Body camera footage shows law enforcement at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 carrying away one of the victims injured in the Trump assassination attempt.
Butler Township Police Department
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Butler Township Police Department
Newly released body camera video shows law enforcement’s chaotic response to assassination attempt about former President Trump last month.
Footage obtained by NPR shows what a local police officer saw when he encountered the gunman just before he opened fire at a July 13 protest in Butler, Penn.
The video shows the officer’s perspective as he runs toward the building where the gunman had taken up position on the roof. Another officer pulls him up, and the officer looks over the roof.
The encounter lasted only a split second, after which the officer immediately dropped to the ground, hit his head on the ground and ran to the other side of the building.
A police officer signaled to his colleague to pull him up so he could go to the roof, where he encountered the gunman.
Butler Township Police Department
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Butler Township Police Department
Video has no sound because police are not active at this time. The body camera was recovered after the incident, the Butler Township Police Department said.
ONE Timeline from law enforcement shows that immediately after this encounter, the gunman began shooting.
About a minute passed as the officer fled the encounter with the shooter, walked to the side of the building and returned to his car to reload the long gun he had left in the back seat. At that point, the officer pressed the record button on his body camera and audio began. The officer, whose name was not released, then directed other officers to the scene.
The officer who encountered the shooter told arriving police: “It’s close. Dude, he’s coming back at me.”
Another cop asked where the shooter was. The cop who saw him said, “He’s right there! Right where you picked me up, buddy? He’s on the left.”
He described the gunman as having “glasses, long hair. He had a briefcase, he had something crazy about him.”
As he did this, his body camera captured several officers trying to get onto the roof. Screams for a ladder could be heard as other officers tried to pull themselves onto the roof.
The police continued to shout at each other for several minutes and some police made it to the roof of the building.
Several law enforcement officers gathered at the building where the gunman was firing from the roof.
Butler Township Police Department
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Butler Township Police Department
The 50-year-old former police chief, Corey Comperatore, was killed and two other protesters were seriously injured in the attack. Trump was hit in the ear.
The shooter was killed by Secret Service.
A video then shows another local police officer wondering why there was no law enforcement on that roof.
The question is still no answer as law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, cited an ongoing investigation. In late July, the director of the United States Secret Service Kimberly cheated resigned after being criticized by members of Congress for the agency’s handling of the case.
Footage shows the immediate aftermath of the gunman’s killings
Law enforcement officers attempt to reach the rooftop where the gunman is opening fire.
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According to the footage, the first officer to encounter the gunman on the roof volunteered to be pulled up by other officers struggling to get up.
On the roof of the building, he joined three police officers — at least two of them heavily armed, wearing camouflage, vests, boots and long guns — surrounding the shooter’s body. One officer kept his gun pointed at the body at all times.
A long streak of what looked like blood could be seen.
A police officer handcuffed the gunman and turned him over while they waited for more police to arrive.
A backpack could be seen near the body.
“Taking a picture with Trump is boring,” one of the camouflage-clad officers says near the end of the 26-minute video.
Other videos capture the confusion at different points
Additional footage released by Butler Township Police shows officers at various points throughout the fairgrounds and after the shooting.
A nearly 22-minute video shows a view from behind the rally’s stage, just behind where Trump was speaking. The video has no audio, but the footage provides a hauntingly silent look at the chaos that unfolded after the shooting began.
The officer hid and did not run to respond to the shooting. It is unclear what orders he gave or what he said to the other officers around him who were also gathered with guns in their hands.
About six and a half minutes into the video, a group of police officers carry each injured person by one arm and leg and disappear into a white tent behind the stands.
Another video showing a police officer standing outside the building where the gunman opened fire highlighted the confusion even within law enforcement from the start.
A policeman said, “I thought it was you! I thought you were on the roof!” He cursed in frustration and asked, “Why aren’t we on the roof?”
Then he lamented, “Whenever they see him… they should call us sooner.”
