The alleged assassin who opened fire at the campaign rally Donald Trump In Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, he was able to clearly shoot the former president.
The New York Times used drone photography to create a 3D model and recreate the sight lines of both the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooksas well as three sniper teams, two federal and one local.
Analysis shows that Crooks, 20, who flew a drone to survey the site the morning of the rally, blew up one of the few Blind spots within rifle range of Trump, raising serious flaws in security planning for the event.
A 3-D rendering of the line of sight that local law enforcement countersnipers had from the same warehouse complex that a gunman used as a perch at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. From this view inside the building, the gunman would have been out of the snipers’ lines of sight. (The New York Times)
Kimberly A. Cheatle, the director of the Secret Serviceresigned last Tuesday, a day after refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions about sight lines and security lapses at a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill.
What Secret Service snipers saw at the North Barn
The gunman was largely hidden by two trees and the slope of a warehouse roof, which he used as a parapet.
The warehouse complex, owned by AGR International, was outside the Secret Service’s designated security perimeter, the agency later said.
The New York Times used drone photography to build a 3D model and recreate the sight lines of both the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and three teams of counter-snipers at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
Parked in the northernmost barn behind Trump, one of the Secret Service teams had been facing the gunman’s direction for 30 minutes before the violence erupted, according to videos posted on social media and verified by The Times.
At one point, members of the team can be seen standing and looking in the direction of the gunman with binoculars.
The Times used a spatial technique called visual basin analysisl to calculate what areas would have been visible from the northern countersniper team’s position, taking into account obstructions such as trees and buildings.
The analysis confirmed that Crooks chose a privileged location that allowed him to remain largely out of sighteven from a counter-sniper team that had been facing him for a long time, as he prepared for the first shot.
What Secret Service counter-snipers saw at the South Barn
A 3-D close-up of the warehouse that a gunman used as a perch at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024, in the line of sight of the Secret Service sniper team from the south barn. Only the top of the gunman’s head would have been visible in the line of sight of either Secret Service sniper team, and only while the gunman was crouched behind the highest point on the roof. (The New York Times)
A second Secret Service counter-sniper team was positioned on the roof of a barn further south and west.
The building was used to monitor a different area, initially with the gunman’s back turned, as shown in videos posted on social media.
Video footage shows that the counter-snipers later turned towards the direction of the gunman. 1 minute and 35 seconds before before the first shot was fired.
A 3-D rendering of the Secret Service countersniper team’s line of sight from the South Barn at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. Video footage shows the countersnipers turning toward the gunman’s direction one minute and 35 seconds before the first shot was fired — this is the view they would have had when they turned around. (The New York Times)
But the slope of the warehouse roof the gunman had chosen would also have made it difficult for the southern countersniper team to see him as he crawled upward, a Times analysis shows.
Only the top of the head Crooks would have been visible in the line of sight of any of the Secret Service counter-sniper teams, and only while the gunman was crouched behind the highest point of the roof.
Forty-two seconds after the shooting began, Secret Service agents can be heard saying, “Fallen shooter” in the video images.
Crooks received a deadly shoot by a Secret Service counter-sniper, the agency later confirmed.
A 3-D rendering of the gunman’s line of sight at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. The New York Times used drone photography to build a 3-D model and recreate the sight lines of both the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and three countersniper teams, two federal and one local. (The New York Times)
The shot probably came from the counter-snipers in the southern barn, who would have been among the best positioned.
What the gunman saw
The gunman’s position on the roof of a warehouse, less than 500 feet from Trump, provided him with a clear, elevated line of sight.
Investigators said Crooks used a drone to scout the rally site before the shooting.
The Secret Service did not attempt to use drones to provide agents with aerial views of the rally, Cheatle testified Monday.
Crooks was able to fire multiple shots, unimpeded, in Trump’s direction, striking Trump in the right ear.
A rally-goer who was sitting in the stands closest to the gunman was fatally shot in the head.
Two others in the top row of the south-facing stands were also hit, but survived.
What local law enforcement snipers saw
And third group of three snipers law enforcement officers were stationed at the same warehouse complex as the gunman, but in an adjacent building, according to a local law enforcement official, who was not authorized to comment.
The building the snipers were in had windows overlooking the side of the roof of the building Crooks climbed.
But it is not known whether they were assigned to any of those windows that day.
The law enforcement official said the snipers, whose job was to monitor the crowd, were positioned on the other side of the building, in the second-floor windows furthest from the gunman.
From this view of the interior of the building, the gunman would have been out of field of view from snipers.
Videos and photos reviewed by The Times show what was likely a fourth sniper team from a local law enforcement agency about 300 yards from Crooks’ position on the roof.
The team was visible several times in the hours and minutes before Trump began his speech.
The Times could not confirm whether the team fired at any point during the shooting.
Other security bugs
Two rows of chain-link fences divide the Butler Farm Show property from the warehouse complex.
It is unclear whether the Secret Service used the fence to delineate security perimeters, but the agency later acknowledged that AGR warehouses were excluded from the secure zone.
The warehouse complex, which is located next to a state highway and a major road, is accessible to the public.
In a video taken an hour before the shooting, Crooks can be seen in front of the warehouse building he would later use as his cover.
On the grounds, dozens of officers from multiple agencies were also present at the Butler Farm Show grounds, where the rally took place.
Cheatle said Monday that the AGR building complex was being monitored at the time of the shooting, but did not specify by whom.
An FBI investigation found that a SWAT team A local witness spotted Crooks on the roof of a warehouse about 18 minutes before Trump took the stage, Cheatle said at last week’s hearing.
The Secret Service had been informed of a possible “suspicious” person“via radio communication, but that did not stop Trump from taking the stage.
Methodology
On July 16, the Times flew a drone over the site of Trump’s assassination attempt in Butler and used the images captured by the drone to create a 3D model of the scene.
The Times also used measurements taken on the ground, satellite images and references from photos and videos posted on social media to corroborate the model’s dimensions.
The positions of the gunman, sniper teams and victims were based on locations The Times located from social media videos.
To determine the sight lines for each sniper team in the 3-D model, The Times performed a viewshed analysis, a spatial technique used to calculate what areas would be visible from a specific location in 3-D, taking into account obstructions.
The Times used a 300-yard radius from the sniper position for this analysis, which included both the Butler Farm Show grounds and the AGR warehouse complex.
The Times placed cameras on the 3-D model at the approximate locations of the gunman’s and countersniper teams’ elevations to show what they would have looked like from those vantage points.
The gunman’s exact location in the depictions is based on the position his body was found in after he was shot.
Details of the sights used by the gunman or counter-sniper teams on their rifles are unknown, and 3D renderings are approximate.
c.2024 The New York Times Company
