Northeast

Trump assassination attempt: Thomas Crooks surveyed grounds, used drone with law enforcement in position

Published

2 years ago

July 31, 2024

Press Room

Trump assassination attempt: Thomas Crooks surveyed grounds, used drone with law enforcement in position

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BUTLER, Pa. – The man who attempted to assassinate former President Trump and successfully killed one of his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, scoped out the sight of the July 13 rally while local law enforcement officers were in position.

A detailed timeline and accompanying text messages, obtained by Fox News Digital from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who obtained them from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), provided additional details that led to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ successfully setting up his AR-styled rifle and opening fire.

According to a timeline released by the Beaver County ESU, local law enforcement officers were in their pre-determined places at 10:15 a.m. and local snipers were in place by 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 13.

Images of the Beaver County ESU showed the sniper’s positioning among the buildings at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

A photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks that local law enforcement circulated the day of the shooting, July 13, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

A map detailing the locations of interest pertaining to the investigation of Thomas Crooks’ attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley )

Emerging details of Crooks’ whereabouts prior to the shooting placed the 20-year-old surveying the scene at the same time local law enforcement officers and local snipers were in position.

The FBI previously revealed that Crooks, at 11 a.m. on July 13, had driven to the rally site and spent an hour there before heading home.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: FBI SAYS GUNMAN CLIMBED HVAC, TRAVERSED ROOFTOPS TO SHOOTING PERCH

A Beaver or Butler County sniper position is in place at the rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. The former president was shot in an assassination attempt at the rally. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley )

Crooks did not return to the scene until 3:50 p.m. Local law enforcement officers, in their designated positions, spotted him for the first time around 5:10 p.m. — approximately 50 minutes before Trump took the stage, according to documents provided by Grassley’s office.

On his return to the rally site, Crooks flew a drone about 200 yards away from where Trump was going to be speaking, according to the FBI.

The FBI later said that no photos or videos were taken from the drone and that the agency found no memory card in the drone.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: NEW TEXTS SHOW LOCAL POLICE SCRAMBLE TO ASSIST WITH COVERING RALLY

An evidence photo shows the bicycle and backpack left by Thomas Crooks before his attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley )

At 5:30 p.m., local law enforcement snapped a picture of Crooks and escalated it to command.

“Kid learning around building we are in,” an officer wrote in a text message, along with an image of Crooks. “AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out.”

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: TEXTS REVEAL OFFICERS WERE AWARE OF THOMAS CROOKS 90 MINUTES BEFORE SHOOTING

“I lost sight of him,” the officer added.

Law enforcement circulated a picture of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the texts showed. (Fox News)

A follow-up message said: “Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out.”

By 6:12 p.m., the “kid” would be killed by a counter-sniper after he opened fired on the rallygoers.

Trump was grazed by a bullet on his ear, while three rallygoers were also shot, including Corey Comperatore, 50, who was killed protecting his family from danger.

James Copenhaver and David Dutch were shot and injured at the rally by Thomas Matthew Crooks on July 13. (Allegheny Health Network)

David Dutch and James Copenhaver were injured after being shot at the rally. They have both since returned home.

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Maine

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Published

8 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Robert Bryan is a licensed forester from Harpswell and author or co-author of numerous publications on managing forests for wildlife. Paul Larrivee is a licensed forester from New Gloucester who manages both private and public lands, and a former Maine Forest Service forester.

In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a conservation plan and forest management plan as mitigation for impacts from the NECEC transmission corridor that runs from the Quebec border 53 miles to central Maine.

As professional foresters, we were astonished by the lack of scientific credibility in the definition of “mature forest habitat” that was approved by DEP, and the business-as-usual commercial forestry proposed for over 80% of the conservation area.

The DEP’s approval requires NECEC to establish and protect 50,000 acres to be managed for mature-forest wildlife species and wildlife travel corridors along riparian areas and between mature forest habitats. The conservation plan will establish an area adjacent to the new transmission corridor to be protected under a conservation easement held by the state. Under this plan, 50% of the area will be managed as mature forest habitat.

Under the forest management plan, a typical even-aged stand will qualify as “mature forest habitat” once 50 feet tall, which is only about 50 years old. These stands will lack large trees that provide wildlife denning and nesting sites, multiple vegetation layers that mature-forest birds use for nesting and feeding habitats and large decaying trees and downed logs that provide habitat for insects, fungi and small mammals, which in turn benefit larger predators.

Another major concern is that contrary to the earlier DEP order, the final approval allows standard sustainable forestry operations on the 84% of the forest located outside the stream buffers and special habitats. These stands may be harvested as soon as they achieve the “mature forest habitat” definition, as long as 50% of the conserved land is maintained as “mature.”

After the mature forest goal is reached, clearcutting or other heavy harvesting could occur on thousands of acres every 10 years. Because the landowner — Weyerhaeuser — owns several hundred thousand acres in the vicinity, any reductions in harvesting within the conservation area can simply be offset by cutting more heavily nearby. As a result, the net
mature-forest benefit of the conservation area will be close to zero.

Third, because some mature stands will be cut before the 50% mature forest goal is reached, it will take 40 years — longer than necessary — to reach the goal.

In the near future the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will consider an appeal from environmental organizations of the plan approval. To ensure that ecologically mature forest develops in a manner that meets the intent of the DEP/BEP orders, several things need to change.

First and most important, to ensure that characteristics of mature forest habitat have time to develop it is critical that the definition include clear requirements for the minimum number of large-diameter (hence more mature) trees, adjusted by forest type. At least half the stocking of an area of mature forest habitat should be in trees at least 10 inches in diameter, and at least 20% of stands beyond the riparian buffers should have half the stocking in trees greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter.

Current research as well as guidelines for defining ecologically mature forests, such as those in Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds, should be followed.

Second, limits should be placed on the size and distribution of clearcut or “shelterwood” harvest patches so that even-aged harvests are similar in size to those created by typical natural forest disturbance patterns. These changes will help ensure that the mature-forest block and connectivity requirements of the orders are met.

Third, because the forest impacts have already occurred, no cutting should be allowed in the few stands that meet or exceed the DEP-approved definition — which needs to be revised as described above — until the 50% or greater mature-forest goal is reached.

If allowed to stand, the definitions and management described in the forest management plan would set a terrible precedent for conserving mature forests in Maine. The BEP should uphold the appeal and establish standards for truly mature forest habitat.

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Massachusetts

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Published

26 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Human remains were discovered Wednesday in the water in Shirley, Massachusetts, and authorities suspect foul play.

Police in Shirley said in a social media post at 7:15 p.m. that they responded to “a suspicious object in the water near the Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge on Shaker Road.” Massachusetts State Police later said the object was believed to be human remains.

The bridge crosses Catacoonamug Brook near Phoenix Pond.

The office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said a group of young people was walking in the area around 5:30 p.m. and “reported seeing what appeared to be something consistent with a body part in the water.”

Foul play is suspected, Ryan’s office said.

Authorities will continue investigating overnight into Thursday, and an increased police presence is expected in the area.

No further information was immediately available.

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