Trump shooter flew drone in rally area two hours before shooting, FBI director says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

Updated 11:17 AM EDT, Wed July 24, 2024


CNN — Donald Trump’s would-be assassin flew a drone in the area near the rally just two hours before the former president took the stage on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.

Speaking to the House Judiciary Committee, Wray revealed that “around 4 p.m.,” the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, “was flying the drone around the area” of the rally, approximately 200 yards from the stage.

The drone was in the air for approximately 11 minutes, and investigators believe Crooks watched a live feed from the drone on his phone. CNN previously reported that the drone was found in his car following the shooting. In addition, Crooks had two explosives in his car at the time of the shooting and one in his home, but likely did not have the ability to detonate them from the roof where he was killed, Wray testified.

“It looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” Wray said. The FBI is investigating the shooting as both an attempted assassination and as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/24/politics/fbi-wray-house-hearing-trump-shooting/index.html

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I was always under the impression that wherever you had events like this (including with a former- ), there was a "no-fly" zone. That might only be for a current President though.

[twodogsbarking]

1. Was he wearing a shirt that said " I plan to shoot Trump"?

Just askin'.

[Prairie Gates]

5. You would think the families of the killed and injured would have more pressing questions

about what exactly happened here.

[Bengus81]

17. Probably but that's not important. Shit canning the woman running the SS was the only option. Scapegoats

are also the important factor.

The whole thing SMELLS!

[twodogsbarking]

18. Shit show after shit show.

[bif]

2. Hasn't this been posted several times already?

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Not in LBN it hasn't and the head of the FBI made the statement TODAY in a hearing.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.

General Discussion is not the only forum.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

27. Kamala needs to fire him and Garland in January

[BumRushDaShow]

29. The FBI Director position is a 10-year term

so he only has a couple years left. There would need to be a "for-cause" to do any removals (which was supposedly established for Comey when he triggered the "Butter emails" mess).

I doubt Garland is going anywhere while in the middle of several huge cases.

[suegeo]

25. It is assumed the shooter flew the drone. What if it was someone else flying the drone.

In this digital age, is there footage anywhere showing Thomas Crooks himself was flying the drone?

[Marthe48]

3. Easy to be unobserved

People in general are distracted. Watching for the program to start, looking for people they know, looking at their phones. The killer fit right in to the crowd, and was hardly registering on the danger scale. If amyone saw a drone, probably thought it was security or news coverage. So they either flipped if off or waved. My opinion, anyway.

[Miguelito Loveless]

12. But the job of law enforcement agencies

in these situations is to scout out the site as far in advance as possible, and to be surveilling the scene continuously in the 24 hours before the event. As usual, law enforcement (local, state, and federal) are far more incompetent than there reputations let on. The reality of crime in America is that the only reason most crimes result in an arrest and successful conviction is that criminals are stupider than law enforcement.

[Prairie Gates]

4. They have to make a film where Secret Service agents are absolute morons

I mean like Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading level dumb.

You know, filmic realism...

[twodogsbarking]

6. Burn After Reading. A movie to watch.

[FakeNoose]

7. Before Chump and the Secret Service arrived, it was just a Farm Show

I doubt that anyone even looked up and saw the drone. Unless the kid was walking around with a large weapon strapped on his back, he didn't look different from anyone else there.

People should be asking this: were metal detectors set up at the entrance to the show? If not, why not?

[LeftInTX]

13. The grounds were open to the event at 8 am.

Yes, there were metal detectors. Shooter was outside perimeter.

[BigDemVoter]

8. I don't know very much about drones. . . .

I know the military uses them to kill people. . . Can any drone be used to do this? If so, it is a terrifying idea.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. I really wish they would stop calling them "drones"

because IMHO, a "drone" is near regular airplane size, but they have decided to call all of these remote-controlled things "drones".

These are technically those little "quadcopters".

[BigDemVoter]

11. Gotcha

Thanks for the clarification. I had no clue about any of it.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. When the FAA first authorized those things

I was still living in a hi-rise apartment with a balcony and the first thing I did was double up my drapes, not only across the windows, but the balcony doors (had 2 sets of sliding glass doors - 1 in the living room and 1 in the bedroom).

They are good for first responders trying to find lost people or to assess dangerous conditions in inaccessible locations. Plus they are now being used extensively by storm chasers to get a good aerial views of storm damage. But the potential abuse of them is mind-boggling.

[Marthe48]

16. I wanted to get a quad to follow the punk

Who rides a tractor for recreation on my street. I was unhappy to learn that in Ohio, you can't use drones to observe your neighbors.
Otoh, my ins. co. used a drone to take pics of my house without my knowledge or permission and that is allowed. They aren't my ins. co. any longer. For several reasons.
This killer got away with so much.

[sir pball]

21. Any "uncrewed aircraft or vessel guided by remote control" is defined as a "drone"

At least per Merriam-Webster…a quadcopter is a sub-type of drone.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Yes

but then it continues to cause the type of confusion that we see today where those who are not into the tech, envision one of the military types and not what are basically small (hand held sized) "consumer" devices.

Seriously - they might as well call the 1950s remote-controlled "model airplanes", "drones" -

( - not directed to you personally but at the absurdity of the use of the term)

[sir pball]

23. 1. That is totally a "drone", and 2. I haven't seen this confusion before, ever.

This is very literally the first time I have ever seen anyone confuse a DJI Mavic and an MQ-9 Reaper.

Up until now literally (again I keep using that word because I literally mean it) everyone I have ever spoken to, from my 11yo niece to my 78yo father, would call them both "drones" and be very clear on the difference between "the suspect flew a drone over the area" and "an errant drone strike killed 37 civilians at a wedding".

[BumRushDaShow]

26. "first time I have ever seen anyone confuse a DJI Mavic and an MQ-9 Reaper."

Like calling an AK-47 an AR-15.

"the suspect flew a drone over the area" and "an errant drone strike killed 37 civilians at a wedding".

That can only happen if there is some kind of context that describes the "scale" and even then, it might be misleading.

From doing all kinds of LBN posts on Ukraine, I have seen reports where some of their soldiers have taken "consumer" quadcopters and rigged them with explosives (out of desperation).

[sir pball]

28. Most people understand context.

To 99.95% of people, a "drone flying over the rally" is gonna be a quad while a "drone strike" is a Reaper – confusing the descriptor of "drone" between the two is for more informed and pedantic folx.

I mean, nobody thinks the nutter was flying a Reaper, or even an armed quad, over the rally – saying "he flew a drone over the space" is perfectly clear to the aforementioned 99.95% of people: he was flying an unarmed camera over his ".battlespace", rather than an extremely sophisticated and accurate weapons platform.

Seriously, if you only think of "drones" as Reaper-class UAVs I don't know what to say. Would you prefer "unarmed consumer-class quadcopter" as the preferred language?

[BumRushDaShow]

31. "To 99.95% of people, a "drone flying over the rally" is gonna be a quad while a "drone strike" is a Reaper"

The DUer who generated the start of this subthread expressed concern and confusion about the use of the term.

The average person has no idea about the brand names or types of those things unless they are a hobbyist and have used one. A few years ago, one of my SILs bought my youngest nephew one but none of us were able to get the damn thing to work.

But since there has been WAY more discussion in the news about Iran and Russia and "drones", THAT is the imagery that seems to be promoted more than the little buzz-buzzes that amateurs are using. I.e.,





vs

[LeftInTX]

14. Camera drones. They sell them at Best Buy. Police and media frequently use them.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/aerial-drones-accessories/drones-with-cameras/pcmcat369900050002.c?id=pcmcat369900050002

[oasis]

19. Secret service was extra observant when they

were collecting dirt to rat out Pres. Bill Clinton.

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. I hope they learn from this attempt. An incompetent leader was fired. That's a good start

I hope they apply that new focus now to any Biden or Harris rally. Including the DNC.

Just ridiculous. If the shooter had injured more severely Donald Trump, and he was still recovering in hospital. The MSM would be bombarding us with stories about poor poor Donny and showing the 1000's of get well letters pouring in.

Who'll be the first to catch his first statements when he is ready to whisper out his first words from his bed?

All the stories from the MSM about how he will now be more humble, and grateful, and maybe even open to new gun laws. And the righteous anger at any news service or politician that dares to speak out against him as a person while he's "fighting for his life".

And if the shooter had been more accurate? Probably even worse for Democrats.

[suegeo]

24. Was the shooter the pilot of the drone.

Or could someone else be the pilot. Then plant the drone in the shooter's car.

Is there official footage of Thomas Crooks flying a drone.
Civilian footage from cell phones of Thomas Crooks flying a drone.
Nearby business video showing the drone pilot.

There would have to be finger prints on the drone and controller. Fingerprints on door handles of Thomas Crooks' car.

Wray said the drone footage was live streamed***.

Means there are statistics on who watched the live stream.
Location data of viewers who watched the live stream.

***Wray testified and said drone/livestream before members of the House Judiciary Committee.
Source: CSPAN video, FBI Director Testifies on Trump Assassination Attempt and Agency Oversight, Part 1.
at about the 36:33 mark

[Mysterian]

30. The guy was doing everything except wearing a sign around his neck "deranged maniac."

What a colossal fuck up.