Secret Service operator Googled Crooks' rooftop location just before shots rang out at Trump rally

A newly released Department of Homeland Security inspector general report found that a Secret Service counter-drone operator searched online for the location of the rooftop where a suspicious man had been spotted as the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump unfolded at the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The 64-page report concluded the Secret Service "missed multiple opportunities to detect, prevent, and disrupt" the attack carried out by Thomas Crooks. Investigators also identified communication failures that prevented Trump's protective detail from learning an armed suspect had climbed onto the roof of the American Glass Research International (AGR) complex, about 155 yards from the stage.

According to the report, local law enforcement alerted the Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police communications room at 6:09 pm, warning of "a suspicious person on the AGR complex's roof."

Rather than immediately asking officers where the building was located, the Secret Service communications supervisor delegated the matter to the counter-drone operator. Investigators said the supervisor did not "recall learning that the suspicious person was on the roof" because it was a "busy time" on Secret Service radio channels.

The report states, "Instead of asking local law enforcement personnel for the AGR complex's location, the counter-drone operator searched online for it, and was still searching when Crooks fired his first shots."

Just two minutes later, at 6:11 pm, Crooks fired eight rounds toward the stage, grazing Trump's ear, killing one rally attendee and injuring several others before law enforcement fatally shot him.

Investigators also found the Secret Service failed to establish a joint communications room with local agencies, resulting in 102 radio transmissions about Crooks not reaching Secret Service personnel.

Among the missed warnings was a 5:42 pm transmission stating, "we had a younger white male, long hair, lurking around the AGR building, he was viewed with a rangefinder sighting the stage ... we lost sight of him."

At 6:08 pm, another officer radioed, "I have someone on the roof with white shorts."

Moments before the shooting, an officer transmitted: "He's armed, I saw him. He's laying down," followed by, "You need to deploy to the AGR building ... male on the roof with a long gun. Shots fired!"

The report concluded that Secret Service personnel received only five phone calls and three text messages regarding Crooks. "As a result, Secret Service members did not alert President Trump's protective detail about concerns of a suspicious person," investigators wrote.

The report also said Trump's campaign staff declined a proposal to park trucks between the AGR building and the stage because the vehicles would be "too close to [President Trump's] press shot."