Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris said that law enforcement officers left their post in a critically positioned second-story window to search for former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The elevated window was located in the AGR building complex which provided an overview of the Trump rally venue, where Mr. Crooks shot former President Trump, injured two rallygoers, and killed another.
During a House Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) questioned Col. Paris about the presence and actions of officers from the Butler Emergency Services Unit (ESU). Mr. Paris confirmed that two officers were positioned there.
He explained that the ESU is a specialized team comprising multiple agencies that collaborate to enhance capabilities and training, functioning similarly to a SWAT team.
Mr. Paris said that the officers, along with other local officers, left their vantage point to search for a suspicious individual later identified as Mr. Crooks.
The decision was made after Mr. Crooks was identified as suspicious for not entering the secure perimeter of the venue and for carrying a rangefinder, which further heightened their concern, the commissioner said.
The footage illustrated the officers’ original position relative to where Mr. Crooks was later found.
Mr. Bishop sought to confirm whether it was from this window that the officers spotted Mr. Crooks. Mr. Paris confirmed that the sighting occurred from a second-story window, though he could not specify the exact one.
Mr. Bishop pressed for more details, asking if the officers left their post before the shooting occurred.
Mr. Paris affirmed that the officers, along with additional municipal officers, began actively searching for Mr. Crooks before the shooting. He emphasized, however, that a precise minute-by-minute timeline of events was not yet established.
“I think that’s revelatory,” Mr. Bishop said of the information revealed by Mr. Paris.
Mr. Bishop also addressed conflicting reports about which agency was responsible for securing the AGR building.
Mr. Paris maintained that the ESU was tasked with this duty, despite a local news station’s report indicating that local law enforcement was not responsible for securing the building during the rally.
Mr. Paris highlighted that integrated communications were maintained, with members of the Pennsylvania State Police inside the Secret Service command post ensuring ongoing coordination.
When asked if the ESU officers could have had a clear shot at Mr. Crooks as he ascended the roof, Mr. Paris declined to speculate without a definitive timeline of events.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Butler County Emergency Services director for a response to Mr. Paris’s statements regarding the ESU but did not hear back prior to publication.
