The senator said he has new evidence suggesting local law enforcement snipers never had the shooter in their line of sight.
Almost a month after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, conflicting narratives persist regarding whether local law enforcement snipers had a clear line of sight to the rooftop where the would-be assassin opened fire, leaving key questions unanswered.
In an Aug. 9 letter, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) asked acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. to explain why the photos he presented to the members of Congress show a view of the entire rooftop from where the local snipers were purportedly posted, but local officers on site that day said otherwise.
“Local law enforcement dispute the angle of the picture that you provided during your testimony,” the senator wrote in the letter.
On July 30, Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate appeared for a joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. It was the first time a Secret Service official testified before Congress since Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
Ahead of the hearing, Butler County Police released an aerial photo of the Trump rally site, with labels identifying the locations of Butler County and Beaver County law enforcement counter-snipers assigned to the American Glass Research (AGR) building complex—the rooftop of which shooter Thomas Crooks perched with his AR-style rifle and fired eight shots at the former president and rallygoers at a distance of about 150 yards.
The picture includes a narrow red triangle labeled “Beaver Sniper Line of Sight.” That line of sight narrowly connects the counter-snipers inside the AGR building to Trump’s onstage performance, and unambiguously does not cover any area of the rooftop where Crooks had positioned himself.
However, during the hearing, Rowe put out a picture from the second floor of the AGR building, suggesting that local law enforcement was primarily to blame for the shooter being able to access that AGR rooftop.
By Bill Pan
