About an hour before a gunman let loose a volley of bullets that nearly assassinated a former president, the law enforcement contingent in Butler, Pa., was on the verge of a great policing success.
Among the thousands of people streaming in to cheer former President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, local officers spotted one skinny young man acting oddly and notified other law enforcement. The Secret Service, too, was informed, through radio communication. The suspicious man did not appear to have a weapon.
Remarkably, law enforcement had found the right man — Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin, though officers did not know that at the time. Then they lost track of him.
JUST IN: Secret Service was aware of the potential threat 10 minutes before Donald Trump took the stage in Pennsylvania but let him go out anyway.
The revelation was made during a Senate briefing today.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn says she was “appalled to learn the Secret Service… pic.twitter.com/gDSIZ0XX33
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 17, 2024
