A SWAT counter-sniper who worked the Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was nearly killed last month agreed with Republican lawmakers Monday that a “strange” pattern of evidence handling had occurred after the deadly shooting.
Ben Shaffer Regional SWAT counter-sniper Washington said it was “absolutely” about the roof of the AGR International building was quickly scrubbed and gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks body was disposed of before the official autopsy report could be released.
Five House Republicans – Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz and Cory Mills of Florida, and Chip Roy of Texas – hosted a panel discussion with Shaffer and other witnesses at the Conservative Heritage Foundation.
“Do you find it strange that literally just a few days after the attempt to kill President Donald J. Trump, when the roof is too sloped to place individuals for counter-sniper operations, it is not too sloped from the roof for the FBI to go ahead and tamper, in my opinion, with evidence by washing the dead roof that may have important evidence in it?” Mills asked Shaffer, referring to the chain of events after the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pa campaign event that left one audience dead and three others, including Trump, injured.
“Yeah, I know,” Shaffer replied.
“Does it also strike you as strange … that the body of Matthew Crooks was not only released and cremated – but the coroner in charge of releasing the body did not know about it?” Mills was stressed.
“Yes, absolutely,” Shaffer said.
“It looks like destroying evidence,” replied Erik Prince, a former US Navy SEAL who founded the private military contractor Blackwater in the late 1990s.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned after testifying incriminatingly to Congress after the assassination of the 45th president, defiantly said in her first interview since the attack that the sniper team was not placed at AGR International. the building where Crooks then perched because of the “sloping roof”.
Mills also accused the FBI of a lack of transparency about Crooks’ “online” research into explosives and encrypted overseas messaging accounts.
Earlier, Shaffer told Biggs that Crooks who was seen walking the grounds of the Butler Farm Show with a rangefinder scope should have been elevated from a “suspect” to a “person of interest” in the eyes of law enforcement.
“That would warrant some kind of investigative arrest or stop and questioning,” he said.
Crooks was first photographed by a local sniper at 5:10 p.m. and observed with a rangefinder “shortly after 5:38 p.m.,” according to Shaffer — 33 minutes before Trump’s target at 6:11 p.m.
The gunman fired eight shots, hitting Trump in the right ear and killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore, 50, and critically wounding David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.
The counter-sniper team fired two shots in response, but it was not known whether only one shot or both killed Crooks, Shaffer said in testimony.
The 20-year-old shooter’s death was ruled “murder” by “a gunshot wound to the head,” according to a report on August 2 by Butler County Coroner William Young.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a former police officer and member of the House of Representatives selected the probing task force that took Butler, revealed in the preliminary investigation report to the chairman of the panel Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) that “FBI. released the body for cremation 10 days after the attack mentioned.
Crooks’ motivations remain a mystery to many lawmakers in the House and Senate — including Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), another member of the select task force whose members traveled to Butler there to survey the scene of the rally.
At one point, lawmakers appeared on the roof of the building where Crooks was taking a stand, about 150 feet from the stage where Trump was speaking.
Waltz said last week that an FBI briefing had revealed Crooks’ use of messaging accounts on platforms located in Belgium, Germany and New Zealand.
“Why does a 19-year-old who is a health care aide need an encryption platform that is not based in the United States, but is based overseas — where most terrorist organizations know it’s harder for our law enforcement to get into?” Waltz said at a press conference last week.
“How did he learn to make that IED? How did he learn to install a remote detonator? How did he do that search and not show up? he told The Post the next day. “I still have a lot of questions.”
“We have heard both the Secret Service and the FBI type words in different ways – that they have all seen (indicated) who acted alone and that they have not found any co-conspirators,” Waltz added. “I find it hard to believe, and I want to see, where is the proof?”
“Any suggestion the FBI interfered with congressional efforts to look into the assassination attempt that took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, is inaccurate and baseless,” the bureau said in a statement Monday afternoon. “The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures for handling crime scenes and evidence.
“The FBI continues to work hard on the investigation to develop a complete picture of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to share information with Congress, which includes participating in open hearings and conducting various live briefings and publishing information to the public about the investigation being conducted.
“Crime scenes are being released to property owners gradually as we complete work on the AGR building, its surroundings, and on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show. Nothing is rushed and everything is documented as part of the investigation,” the statement said. “The FBI arranged to clear the scene of the death, which is in accordance with normal procedures. The shooter’s body was released to the family after coordination with the coroner’s office and state and local law enforcement partners. This is also in accordance with normal procedures.
The Butler County Coroner’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
