A gunman opened fire at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, injuring the ex-president before being fatally shot by law enforcement, according to footage obtained by TMZ.
TMZ reports that video footage shows the gunman, described as having longer brown hair and wearing a grey shirt and khaki pants, lying on his stomach on the rooftop and aiming through what appeared to be a scope or iron sights. Witnesses can be heard panicking as the first shots ring out.
🚨🇺🇸#BREAKING: TMZ has acquired footage showing Thomas Matthew Crooks firing at Trump and then being killed by the secret service. pic.twitter.com/uYplTkeTDe
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) July 14, 2024
Michael Difrischia, who captured the video, told TMZ that he and his wife Amber were watching the rally from outside the main grounds with 30 to 40 other people when Amber noticed the man climbing onto a nearby building. Difrischia said the gunman "shimmied up, then army crawled to his final position on the roof, all with a rifle in hand."
According to Difrischia, bystanders attempted to alert authorities about the gunman's presence, but he was still able to fire shots before being taken down by return fire. An eyewitness interviewed by the BBC corroborated Difrischia's account, stating that people had noticed the gunman and tried to raise the alarm, but "for some reason, he was able to get shots off on the ex-Prez before finally being taken out."
Meanwhile, an anonymous X user managed to deceive some of the world's largest media outlets by impersonating the assassin who shot at the former president. His account on X had previously been used for politically-oriented pranks. The account name translates to "foreskin," and the username roughly means "watching Jews," both indicators of antisemitic views.
The user posted a video claiming to be the assassin and expressing hatred for Trump and all Republicans. The user capitalized on his physical resemblance to images circulated online of the eliminated attacker. Several major news sites, including the New York Post, published the video and the man's image, whose real name is unknown.
