Connect with us

Northeast

Whistleblower reveals why Trump rally officer assigned to shooter’s perch moved

Published

on

Whistleblower reveals why Trump rally officer assigned to shooter’s perch moved

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

Whistleblowers have told Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley that a law enforcement officer who was assigned to monitor the roof of a building that would-be former President Trump assassin Thomas Crooks fired from on July 13 left their post because it was “too hot.”

Crooks, 20, fired multiple rounds from the roof of American Glass Research (AGR) Building 6, which was outside the rally perimeter but had a direct line of sight to where the former president was standing on stage at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Advertisement

“This comes from a whistleblower with direct knowledge of the Secret Service plan and setup that day,” Hawley said. “And what this whistleblower tells my office is that there was at least one law enforcement person assigned to the roof itself. In other words, the plan called for a law enforcement individual to be on the roof at all times during the rally. And that did not happen. And what the whistleblower tells me is the law enforcement individual who was assigned to that roof abandoned it.”

Butler’s temperature reached a high of 92 degrees on July 13, and prior to the assassination attempt, emergency personnel at the rally were mostly focused on attending to people suffering from heat-related illnesses.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AFTER SECRET SERVICE FAILURES PROMPTS CALLS FOR DRASTIC AGENT RECRUITMENT CHANGES

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., says a whistleblower told him law enforcement personnel were assigned to cover the roof of the building Thomas Crooks fired from at a former President Trump rally on July 13, but they left because it was “too hot” that day. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Hawley, who visited the rally site on Friday, noted that the AGR building in question was about 150 yards or fewer from the main stage of Trump’s rally.

Advertisement

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

While Congress has confirmed that Crooks purchased a ladder at Home Depot prior to the rally shooting that left 50-year-old firefighter and father Corey Comperatore dead and two others — 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver — critically wounded, he could have accessed the roof of the AGR building without a ladder. Lawmakers who visited the site on Monday were able to reach the roof without a ladder.

“…He or she was too hot and just thought it was unnecessary to be out there.”

— Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

The same whistleblower told Hawley that multiple law enforcement personnel were also assigned to patrol the perimeter of the building “to make sure that somebody couldn’t just jump up” onto the roof, possibly from one of the air-conditioning units jutting out from the windows of the building, the senator said.

The Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, site of a campaign rally for former President Trump, is seen on July 15. Trump was wounded on July 13 during an assassination attempt while speaking at the rally. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Advertisement

The roofs at the Butler Fair Ground in Pennsylvania, where a group of bipartisan lawmakers visited on Monday. (Fox News Digital)

“All of these whistleblowers who’ve now come forward to my office, saying things like: law enforcement was assigned to be on the roof, and they weren’t. They were assigned to be patrolling the perimeter of that building, and they weren’t. They were supposed to be communicating over a common radio frequency, and they weren’t,” Hawley said. “I have to say, none of that surprises me because it is just astounding with those kind of failures and errors that this 20-year-old was able to get up on in plain view of everybody onto that low-slung roof and take multiple shots at the [former] president.”

AIR FORCE VETERAN AT TRUMP RALLY SAYS ‘SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT’ BEFORE WOULD-BE ASSASSIN OPENED FIRE

Approximately one hour passed between the time law enforcement officials first identified a suspicious person near the rally grounds and the time Crooks fired. Officials temporarily lost sight of the suspicious person, but then around 5:52 p.m., a sniper “had eyes on him,” which was about 20 minutes before the gunfire rang out, Hawley said, citing a briefing he attended with former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle last week.

The whistleblower also told Hawley that the Secret Service had delegated the AGR building and the roof to local or state law enforcement but noted that both local and federal officials have been pushing blame onto one another.

Advertisement

PENNSYLVANIA OFFICERS NOT ALLOWED IN SECRET SERVICE COMMAND CENTER AT TRUMP RALLY, LAWMAKERS SAY ON SITE

“There’s a lot of effort on the part of both Secret Service, on the one hand, and DHS on the other hand, and then also state and local law enforcement to push the responsibility off onto each other. So this is just why we need to get these facts into the open. We need to have real and substantive hearings, not like the one [on Monday] where the former Secret Service director wouldn’t even respond to questions. What a farce that was,” Hawley said.

Thomas Crooks seen at the Trump rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Sen. Ron Johnson)

His comments came the same day Cheatle resigned from her position on Tuesday morning.

“To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure,” Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency obtained by Fox News. “On July 13th, we fell short on that mission.”

Advertisement

TRUMP SHOOTING SITE GIVES BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF ‘DISORGANIZED’ RALLY SCENE, WITNESSES SAY

Cheatle said that the “scrutiny” over the last week “has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases.” 

WATCH: EYEWITNESS SHARES NEW FOOTAGE OF TRUMP SHOOTING

“As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she wrote.

Now, Hawley is calling for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign, as well.

Advertisement

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, is calling for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign in light of the assassination attempt against former President Trump. (Getty Images)

“Alejandro Mayorkas needs to resign. He’s the head of DHS. All of this is in his purview — Secret Service, the DHS personnel,” the Missouri senator said. “Another whistleblower tells me that most of the federal security there that day were not Secret Service. Most of them were DHS personnel who had just been detailed over to this event for the day. And they were largely not prepared, not read into the security plan, and were not executing their duties according to what the plan called for.”

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA TOWN MANAGER DEFENDS POLICE AMID RESPONSE ‘MISCONCEPTION’

Hawley suggested the DHS is overwhelmed under Mayorkas’ leadership of the agency. 

A DHS spokesperson said the agency “cannot comment on matters related to an ongoing investigation. We, of course, are committed to working with the appropriate and relevant investigations of what happened on Saturday, including with Congress, the Inspector General, and both internal and independent reviews.”

Advertisement

The Secret Service did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital regarding Hawley’s comments.

“The Department of Homeland Security is in total crisis.”

— Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

“I think the fact that you have so many of these DHS security folks, a lot of them are designated as investigators — DHS investigators — whose jobs are actually to be out in on the ground in the continental United States, searching for illegals, looking for crime. So many of them have been sent to the southern border. So there aren’t that many of them available to begin with. And then you’re pulling people off of other responsibilities and sending them to this rally. They’re not adequately briefed. They’re not trained to do that,” Hawley said. 

Mayorkas on Sunday announced that he has tapped a bipartisan panel of law enforcement experts to conduct a 45-day independent review of the assassination attempt.

“The men and women of the U.S. Secret Service make it the greatest protective service in the world, with one of the most solemn and difficult missions in government,” the DHS secretary said. “This independent review will make the organization even better.”

Advertisement

Hawley’s office continues to communicate with whistleblowers about the Trump rally shooting and what went wrong in order for Crooks to gain access to the AGR building rooftop that evening with an AR-15.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Northeast

Alleged New Hampshire country club shooter said he was targeting wealthy ‘elites’: report

Published

on

Alleged New Hampshire country club shooter said he was targeting wealthy ‘elites’: report

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The New Hampshire man accused of opening fire inside a country club last year, killing one person, reportedly confessed to the shooting, telling investigators he aimed to kill the rich. 

Hunter West Nadeau, 24, told police he carried out the shooting at a steakhouse located at the Sky Meadow Club in Nashua in an effort to retaliate against the rich because “they were not helping the poor,” according to a police affidavit obtained by The Boston Globe. 

The affidavit reportedly pointed to surveillance video showing Nadeau entering the club’s main entrance around 7:17 p.m. Sept. 20, wearing a black hoodie and carrying a green backpack. 

Nadeau then allegedly walked to Prime steakhouse, put on a face mask and brandished a gun, firing five shots at employee Steve Burtman, according to the affidavit.

Advertisement

Hunter Nadeau, 24, a former employee of the Sky Meadow Club, was charged with second-degree murder in Robert Steven DeCesare’s killing. (New Hampshire Attorney General)

Burtman, who was reportedly stationed at the front desk, was struck in the face, the outlet reported. He survived his injuries. 

Surveillance footage then reportedly shows Nadeau entering the restaurant and firing five more shots toward numerous patrons. 

Nadeau allegedly struck and killed 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, who was dining with his wife and daughter. A third patron was also injured as he allegedly fired multiple shots toward a group of individuals.

WITNESS SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY CLUB SHOOTER YELLED ‘FREE PALESTINE’ DURING WEDDING VIOLENCE: AP

Advertisement

Ambulances are parked outside a hotel acting as a reunification center after a shooting at a country club in Nashua, N.H., Sept. 20, 2025.  (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

Nadeau then “continued to shoot until he was attacked by other patrons in the restaurant, and he retreated back through the doors of the steakhouse,” the affidavit said. 

A witness previously told The Associated Press Nadeau allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” as the chaos was unfolding. 

Police subsequently located Nadeau on the club’s golf course, where he “was bleeding from apparent self-inflicted incised wounds to [his] arms and wrists, and made statements to the effect that he was a ‘bad guy,’” according to the filing. 

He then reportedly took responsibility for the shooting, telling officers about his negative feelings toward the affluent.

Advertisement

BODYCAM IMAGES SHOW LUIGI MANGIONE’S MCDONALD’S ARREST AS DEFENSE CHALLENGES EVIDENCE COLLECTION

Robert “Rob” DeCesare Jr., 59, was fatally shot during a wedding at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, N.H.  (Charlene DeCesare)

Speaking to authorities from his hospital bed, Nadeau told investigators “he was tired of the ‘elites’ taking all the money,” according to the outlet. 

Nadeau also reportedly told investigators he chose Sky Meadow because he had previously worked there and knew members were affluent.

“He said that he settled on Sky Meadow as a location because he worked there about a year ago as a server and knew that you had to have money to have a membership there,” police said, according to the Globe.

Advertisement

POLICE SERGEANT DENIES HEARING LUIGI MANGIONE MOTHER’S ALLEGED DAMNING STATEMENT ABOUT CEO KILLING

“He was not targeting a specific person but did not care whether he killed someone or not,” police reportedly added. 

Additionally, Nadeau explained why he targeted a wedding being held at the venue at the time of the shooting, telling police “he did not want to target ‘civilians,’” according to the outlet. 

At the time, the shooting came less than one year after Luigi Mangione allegedly opened fire on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an apparent assassination in midtown Manhattan. Investigators have pointed to similar ideological motives behind Mangione’s alleged crimes.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

In January, prosecutors filed multiple charges against Nadeau, including first-degree murder and reckless second-degree murder, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice. 

He is being held without bail as he awaits trial. 

Fox News Digital was unable to locate an attorney representing Nadeau. 

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. 

Advertisement

Related Article

New Hampshire man shot dead during wedding at country club, suspect faces murder charge

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

New York

How the Editor in Chief of Marie Claire Gets Styled for a Trip to Italy

Published

on

How the Editor in Chief of Marie Claire Gets Styled for a Trip to Italy

Nikki Ogunnaike, the editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine, did not grow up the scion of an Anna Wintour or a Marc Jacobs.

But, she said, “my mom and dad are both very stylish people.”

Advertisement

They got dressed up to go to church every week in her hometown Springfield, Va. Her mother managed a Staples; her father, a CVS. “Presentation is important to them,” she said.

Since landing her first internship with Glamour magazine in college, Ms. Ogunnaike, 40, has held editorial roles there and at Elle magazine and GQ. She has been in the top post at Marie Claire since 2023.

She recently spent a Saturday with The New York Times as she prepared for Milan Fashion Week.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Mass. reports first two measles cases of 2026, including one in Greater Boston

Published

on

Mass. reports first two measles cases of 2026, including one in Greater Boston


Health

While infectious, the Boston-area adult visited several locations where others were likely exposed to the virus, according to health officials.

A photo of the measles virus under a microscope. 
Cynthia Goldsmith

Massachusetts health officials have confirmed the state’s first two measles cases of the year, a school-aged child and a Greater Boston adult. 

The Department of Public Health announced the cases Friday, marking the first report of measles in Massachusetts since 2024. 

Advertisement

According to health officials, the adult who was diagnosed returned home recently from abroad and had an “uncertain vaccination history.” While infectious, the person visited several locations where others were likely exposed to the virus, and health officials said they are working to identify and notify anyone affected

The child, meanwhile, is a Massachusetts resident who was exposed to the virus and diagnosed with measles out-of-state, where they remain during the infectious period. Health officials said the child does not appear to have exposed anyone in Massachusetts to measles. 

The two Massachusetts cases come as the U.S. battles a large national measles outbreak, which has seen 1,136 confirmed cases nationwide so far in 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“Our first two measles cases in 2026 demonstrate the impact that the measles outbreaks, nationally and internationally, can have here at home,” Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said Friday. “Fortunately, thanks to high vaccination rates, the risk to most Massachusetts residents remains low.” 

Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours and may even spread through tissues or cups used by someone who has it, according to the DPH. 

Advertisement

Early symptoms occur 10 days to two weeks after exposure and may resemble a cold or cough, usually with a fever, health officials warned. A rash develops two to four days after the initial symptoms, appearing first on the head and shifting downward. 

According to the DPH, complications occur in about 30% of infected measles patients, ranging from immune suppression to pneumonia, diarrhea, and encephalitis — a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the brain. 

“Measles is the most contagious respiratory virus and can cause life-threatening illness,” Goldstein said. “These cases are a reminder of the need for health care providers and local health departments to remain vigilant for cases so that appropriate public health measures can be rapidly employed to prevent spread in the state. This is also a reminder that getting vaccinated is the best way for people to protect themselves from this disease.” 

According to the DPH, people who have had measles, or who have been vaccinated against measles, are considered immune. State health officials offer the following guidance for the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine:

  • Children should receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 to 15 months. School-aged children need two doses of the MMR vaccine.
  • Adults should have at least one dose of the MMR vaccine. Certain high-risk groups need two doses, including international travelers, health care workers, and college students. Adults who were born in the U.S. before 1957 are considered immune due to past exposures. 
Profile image for Abby Patkin

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

Sign up for the Today newsletter

Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending