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Pennsylvania SWAT officer says team had no contact with Secret Service before Trump rally shooting

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Pennsylvania SWAT officer says team had no contact with Secret Service before Trump rally shooting


A police officer on a local tactical team assigned to former President Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, said there was no contact between their SWAT team and the U.S. Secret Service before Trump was shot.

“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived,” the Beaver County team’s lead sharpshooter Jason Woods told ABC News. “That never happened.”

Woods told the outlet that the lack of communication was likely part of the critical failure in planning that ended with 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks wounding Trump, killing spectator Corey Compartore and injuring two others before he was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY

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Donald Trump, with blood on his face, is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.

“I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened,” he continued. “We had no communication.”

In the wake of the assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned, and a series of law enforcement and congressional probes have been announced.

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Woods told ABC News that he and his team were in position hours before Trump took the stage at the Butler Farm Show, but his team’s first communication with the Secret Service was “not until after the shooting.” By then, he said, it was “too late.”

TRUMP CAMP QUESTIONS WHY THEY WEREN’T ALERTED OF SUSPICIOUS PERSON PRIOR TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

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Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rallyRepublican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally

Former President Trump reacts as multiple shots ring out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.

WATCH: THOUSANDS DESCEND ON MICHIGAN TOWN FOR FIRST TRUMP RALLY SINCE FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

One of the Beaver County snipers took pictures of Crooks and called into command about his suspicious presence at the venue – but the 20-year-old gunman was still able to position himself on the roof of the building, ABC reported.

Meanwhile, members of Trump’s Secret Service detail and his top advisers have questioned why they weren’t told that local police had spotted a suspicious person who turned out to be a would-be assassin.

Trump’s advisers thought that the sounds of shots, which they heard from a large white tent behind the stage, were fireworks, according to the Washington Post.

SECRET SERVICE WILL AMP UP SECURITY AT UPCOMING PENNSYLVANIA TRUMP RALLY DUE TO ‘COPYCAT’ FEARS: EXPERTS

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Two advisers, who were not named by the outlet, said they did not understand why the alert had not been passed on so that they could consider delaying Trump’s speech, a sentiment the GOP nominee echoed in an interview with Fox News.

“Nobody mentioned it. Nobody said there was a problem,” the former president said in an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday. “They could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, five minutes,’ something. Nobody said — I think that was a mistake.”

Beaver County Chief Detective Patrick Young, who runs the Emergency Services Unit and SWAT team, said the group “did everything humanly possible that day.”

“We talk a lot on SWAT that we as individuals mean nothing until we come together as a team,” Young said.

In a statement, the U.S. Secret Service wrote that “as it relates to communications on that day, we are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure that it never happens again.” 

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“That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI and other relevant investigations,” the statement continued.

Original article source: Pennsylvania SWAT officer says team had no contact with Secret Service before Trump rally shooting



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Monroe County church youth pastor arrested in Pennsylvania child pornography investigation

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Monroe County church youth pastor arrested in Pennsylvania child pornography investigation


A Mt. Zion Baptist Church youth pastor was arrested in connection with a child pornography investigation based in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

The sheriff’s office says 30-year-old Johny Tyler Moreland of Macon was identified as a suspect in the case after Pa. State Police investigators learned that pornographic images of minors were being downloaded in the area of Mt. Zion Baptist Church located on Rivioli Road, where he is employed.

Five arrest warrants were served in Pennsylvania, and Moreland was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Houston County, where he is currently being held without bond awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.

MCSO and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are actively investigating any crime were committed in Georgia, and search warrants are set to be executed by Monroe and Bibb County authorities.

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READ MORE | Man sentenced to 20 years for murder of rival gang member in west Macon, DA says

Anyone with information is urged to contact the MCSO Communications Division at 478-994-7010 or the Investigations at 478-994-7043.

Stick with WGXA as we learn more and update this developing story.



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Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to threatening Trump and ICE agents online

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Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to threatening Trump and ICE agents online


Shawn Monper, 33, of Butler, Pennsylvania, entered the plea on Monday before U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy to two counts of threatening federal officials with intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with and retaliate against them in…



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Pennsylvania man charged after son brought loaded gun to school, DA says

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Pennsylvania man charged after son brought loaded gun to school, DA says



A Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, man was charged after his son went to school with his loaded gun, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said Monday. 

The DA’s office said Russell Matthews, 58, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering the welfare of a child. 

East Pikeland Township Police responded to Hares Hill Elementary School on Monday at around 12:15 p.m. for the report of a student who brought a handgun to school.

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At school, the student noticed the handgun inside their backpack and told a school counselor, according to the DA’s office. The student told officials that he recognized it and that it belonged to his father. The semiautomatic handgun was loaded with five rounds of ammunition, the DA’s office said.

Matthews told police that he put the gun in the wrong backpack, the DA’s office said. 

Nobody was injured during the incident.

“We are grateful to the school officials and the East Pikeland Township Police Department who worked quickly to ensure that [Hares] Hill Elementary School is safe again,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said in a statement.

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