BUTLER, Pa. – An Air Force veteran who attended former President Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 said she noticed glaring security issues before Thomas Crooks carried out an assassination attempt that left one dead and two others critically wounded.
Sarah Taylor, an 18-year veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, told Fox News Digital that she was initially excited about attending her first Trump rally, but as soon as she and her friend secured their positions some 100 yards from where the president was speaking, they could not help but notice an “eerie” building behind them.
“The fence was there. Right behind us was the building the shooter was on,” she recalled. “And we talked about it a lot because it was just really eerie, and my spidey senses were up. I had been in the military for 18 years, and something was not right about that area.”
She noticed some local police and state troopers walking around a field outside the American Glass Research (AGR) building that Crooks eventually fired from, but there was no law enforcement presence on the roof.
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Sarah Taylor, an Air Force veteran, said she witnessed glaring security lapses at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (handout)
“We just kept looking back at it thinking, ‘Something’s not right,'” Taylor said. “… I’m used to looking at my surroundings. I was deployed overseas — I knew something wasn’t right.”
“There was a huge void in that area.”
Taylor said she had a direct line of view toward the president and also saw “sharpshooters” to her left.
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Sarah Taylor said she saw “sharpshooters” to her left while she was watching former President Trump speak at his July 13 rally. (Sarah Taylor)
“At some point, I don’t know what time it was — [Trump] was supposed to speak at 5. He didn’t speak until 6. So a little bit before 5, I noticed that [the sharpshooters] got up and they got an angle. And the one sharpshooter that was standing to the right of the gentleman with the gun. I think he was the lookout — had binoculars, and it was kind of like they saw something.”
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“Prior to that … they were just setting up that kind of stuff, but it seemed like there was something that provoked their attention,” she said.
“[T]here was something that provoked their attention.”
Since the assassination attempt, lawmakers and FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that law enforcement spotted Crooks around 5:10 p.m. that day, which was around the time Trump was supposed to begin speaking but an hour before he actually took the stage. Snipers took photos of Crooks and called into command a suspicious person before 6 p.m.
The Butler Farm Show, site of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, is seen Monday, July 15, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was wounded on July 13 during an assassination attempt while speaking at the rally. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
At the time, Taylor thought she might have just been “overthinking” the situation. Now, she looks back on the event and wonders why no law enforcement saw the same security lapses that concerned her at the event.
“There should have been counter-snipers on top of that [AGR] building,” she said.
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Sarah Taylor saw some local law enforcement walking on a field in front of the building that shooter Thomas Crooks fired from on July 13. (Sarah Taylor)
Taylor also credits the former president’s campaign production team for saving his life, saying that shortly after Trump started speaking, he asked for his team to remove teleprompters that were in front of him. He then directed his team to display some immigration statistics on a large screen.
As he moved his head from the teleprompter to the screen projecting immigration statistics, gunfire rang out, Taylor recalled.
Sarah Taylor captured law enforcement responding to the shooter after he fired. (Sarah Taylor)
“I’m pretty sure whoever was running that part saved his life,” Taylor said, adding that those few seconds allowed the former president to walk away with just a nicked ear.
“I’m pretty sure whoever was running that part saved his life.”
Taylor said she still has not fully processed the assassination attempt that killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a husband, father and retired fire chief at the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department, and left 57-year-old David “Jake” Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver hospitalized with critical wounds.
Sarah Taylor saw some local law enforcement walking on a field in front of the building that shooter Thomas Crooks fired from on July 13. (Sarah Taylor)
“They’re supposed to be the best trained in the world to protect our president and vice president,” Taylor said. “If this is their normal day-to-day, we’re in a lot of trouble.”
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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following a Monday hearing with the House Oversight Committee, sources confirmed to Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich and Peter Doocy.
Thomas Crooks seen at the Trump rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Sen. Ron Johnson)
Cheatle admitted under oath that the Secret Service “failed” on July 13.
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“As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency,” she said. “We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13 does not happen again.”
Cheatle added, “Our agents, officers and support personnel understand that every day we are expected to sacrifice our lives to execute a no fail mission.”
