Hours before shooting the former president, a gunman flew a drone over Trump rally site: US News

July 20, 2024 TruthUSA

The individual who shot Donald Trump at a campaign rally flew a drone over the site before Mr. Trump took to the stage, as reported by Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

The camera drone used by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks provided an overhead view that may have assisted him in planning the attack, according to a source familiar with the matter at NBC.

During the assassination attempt, Mr. Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the ear and a spectator lost their life, with two others injured. Crooks was subsequently killed by the Secret Service.

The revelation of aerial surveillance further critiques the security services for allowing Crooks to come so close to harming the former president.

While it is typical for the Secret Service to prohibit drones in areas they are securing, it is uncertain if this prohibition was in place at the Butler rally.

A drone and drone equipment were found in Crook’s vehicle.

The method by which investigators discovered the drone flight remains unclear, but drones often leave electronic traces of their flight paths, and DJI may have a record of the flight.

Additionally, investigators uncovered Crooks’ phone history on Friday, which included searches related to a teenage mass shooter in Michigan, according to two law enforcement sources.

The sources mentioned that his phone contained searches related to the Oxford High School shooting and the 15-year-old gunman responsible, who fatally shot four students and injured others in suburban Detroit in 2021. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison.

Moreover, Crooks had searched for depressive disorder and had saved images of the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he shot Mr. Trump on his phone.