Northeast
Attempted Trump assassin seen walking around Pennsylvania rally hours before opening fire
Chilling new video has been released showing Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly two hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump and attendees at a campaign rally.
The short clip, released by the clothing company Iron Clad USA, shows Crooks at 4:26 p.m. dressed in shorts and a “Demolitia” T-shirt walking past a line of vendors selling Trump merchandise ahead of the July 13 rally.
He was wearing the same T-shirt when he opened fire on Trump and is not carrying anything in the eerie video.
The owner of the video, Joe Tomko of Iron Clad USA, told Fox News Digital that he and his family and friends were promoting some new merchandise in an area of the rally dubbed “vendors row,” which he described as “an asphalt lane located parallel to the local airport runway.”
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Chilling new video has been released showing Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly two hours before he opened fire on former President Trump and attendees at a campaign rally. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, main, and Iron Clad USA, inset.)
“This was the area we spent the day promoting our hats and speaking to wonderful people, as a majority of attendees parked their cars in a connected large grass field, exited their vehicles, and walked past vendors row to the security entrance,” Tomko said.
Around 4:15, most people were inside the rally perimeter, Tomko said, and for the next 15-or-so-minutes, he and his family and friends “began to document the colorful scene of vendors row with a video, as the flags blowing in the wind appeared very patriotic.”
They took three videos and planned to upload one to Iron Clad USA’s social media pages. It wasn’t until a week later that Tomko and his friends and family were looking through their photos when they realized they had captured the shooter himself.
“I felt shock, disbelief, and sadness, realizing I had a video of this man on my phone.”
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawling on a roof moments before he attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (DJ Laughery (background))
“I felt shock, disbelief, and sadness, realizing I had a video of this man on my phone,” Tomko said. “I personally reached out to law enforcement to share the video hoping it could help build a timeline of events from that day, and was later questioned by them. We then decided to post a video on social media (7/23/24) in an effort to gain awareness and potentially assist others in the timeline of their investigation. Initially, our video did not get much attention, and it wasn’t until a few days ago … it went viral.”
After Crooks opened fire around 6:11 p.m., Tomko’s sister called him at 6:14 p.m.
“Trump was shot,” she said. “Leave immediately, get out of there now.”
Tomko saw people running away from the venue and called his son-in-law, who was inside the rally perimeter, at 6:16 p.m. to make sure he was okay.
WATCH: VIDEO SHOWS TRUMP SHOOTING VICTIM’S POV
“After what felt like eternity, I got a text message from him at 6:21pm, letting me know he was physically okay,” Tomko said. “I then learned my son-in-law was standing on the same bleacher section as Mr. Corey Comperatore and his family, and unfortunately witnessed the absolutely devastating shooting. Our family was horrified to hear this took place, and that he was so close to where it happened.”
He extended his sympathies to the Comperatore family and the families of the other victims impacted by the assassination attempt.
“Terrifying moment… looking back on my videos from the PA Butler Trump rally on 7/13/24,” the company’s owner wrote on the TikTok version of the video. “We were there just trying to sell our patriotic hats from my small business.”
Crooks later climbed onto the roof of the nearby AGR building and fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s right ear. One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was fatally struck, while two others were also hit and suffered serious injuries.
Pictures of Thomas Mathew Crooks taken by a sniper. (Sen. Ron Johnson’s Office)
“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of and reviewing a variety of footage from July 13 as part of our mission assurance review,” the Secret Service said in a statement in response to news of the new footage being released.
“The U.S. Secret Service is committed to examining the processes, procedures, and factors that led to this operational failure, so that we can ensure it never happens again.”
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A preliminary report released by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., last week found that all eight shell casings were recovered and are in proper possession of the FBI. Higgins said that Crooks’ position on the roof of the AGR building provided him with excellent concealment from the northern counter-sniper team due to the foliage and branches of two trees.
One shot was fired by a Butler SWAT operator from the ground, about 100 yards away from the AGR building. The shot hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face and shoulder area from the stock breaking up, Higgins said.
Police standing over Thomas Crooks after he was shot (Butler Township Police Department)
Higgins believes this shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ rifle, meaning that the rifle would not have fired after his eighth shot.
The report also states that the FBI released Crooks’ body for cremation just 10 days after he was killed. Higgins said he became aware of this after he tried to view the body.
An FBI spokesperson tells Fox News Digital that Crooks’ body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner’s office as well as state and local law enforcement partners “in keeping with normal procedures.”
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PORTSMOUTH, NH — Downtown will again turn its focus to families next month when Pro Portsmouth presents Children’s Day on Sunday.
The annual event, planned across downtown Portsmouth, with a block party and live performances on Pleasant Street, will be held from noon to 4 p.m.
Families will be able to use an activity map and legend to follow the alphabet through downtown. Along the way, children can take part in crafts, games, and interactive activities hosted in shops and restaurants.
Entertainment scheduled for the Pleasant Street block party includes Bryson Lang, Juggler Extraordinaire!, Musical Fun with Friend Andrea, and Movin’ & Groovin’ with musician, TJ Wheeler. The announcement describes Children’s Day as a “kid-friendly” event for Seacoast families.
The Children’s Day map will be available at the event and can also be downloaded or printed from the Pro Portsmouth website. Information about street closures and parking is also posted online as families make plans for the downtown event.
Support for Children’s Day comes from 2026 Program Partners, Mass General Brigham/Wentworth Douglass Hospital, Lonza, and Ocean Properties, along with event sponsors Treehouse Toys, G.Willikers, ad cetera, Blue Dolphin, and the Kiwanis Club of the Seacoast. The org also thanked the city of Portsmouth, City Manager Karen Conard, and city departments for supporting the event.
Pro Portsmouth, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization serving the Seacoast area. According to the group’s description, its mission is to promote the arts, culture, history and community of the area through events including Children’s Day, the Market Square Day Festival & 10K Road Race, Summer in the Street and First Night Portsmouth.
Children’s Day information, including the event map, street closure details, and parking information, is available through Pro Portsmouth online ahead of the May 3 event.
New Jersey
Sunny Mehta can get a quick win for the New Jersey Devils, but it will take some convincing
When a new leader takes the reins, they will always look for easy wins to win the team over. Maybe they make changes to the coffee machine, upgrading your caffeine intake. They might take a few meetings off your plate or give you more facetime with leadership. There are simple wins that help people get on your side and feel good about the company’s direction.
New Jersey Devils GM Sunny Mehta is trying to do the same thing, but it’s different for a hockey leader. He can’t upgrade the coffee maker for million-dollar athletes. He has to upgrade the facilities. And oftentimes, that’s beyond his control.
What he can do is get the players and the fanbase to trust him by making moves that build excitement. The most obvious move to make that happen is to agree to a new contract with Nico Hischier. The Devils’ captain is up for an extension, but he’s not eligible to do that until July 1st.
Mehta has a chance to make something happen even before that.
He can sign Mikhail Yegorov to an entry-level contract. The Devils’ 2024 second-round pick has been one of their top prospects for two seasons. He was incredible, lifting Boston University to the Frozen Four and NCAA Championship Game in 2025. Last season, BU lost too much in front of Yegorov, and the replacements, which include the Devils’ second-round pick Conrad Fondrk, didn’t play well enough to make up for lost talent.
Signing Mikhail Yegorov would be a huge win for the New Jersey Devils and would build good will for Sunny Mehta
Despite his numbers dropping across the board, anyone who actually watched Yegorov play would know he’s destined for the NHL. The excitement for him shouldn’t waver because of an average season on a mediocre team. Jay Pandolfo’s squad will likely be better next season, which might make this move harder than expected.
Yegorov played a season and a half of college hockey. Most goalies grow during these years, and then they need about two years of AHL play before they are NHL-ready. That’s probably why Tom Fitzgerald re-signed Jacob Markstrom. The idea was to lay the groundwork for Yegorov to take over. Then, Jake Allen could be his backup.
If Mehta can get Yegorov to sign now, it would be a big win for the Devils. And it would be an even bigger win for the Mehta regime.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians won’t be able to vote on May 19 because of the state’s closed primary elections.
The state is an outlier, as 42 other states and D.C. have open primaries, which means voters don’t need to affiliate with a political party ahead of the election to vote. Lawmakers have been pushing for reform since at least 1995, but so far none have successfully changed the law.
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The issue has support from Democrats and Republicans. But now a group of independents has filed a lawsuit asking a Pennsylvania court to force them into the primaries.
John Jones, a former federal judge, cited the “free and fair elections” in Pennsylvania’s Constitution for grounds to open the state’s primary elections.
“Emphasis on the word fair,” he said. Jones and political scientists argue too many elections are decided on primary day, rather than Election Day in November.
“You look statistically in elections from 2020 to 2025, in the state legislature, for example, only about 10% of those elections were actually really contested,” he said.
Pa. primary election 2026: A complete guide
Not everyone is open to open primaries. Republican strategist Chris Nicholas said if voters don’t care to be a part of a party, they shouldn’t get a say in the primary.
“Imagine if you’re a member of the Elks Lodge, and you work all year to make the Elks Lodge the best it can be,” he said. “Then on Election Day, you let those folks from the Moose Lodge in, and they come in for one hour, vote in your elections and leave, never to come back again.”
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