BETHEL PARK, Pa. – In addition to would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, other suspicious people were noted by security at the Butler, Pennsylvania event, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris told the House Committee on Homeland Security.
“Was [Crooks] the only one determined to be suspicious that day?” Rep. Andrew Garbarino asked Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris on Tuesday.
“No, he was not,” Paris replied.
“They identified Crooks for not matriculating,” Colonel Paris said. “Crooks never made it through the secure perimeter into the venue space itself.”
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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)
Col. Christopher L. Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing at the Canon House Office Building on July 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is examining the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump on July 13th in Pennsylvania.
There were at least two other suspicious people identified and tracked by the law enforcement that day – but after spotting Crooks with a rangefinder, he became a “special individual,” who was “even more suspicious,” he said.
Law enforcement officials spotted 20-year-old Crooks at about 5:10 p.m. on July 13, identifying him as a “suspicious person of interest.”
At 5:41 p.m., about 20 minutes before former President Donald Trump took the stage, a sniper spotted Crooks looking at his phone and a rangefinder, snapped a photo and sent it to the “Sniper Group” chat.
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An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Handout via AFP)
“There was a text thread that was going,” Paris said on Wednesday. “They took a photo of him at some point when he utilized the rangefinger. The suspicion was heightened… I know from an interview that was immediately relayed in the command post to the Secret Service.”
Just over ten minutes later, the Secret Service spotted him on the roof of a building about 150 yards away from the podium where Trump was set to address the crowd. A law enforcement officer was assigned to monitor the roof of the building – but a whistleblower told Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley that the officer left their post because it was “too hot.”
Less than 20 minutes afterward, Crooks fired a volley of shots from the roof.
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This graphic shows a bird’s eye view of the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as the alleged would-be assassin’s vantage point. (Fox News)
“Before [Trump] went on to speak… just to be clear, [Crooks] was determined to be suspicious,” Paris said. “There was no information that he possessed a weapon.”
Crooks was also determined to be suspicious because “he was walking around and not moving into the venue,” Paris said.
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“Just for some context, there were over 100 people that day that necessitated or required medical attention due to the heat, there was a missing six-year-old,” he added.
Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from local Butler law enforcement, the Secret Service, and Pennsylvania State Police regarding any suspicious people identified or detained at the rally on July 13.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
