Assassination Warnings BURIED—Judicial Watch Forces FBI Release

Classified documents with Top Secret stamps on wooden surface.

Newly released FBI records reveal law enforcement warned about a suspicious individual making hateful comments toward President Trump before bullets flew at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally—yet federal agencies still tried to hide these documents from the American people.

Story Snapshot

FBI records obtained by Judicial Watch through FOIA lawsuit show an altercation and warnings about Thomas Matthew Crooks before the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt
Radio logs indicate law enforcement broadcast alerts about “unknown male acting suspiciously” with “hateful” comments toward Trump prior to shooting
Twenty-seven heavily redacted pages raise questions about what federal agencies are still hiding from the public
House Task Force found critical security failures including unsecured rooftops despite multiple warnings flagging Crooks hours before he opened fire

FOIA Lawsuit Forces FBI Hand

Judicial Watch secured twenty-seven heavily redacted FBI pages through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, uncovering details federal agencies fought to conceal. The records document an altercation at the Butler Farm Show grounds and radio warnings about Thomas Matthew Crooks, who later fired eight shots at President Trump. The FBI’s resistance to releasing these documents adds another layer to growing concerns about transparency failures within federal law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting American leaders and citizens.

Timeline of Ignored Red Flags

Thomas Matthew Crooks registered for the rally July 6, 2024, visited the site July 7, and practiced shooting July 12. On July 13, he returned armed at 3:35 p.m., flew a drone over the venue at 3:50 p.m., and was photographed near magnetometers at 5:14 p.m. Law enforcement shared photos among Beaver County Emergency Services Unit by 5:38 p.m. Despite radio warnings about suspicious behavior and hateful comments, Crooks fired from an unsecured rooftop at 6:11:33 p.m., grazing Trump’s ear, killing attendee Corey Comperatore, and wounding two others.

The newly released records reveal information that distinguishes this from previous reports focusing on Crooks’ drone use or rifle practice. FBI radio logs specifically document an altercation and hateful comments directed at President Trump, raising serious questions about why law enforcement on scene failed to neutralize an identified threat. These details, sourced directly from federal records that bureaucrats tried keeping under wraps, demonstrate a pattern of security failures that endangered thousands of American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights at a political rally.

Federal Agency Accountability Crisis

The U.S. Secret Service and FBI face mounting scrutiny over perimeter failures and coordination breakdowns. A House Task Force reviewed over 18,000 pages, identifying critical decision failures including leaving rooftops unsecured where Crooks positioned himself outside the security perimeter. Local law enforcement from Butler Emergency Services Unit, Beaver County ESU, and Pennsylvania State Police shared warnings and photographs, yet federal agencies controlling the security perimeter allowed gaps that proved deadly. This reflects a broader pattern where those at the top appear more concerned with protecting their own reputations than protecting American lives.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton emphasized the significance of the “hateful comments” and pre-shooting radio warnings, highlighting how federal agencies attempted to withhold this information from public scrutiny. The FBI continues resisting full disclosure, prompting additional lawsuits from Judicial Watch to force transparency on remaining Trump assassination documents. Heavy redactions on the released pages suggest federal bureaucrats are still hiding critical details about who knew what and when, fueling legitimate concerns about a cover-up designed to shield agencies from accountability for their failures.

Security Implications and Distrust

The Butler shooting exposes systemic problems in federal protective services that extend beyond one tragic day. Coverage gaps existed outside the Secret Service perimeter where Crooks positioned, with local snipers focused inward rather than on external threats. These operational failures, combined with federal resistance to transparency, erode public trust in agencies sworn to protect constitutional rights and public safety. Americans on both left and right increasingly question whether government institutions serve the people or simply protect entrenched bureaucratic interests at taxpayer expense.

Short-term consequences include heightened scrutiny of Secret Service and FBI protocols, with potential policy reforms on event security perimeters and FOIA compliance. Long-term implications may involve litigation against federal agencies and deeper distrust in government’s ability to safeguard political figures and ordinary citizens alike. The fact that it required a lawsuit to extract basic information about an assassination attempt on a former president and current presidential candidate demonstrates how far removed these agencies have become from accountability to the American people they supposedly serve.