An hour that shocked America

When the first cracks rang out around Butler’s performance venue, people instinctively flinched. Donald Trump’s hands went to his ears and more voices came.

On Saturday 13 July, just after 18:12, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had been flagged as suspicious by the police, managed to climb onto the roof of the warehouse and pick up his AR-15 rifle and fired for a while.

What happened in just a few minutes at the Butler Farm show will rock American politics, leaving the nation questioning how a man could enter the venue with a powerful gun, climb to a shooting point unchallenged, and confront Trump The distance is only one inch.

The BBC used eyewitness testimony, original reporting and statements from law enforcement to piece together a full picture of the chaotic events that day.

As the summer afternoon sun streams down from a clear blue sky, this small Pennsylvania town is preparing for its biggest spectacle in years.

Crowds flocked to an exhibition space that had been transformed in an American style. Everything was decked out in red, white and blue, a sea of ​​flags, and almost every surface was plastered with campaign posters.

Greg Smith is one of them. He spent the day with friends and family at his home in Butler, eating barbecue and drinking beers before hitting the road to enjoy the spectacle.

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

Corey Comperatore, 50, a retired volunteer firefighter and vocal supporter of Trump, was also present with his wife and one of his two daughters. They occupied a prime spot on the right side of the stage, waiting for the show to begin.

Local police mingled with the crowd outside the event’s security fence. Secret Service agents and state troopers worked together on the perimeter, while counter-sniper teams were stationed on the rooftops of nearby buildings to keep watch.

Somewhere in the crowd was Crooks, a 20-year-old from nearby Bethel Park. But he wasn’t with family or friends, and his motivations were different. His parents Matthew and Mary reported him missing to police hours earlier, saying they were “concerned” he was missing.

Security sources told BBC US news partner CBS that Crooks first came to police attention at 17:10, 52 minutes before Trump took the stage, and was “identified as a suspect.” Why wasn’t it disclosed?

Twenty minutes later, at 17:30, the local SWAT team stationed in the building outside the security perimeter noticed Crooks looking at the roof.

An officer took a photo and radioed to others that he saw a man looking through a rangefinder (a device used by hunters to measure the distance to a target).

They did not report seeing a gun. Crooks is still free to roam.

Another 22 minutes later, Crooks was spotted again at 17:52, this time on the roof of a warehouse about 140m (400 ft) from the stage. It was outside the security perimeter and had a direct view of the podium where Trump was about to speak.

Mr Smith also spotted Crooks near the building, standing next to a tree. “I looked and there was a guy on the roof with a rifle,” he told the BBC. It was the first time anyone had 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. About two minutes later – this guy climbed up on the roof.”

He said Secret Service agents were on the roof of a neighboring building “looking through binoculars,” as he pointed out.

Trump took the stage at 18:02, wearing a dark blue suit, an open-collar white shirt, and a red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap. Three Secret Service agents wearing dark suits, white shirts and dark sunglasses followed.

A full ten minutes had passed since Crooks was found on the roof.

Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless America” ​​(“I’m Proud to Be an American”) blasted from holiday speakers suspended overhead.

Trump shook hands with supporters as he walked past several gold-encrusted flags to applause and cheers. Within a minute, he was on the podium, with the crowd as his backdrop, chanting “USA! USA!” and holding banners that read “Trump 2024” and “You’re fired.”

“It’s a big crowd, a big, beautiful crowd,” he told the party of thousands. “Hi Butler, hello Pennsylvania, I’m glad to be back.”

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

According to Butler Town Manager Tom Knights, four of the town’s traffic police officers responded to a radio report of a suspicious person on the roof. They “instinctively” flee their posts to face danger.

One of the officers, supported by a colleague, poked his head over the edge of the roof. They found themselves seeing an AR-15-style rifle held by a man with long hair and glasses. According to Mr Knights, the officer was in an impossible position, falling eight feet to the ground.

Police again raised the alarm but Crooks remained unimpeded.

Mr. Smith later recalled that he continued to point to the roof and yell at the police. “I’m just standing here,” he told the BBC, “telling them, ‘Hey, there’s a guy here,’ and I’m just thinking to myself, ‘Why is Trump still talking? Why do I still hear him on stage?’

But Trump is firing on all cylinders, talking about familiar topics like the country being “stolen,” the 2020 election being “rigged,” a “dishonest” Joe Biden and “ridiculing” Kamala Harris .

Seven minutes later, at 18:09, he turned to immigration. “There are millions of people in our country who shouldn’t be here. Dangerous people. Criminals. Drug dealers,” he said.

At about 18:11, he “went off the autocue,” turning to the right side of a chart showing immigration levels and criticizing Biden’s border policies.

“If you want to actually see something…see what’s going on…”

He wasn’t done yet. The time was 18:12, and Crooks fired the first shot.

Hearing a crisp sound, Trump flinched. More voices sounded, and Trump covered his right ear and began to hide under the podium.

Shouts of “DOWN DOWN DOWN GET DOWN” and chaotic screams came from the crowd. Within seconds, the former president was surrounded by four Secret Service agents as more gunfire echoed around the venue.

The shocked crowd hid in their seats – with nowhere to go. They know nothing about the condition of the former president, who is now under security.

On stage left, a speaker unit appeared to have been hit by a bullet, with gas escaping from the hydraulic system as the speaker began to fall to the ground. The chaotic screams grew louder.

A video posted on the website TMZ shows Crooks on the roof as the air fills with the sound of gunshots and the shouts of people below. “What is he doing?” one woman screamed, while a man warned “he’s turning this way, guys”.

But Crooks only had seconds left to live. Within 11 seconds of his first shot, Secret Service countersnipers targeted him. He was dead fifteen seconds later, CBS quoted security sources as saying.

“I heard four or five gunshots and everyone was running,” Mr. Smith said afterwards. “I stood by the tree and watched him get shot in the head by the Secret Service. They got him out, but … security failed, 100 percent.”

Back on stage, Trump is buried by more agents. “Wait a minute, wait a minute, are you ready? It’s you,” one guard said, his words captured by a microphone on the podium. “Move! Move!”

Then officers in combat gear took up positions around them, their assault rifles at the ready.

An agent yelled, “The shooter is down, we’re safe.” Trump was brought back into view. His ears were covered in blood and his face and shirt collar were splattered with blood, but he told agents, “Let me get my speakers, let me get my shoes…etc.”

He then punched the air repeatedly and chanted “fight, fight, fight” before being dragged away by agents who were still using their bodies as cover.

“USA! USA!” were chanted as Trump was led off the stage. About one minute and ten seconds after the first shot was fired, Trump stood up.

While the former president was not seriously injured, others did not survive. Some of Crooks’ bullets missed Trump but struck the crowd. Mr. Competore, a volunteer firefighter, was shot in the head while protecting his family.

Sitting behind the stage, doctor James Sweetland tried to help. “There were people over there screaming, ‘He’s been shot, he’s been shot’,” Dr Sweetland told the BBC.

“The guy has turned around [and was] Squeezed between the benches. There is a lot of blood.

There was nothing he could do. Signor Competore is dead.

Two others, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, suffered serious injuries but survived.

Hours later, Smith returned home and recalled watching the “horrible” aftermath on television. “There were a lot of kids with us who were scared. They are still scared. My kid was scared and was crying and begging me to take him home.

“I just can’t accept that this happened for a reason.”

The would-be assassin is dead and Trump survives, but the country remains in shock and still hungry to know how it could have happened so easily.