An Hour That Shook America

The jolt was instinctive as the first explosions rang out around Butler’s performance area. Donald Trump’s hands flew to his ears as the explosions continued. Screams erupted from the crowd as he ducked, and as the Secret Service buried him among their own bodies.

Just after 6:12 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had been flagged by police as a suspect, climbed onto the roof of the warehouse, pointed an AR-15 rifle at the former president and fired a volley of bullets at him.

What happened in just a few moments at the Butler Farm exhibit shook American politics, and left the nation wondering how a man could storm the exhibit with a powerful gun, climb onto the firing platform without hindrance, and come so close to taking Trump’s life.

Using eyewitness accounts, original reports and statements from law enforcement, the BBC has pieced together a picture of the events that unfolded on that chaotic day.

Late summer afternoon sunlight streams down from a clear blue sky as this small Pennsylvania town prepares for its biggest spectacle in years.

Crowds flocked to an exhibition area transformed into a corner of America; everything was decorated in red, white and blue, a sea of ​​flags and campaign posters covering almost every surface.

Greg Smith was one of them. He spent the day at his Butler home with friends and family, grilling and drinking beer, before heading down the road to take in the spectacle.

“We were hanging out, partying. Then we all thought ‘hey, Trump’s here – let’s go to the rally and look at him through the fence’,” he told the BBC. “It was just a fun time.”

Corey Comperatore, 50, a retired volunteer firefighter and Trump supporter, was also there with his wife and one of their two daughters. They found a prime spot on the right side of the stage and waited for the show to start.

Local police mingled with the crowd outside the event’s security perimeter. Secret Service agents and state police worked together inside the perimeter, while anti-sniper teams were stationed on the roofs of nearby buildings, keeping watch.

Somewhere in that crowd was Crooks, a 20-year-old from nearby Bethel Park. But he was not with family or friends, and his motives were unclear. Hours earlier, his parents Matthew and Mary had reported him missing to the police, saying they were “concerned” that he had disappeared.

According to US media reports, before the protest, Crooks also used drones to scout the area.

Security sources told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, that Crooks first came to the attention of police at 5:10pm, 52 minutes before Trump took the stage, and was “identified as a person of interest”. Why wasn’t that disclosed?

Twenty minutes later, at 5:30 p.m., Crooks was spotted looking up at the roof by a local SWAT team stationed in buildings outside the security perimeter.

An officer took a photo and radioed to others that he had seen a man looking through a rangefinder — a device hunters use to measure the distance to a target.

They did not report seeing a gun. The criminals were still roaming free.

Another 22 minutes passed before Crooks was spotted again – at 17:52 – this time on the roof of a warehouse about 140m (400ft) from the stage. He was outside the security perimeter in a direct line of sight to the podium where Trump was to speak.

Mr Smith was near the building, standing by a tree, and also spotted Crooks. “I looked over, and there was a guy crawling up on the roof with a rifle,” he told the BBC – the first time anyone had apparently seen an actual weapon.

“We told the police, ‘Hey, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle,’ and they were running around on the ground like they didn’t know what was going on. Within about two minutes — this guy was crawling up on the roof.”

He said secret service agents on the roof of a building next door were “watching with binoculars” as he pointed.

Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m., wearing a dark blue suit, a white open-collared shirt and a red Make America Great Again baseball cap. He was flanked by three Secret Service agents wearing dark suits, white shirts and dark sunglasses.

It has been 10 minutes since Crooks was discovered on the roof.

Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA (I’m Proud To Be An American) blared from the festival’s loudspeakers held high in the air.

Walking past several yellow-bordered flags, Trump shook hands with supporters to applause and cheers. Within a minute, he was on stage, with the crowd chanting “USA! USA!” and holding up signs reading “Trump 2024” and “You’re Fired.”

“This is a big crowd, a big, big, beautiful crowd,” he told the thousands gathered. “Hello Butler and hello Pennsylvania, I’m so happy to be back.”

At this point, about 140m away, Crooks was questioned by police.

Four of the town’s traffic police were alerted by radio of a suspicious person on the roof, and they “instinctively” ran from their posts to face the danger, according to Butler Town Manager Tom Knights.

One of the officers was lifted up by a colleague and stuck his head over the edge of the roof. They found themselves in the sights of an AR-15-style rifle held by a long-haired man in glasses. The officer was in an impossible position, Knights said, and fell eight feet to the ground.

The police sent another warning over the radio, but Crooks remained undeterred.

Mr Smith later recalled that he continued to point at the roof and shout at the police. “I was standing here like this,” he told the BBC, “saying to them ‘hey, there’s a guy up here’, and then I was thinking in my head, ‘why is Trump still talking? Why can I still hear him on stage?'”

But Trump was speaking with gusto, invoking familiar themes of a “stolen” country, a “rigged” 2020 election, a “fraudulent” Joe Biden and a “laughing” Kamala Harris.

Seven minutes later, at 6:09 p.m., he turned the subject to immigration. “We have millions and millions of people in this country who shouldn’t be here. Dangerous people. Criminals. Drug dealers,” he said.

At around 6:11 p.m., he “turned off auto-reminder” and switched to the chart on the right showing immigration levels and criticized Mr. Biden’s border policies.

“And if you really want to see what was said… see what happened…”

He didn’t finish his thought. It was 18:12 and Crooks fired the first shot.

There was a loud bang and Trump was startled. Another bang, Trump clutched his right ear and began to duck under the podium.

Shouts of “DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN” rang out as chaotic screams rose from the crowd. Within seconds, the former president was surrounded by four Secret Service agents as gunshots rang out across the courtyard.

The stunned crowd slumped into their chairs – with nowhere else to go. They had no idea of ​​the condition of the former president, who was now under tight security guard.

To the left of the stage, a speaker array appeared to have been hit, gas escaping from the hydraulic system as the speaker began to fall to the ground. The chaotic screams grew louder.

A video posted to the website TMZ shows Crooks on the roof at this point, the air filled with gunfire and screams from people below. “What is he doing?” a woman screams, while a man warns, “he’s coming this way, guys.”

But Crooks only had seconds to live. Secret Service counter-snipers had him as a target 11 seconds after his first shot. Fifteen seconds later, he was dead, CBS reported, citing security sources.

“I heard about four or five shots and everyone ran,” Mr Smith said later. “I was standing by the tree and watched him get shot in the head by the Secret Service. They got him out but… security failed, 100%.”

Back on stage, Trump was buried under more Secret Service agents. “Stop, stop, are you ready? It’s your turn,” one of the guards said as his words were picked up by a microphone on the podium. “Move! Move!”

Officers in combat gear would take up positions around them, assault rifles at the ready.

“The gun is down, we’re clear,” an agent shouted, and Trump was pulled back into view. Blood covered his ears and there were splatters on his face and shirt collar, but he told the agents, “let me get the megaphone, let me get my shoes… wait, wait, wait.”

He then repeatedly punched the air and muttered “fight, fight, fight” before being dragged away by agents while still using his body as a shield.

Shouts of “USA! USA!” rang out as Trump was led off the stage, about a minute and 10 seconds after the first gunshot.

While the former president survived without serious injury, others did not. Some of Crooks’ bullets missed Trump but hit the crowd. Mr. Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter, was shot in the head as he shielded his family.

A doctor sitting backstage, James Sweetland, tried to help. “There was someone over there shouting, ‘He’s been shot, he’s been shot’,” Dr Sweetland told the BBC.

“The guy is back [and was] stuck between the benches. There was a lot of blood.”

There was nothing he could do to help. Mr. Comperatore was dead.

Two others, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously injured but survived.

Hours later, when he returned home, Mr Smith recalled the “horrific” scene after the crash on television. “There were a lot of kids there with us, terrified. They’re still terrified. My son was terrified, crying and begging me to take him home.

“I cannot accept that there is any reason why something like this should happen.”

The assassin is dead, Trump survived, but the nation remains stunned, still hungry for answers as to how this could have happened so easily.