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Created on: July 18, 2024 08:30
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Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, was identified by law enforcement before the shooting, which is alleged to have taken place 20 minutes after the Secret Service spotted Crooks on the roof.
On July 13, former US President Trump was attacked with a gun while addressing his supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One rally participant was killed and two were injured in the attack, and the US Secret Service announced that the assailant was neutralized.
The FBI defined the attack as an assassination attempt, and after an investigation it was reported that the man who attempted the assassination was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed at the scene.
Secret agencies identified as “suspicious”
As the investigation into the assassination attempt continues, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming released a statement to Fox News following a briefing with the senator by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.
Barrasso said Crooks was “identified as a suspicious person” by security teams more than an hour before carrying out the attack because he was “carrying a backpack and a rangefinder.”
“You should then think about not losing sight of that person for that hour,” Barrasso said, adding that security guards should pursue such suspicious individuals but there is no evidence that this has happened.
It was scary: They knew Trump was on stage before he even got on stage
Barrasso called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, saying, “The American people should not be happy about this. This is a complete failure on the part of the Secret Service. We need change at the top level.”
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who received the same briefing, said on her social media account X, “I just attended a Secret Service and FBI briefing. I was horrified to learn that the Secret Service was aware of the threat before President Trump came onstage.” He included his own remarks.
Blackburn also called for the resignation of the Secret Service director, saying he has “no confidence in Director Cheatle’s leadership and believes it is in our Nation’s best interest for him to step down,” he wrote.
US media releases timeline
ABC News shared with its readers a timeline presented during a briefing with law enforcement officials investigating the assassination attempt.
17:10 Attacker identified as suspicious
17:30 Attacker spotted with rangefinder
17:52 The attacker was spotted on the roof by the Secret Service.
18:02 Trump appears on stage
18:12 Attacker opens fire
According to the timeline, Trump was shot and killed about an hour after the attacker was identified as a “suspect” and 20 minutes after Secret Service agents found him on the roof.
Law enforcement officials said just 26 seconds passed between the time Crooks fired the first shot and the time he was killed.
Local police also warn secret agencies
Meanwhile, tensions are rising between federal and local authorities over who is to blame for security lapses in the assassination attempt.
The Secret Service claims that local police were in charge of security at the scene, but according to The Washington Post, local police told the Secret Service before the assassination attempt that they didn’t have the resources to station patrol cars outside the key building where Trump was located.
Biden infected with coronavirus
The White House announced that US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a written statement on the matter.
The statement said Biden was experiencing mild symptoms after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and that the president was tested after an event in Las Vegas where he tested positive for COVID-19 and will be isolating in Delaware.
The statement said Biden would continue to serve in Delaware and that the White House would frequently share updates on the president’s condition. The statement also included a medical note from Biden’s doctor.
The memo stated that the president had symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, that his temperature and pulse were normal, that Biden had been given “Paxrovid” and that the president would isolate.
“If the doctor says so, I will withdraw my candidacy.”
There is growing pressure to “resign” the US president, who canceled his program due to illness. Meanwhile, Biden has shared with the public in various ways that he has no intention of withdrawing from the race despite the growing pressure, and finally, in an interview with the BET channel, Biden said that he believes he cannot hand over his presidential candidacy “in such a polarized country” because of his obligation to someone else. Meanwhile, Biden also said for the first time that he may withdraw from the race “if one of his doctors determines that he has a health problem.”
