Siemens Innomotics in the Pittsburgh area, as a quiet guy who was humble about his military service.

"If you didn't already know he was a Marine, you'd never know it," Roger Milliron Jr., who said he's known Dutch for 20 years, told Fox News Digital. "He isn't a loud or boisterous person. He keeps to himself. He is a hard worker. He's a friend."

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

Shocking cellphone video shows chaos at the Butler Farm Saturday after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on a Pennsylvania Trump rally, injuring the former president, killing one spectator and critically wounding two more.

The video shows ducking spectators flagging authorities for help after the gunfire stops.

"We've got someone down," a man can be heard shouting as he waves his arms. "Hey!"

The camera pans toward the stage, as Trump returns to his feet, flanked by Secret Service agents, and raises a fist.

Todd, the Army veteran who took the video and asked to be identified only as Todd the Driller, said he initially offered to bring his son to the rally but was concerned the crowd might be too boisterous.

He said he was relieved when the 9-year-old wanted to back out. But then both the boy and his 12-year-old daughter asked for Trump campaign hats, so he wound up attending alone.

Todd arrived early and called his kids on FaceTime from a row of vendors. They chose their hats. He bought them. Then he made his way toward the stage. 

The rally started late, he said, but by the time Trump arrived, he had a good vantage point near the north fence.

He had been taking pictures and videos to send his son, but when the gunfire erupted, his phone was in his pocket and he was listening to Trump's remarks. 

"I had no idea I was in the lane of fire between the shooter and President Trump, but when I heard the crack-crack-crack, I knew what that was," he said. "It was directly behind me, and bullets whizzed like maybe 20 feet to my left."

Todd, who is not a Democrat or a Conservative, said he's a two-issue voter. He's pro-life and, as an oil driller, he favors lawmakers who support the industry that puts food on his family's table.

Counter-snipers neutralized the threat, but not before Crooks, 20, killed a 50-year-old father of two named Corey Comperatore, critically wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, according to authorities.

Todd whipped his phone out and recorded the president climbing back to his feet, surrounded by Secret Service agents.

But when he turned around to see what was going on behind him, what he saw shocked him. Members of the Secret Service and law enforcement inside the secure perimeter couldn't get out without jumping a fence – until a deputy eventually drove through it to let them out.

"The befuddled law enforcement that couldn’t do their jobs because no one had enough foresight to have that gate unlocked and have a guard posted there and control entrance to it," he said.

Fortunately, a Secret Service counter-sniper neutralized the gunman before other agents and law enforcement officers reached him on the roof.

Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this update.

The building where the Trump rally shooter was positioned, left, and snipers set up on a sloped roof behind former President Trump's podium at the event. ( Fox News Digital/Glen Van Tryfle/TMX/Reuters)

The director of the Secret Service is facing blistering criticism Tuesday after claiming during an interview that personnel were not positioned on top of the building where the Trump rally shooter opened fire because of a "sloped roof," despite images showing snipers set up on a sloped roof behind the former president’s podium. 

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle made the remark during an interview with ABC News, in which she said the agency was aware of the security vulnerabilities presented by the building Thomas Matthew Crooks took a sniper's position on to aim at Trump. 

"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside," she said.  

But critics on social media aren’t having it, calling Cheatle’s "sloped roof" comment a "total BS excuse" that "defies believability." 

"Our snipers used to set in on mountain tops in Afghanistan. On the down slopes if need be," former Army Ranger and author Sean Parnell wrote on X, calling Cheatle’s explanation a "total BS excuse." 

"The stupidity of this statement explains so much of why s--- hit the fan that day. Absolute incompetence," he added. 

"This sad excuse about defies believability. The snipers above President Trump were on a sloped roof so why couldn’t they secure the sloped roof that the assassin was on?" said Jim DeMint, a former U.S. senator from South Carolina. "She should have been fired days ago. We need accountability." 

 "Ironically, the snipers who were behind Trump during the rally were on a sloped roof," Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg also said on X. "She is bulls---ing and getting away with it." 

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this update.

The Butler Township manager, Thomas Knights, defended local police officers' response to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at his rally on Saturday.

Knights' comments come amid some sparring between the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the Fraternal Order of Police as both federal and local law enforcement take criticism from the public for being unable to stop the would-be Trump assassin before he fired, though Knights says that tension has not "spilled over into" Butler.

"I think there's some misconception about overall response. I can only speak for our officers transitioning from what was supposed to be a primary traffic control assistance to where it became … a suspicious person," the township manager, who supervises all Butler department heads including the police chief, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday. 

"I think our law enforcement did exactly what training taught them to do. … How subsequent events played out, that's another thing for what I hope to be a really complete report on the incident to educate everybody." 

Knights added that to his knowledge, the USSS has not been in "any direct communication" with Butler officials.

"There are ongoing interviews with all law enforcement that were at the event, regardless of what their roles were. So we're all just waiting on that information to be put together into one public report," he explained. 

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

A former classmate of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks says the 20-year-old gunman once mocked him over his support of former President Donald Trump and had a general disdain for mainstream politicians across the political aisle.

"I brought up the fact that I'm Hispanic and, you know, I'm for Trump. And he said, 'Well, you're Hispanic, so shouldn't you hate Trump?'" Vincent Taormina told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "No. He's great. He was a great president. He called me stupid – or insinuated that I was stupid."

It happened during a discussion in an English class at Bethel Park High School during the 2016 campaign, he said. Trump, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders were all still in the race.

"He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we had," Taormina said. "He did not like our politicians."

Taormina that Crooks was usually quiet, except on certain topics that he seemed passionate about, including math and politics. And on those issues, he could be "smug [and] arrogant," he added.

"He would just talk, talk and act like he knew everything, especially politics related, and he would say it in a tone that was like, 'I'm better than you,' in a type of way," he said.

He also pushed back on reporting that Crooks was a complete loner. He had a friend group, he said, although it was both small and concerning.

"They were definitely the type, and they did, make threats to shoot up our school," he said.

Although he and other classmates suspected Crooks himself was behind a threat, he said he had no firm proof. But after the threat came in, the future would-be assassin didn't return to school for a few days.

Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this update.

Two neighbors of would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks dismissed the attention drawn to his political affiliation, saying the family appeared to never have campaign signs of any stripe in their Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, yard.

Amy, who spoke to reporters alongside Holly – a local GOP captain – attested that the media would be hard-pressed to find a neighbor who could vouch for any signs having been seen in the Crooks' yard.

"I give out the signs, and I've never given to that house, I'll tell you that," said Holly, who alluded to the fact Crooks was a registered Republican.

The shooting suspect also donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on the day of President Biden's inauguration.

"I walk by here all the time, other neighbors do," Amy added. "You will not find one neighbor that will confirm or ever say they saw those signs in the yard."

"I'm on a Republican committee here in Bethel Park," Holly said. "I'm a committee woman, and I door-knock everywhere: for [2022 U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet] Oz, for [2022 gubernatorial nominee State Sen. Doug] Mastriano, for Trump, for all of them," she said.

Holly said she had never door-knocked at the Crooks' home; campaigns and activists often have access to voter rolls with likely voters of respective parties.

"I know who the Republicans are. I mean, he's not on the list," she said.

Crooks' mother, Mary, is registered as a Democrat, while his father is registered as a libertarian.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this update.

Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which alleged shooter Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Donald J. Trump, in the aftermath of the attempted assassination at a campaign rally on July 14, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Dan Bongino, a political radio and TV commentator who was a Secret Service agent for more than 10 years, said the rooftop spot where Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump should have been occupied by law enforcement.

"According to my source, that roof was supposed to be a police post... [there] was so supposed to be someone there," Bongino said on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast “Triggered” on Tuesday from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

"They're now making up excuses saying the pitch of the roof. My source says to me that no one knows why the post didn't show up."

"I was also told that the USSS director has been given instructions from the administration and the DHS secretary: 'If you wanna keep your job, you'll keep your mouth shut about this.'"

Bongino told Trump Jr. that a person not showing up for their respective post “could have gotten your dad killed, within millimeters.”

The former president was shot in his upper right ear and a rallygoer was killed. Crooks was killed during a gunfire exchange.

Fox News Digital's Scott McDonald contributed to this update.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an interview Tuesday that her agency was "solely responsible" for the implementation and execution of security at former President Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Cheatle told CNN that no assets from the rally were diverted on the day Trump was shot, even though other events in the state required Secret Service protection.

“At that particular site, we divided up areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service is totally responsible for the design and implementation and the execution of the site,” Cheatle said. 

Previously, the Secret Service director told ABC News that local law enforcement was responsible for the building where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto the roof and fired a rifle at Trump, killing one spectator and injuring the Republican presidential candidate and two others. 

“What I was trying to stress was that we just divided up areas of responsibility, and they provided support to those areas of responsibility,” Cheatle said, adding that the Secret Service "couldn't do our job without" local law enforcement.