On Monday, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) revealed details of a preliminary investigative report regarding the events that transpired during former President Donald Trump’s July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Ten shots were fired in total during the rally. The report states that eight shots were fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be presidential assassin, from his firing position on the rooftop. The remaining two shots were fired by a Butler SWAT operator and a U.S. Secret Service sniper.
The ninth shot was fired by the SWAT officer, who hit Crooks’ rifle stock before it fragmented into his face, neck, and right shoulder area. After this, Crooks fell from his firing position but recovered after a few seconds and “popped back up.” The tenth and final shot was fired by a counter-sniper team from the south. Higgins stated that he does not believe it was possible for a second shooter to be atop a water tower at the rally venue on July 13.
Interestingly, Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe made no mention of the Butler SWAT operator during his August 2 press briefing, where he offered a detailed summary of the events that unfolded during the July 13 rally. Higgins also mentioned that he requested to examine Crooks’ body only to discover that it had already been cremated and the FBI had cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which he says “injure[d]” the investigation.
Higgins expressed concern over the FBI releasing the shooter’s body for cremation when an official Congressional investigative body was being formed to investigate the events of July 13. He described the FBI’s actions as obstruction to any following investigative effort.