Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) said in a Monday investigative report that a Butler SWAT operator shot would-be presidential assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ gun “from the ground” before the shooter was killed by a U.S. Secret Service sniper during former President Donald Trump’s July 13 campaign rally.
A total of ten shots were fired during Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Rep. Higgins said in a preliminary investigative report to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), the Chairman of the “Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump.”
The report stated that eight “shots were fired by Crooks from his firing (and dying) position” on the rooftop, and that all eight bullet casings are now “allegedly in proper possession of the FBI.”
“Thomas Matthew Crooks’ rifle is also allegedly in the proper possession of the FBI,” the congressman noted. “I will need to examine all of the physical evidence that has been harvested by law enforcement and is in the possession of the FBI. All of it.”
Notably, the ninth shot fired at the July 13 rally “was from a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards away from the AGR building,” Higgins continued in his report.
Shot nine “hit Crooks’ rifle stock” and fragmented into the shooter’s face, neck, and right shoulder area from the stock breaking up into pieces, the congressman said.
At that point, Crooks “went down” from his firing position, “and the SWAT officer was certain of his hit,” but then the would-be presidential assassin “recovered” a few seconds later and “popped back up,” the report added.
“The 10th (and, I believe, final) shot was fired from the southern counter-sniper team,” Higgins stated in his report. “I will not be 100% certain of this until further investigation.”
The congressman also said 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, “nor have I seen any evidence that supports the theory of a 2nd shooter.”
“I’m not saying conclusively that there was no other shooter somewhere or that no other conspirators were involved in J13, but I’m saying that based on my investigation thus far, there were 10 shots fired on J13, and all shots are accounted for, and all shots align with their source,” he said.
Moreover, “Crooks’ firing position did NOT offer excellent concealment from the southern counter-sniper team,” Higgins added.
“However, it should be noted that the would-be assassin perfectly positioned himself to minimize the threat of counter-fire from the ground or the USSS counter-sniper teams,” the congressman said.
The findings in Higgins’ report are interesting, as Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe made no mention of the Butler SWAT operator during his August 2 press briefing, in which he offered a detailed summary of the events that unfolded during the July 13 rally.
Elsewhere in his report, Higgins said he requested to examine the body of Crooks, only to discover that the shooter’s body was “gone” and that “the FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene,” which the congressman says “injure[d]” the investigation.
“My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact… the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after [July] 13,” the congressman said. “On [July] 23, Crooks was gone.”
“Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc.,” Higgins added.
“The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which is unheard of. Cops don’t do that, ever,” the congressman asserted in his report. “It should be noted that the FBI was fully aware of the fact that Congress would be investigating J13.”
“The FBI does not exist in a vacuum,” Higgins added. “They had to know that releasing the J13 crime scene would injure the immediate observations of any following investigation.”
The congressman also pointed out that on the day Crooks’ body was cremated, “both the Homeland Security Committee and the Oversight Committee had begun House Committee jurisdictional investigation into J13, and Speaker Johnson had already stated that he was forming an Official Congressional investigative body.”
“Why, then, by what measure, would the FBI release his body to the family for cremation?” Higgins asked. “This pattern of investigative scorched earth by the FBI is quite troubling.”
“This action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort,” the congressman said.
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