A new, incredible video shows the chaotic aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and reveals what led the former president to publicly demand his shoes back.
The Secret Service, which had come under heavy fire for its efforts that day, responded quickly after Thomas Crooks, 20, fired shots and immediately surrounded the former president to isolate him and protect him from further gunfire.
Trump was initially dazed, telling the officers, “Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes,” as he rose from the ground.
The video, posted by WBEN Just as Trump arrived at the RNC for the first time since the assassination, he highlighted an angle we hadn’t seen before amid the chaos behind Trump as he spoke.
The Secret Service is seen tackling Trump, removing his shoes and throwing them off the stage.
A new video shows what surprised Donald Trump during the failed assassination attempt on him on Saturday
Dozens of questions were asked after the shooting, which killed one audience member and miraculously left Trump alive. People have wondered why Trump kept asking for his shoes back after the shooting
Trump himself has also seen the bizarre side of the incident and confirmed what was seen in the video clip in the first interview he gave after the shooting.
“The officers hit me so hard that my shoes fell off and now my shoes are tight,” he said.
Trump praised the speed and strength of his security.
He said he had a bruise on his arm after a member of the Secret Service held him to the ground.
“That’s just because a guy grabbed me,” Trump said. “Do you know how strong you have to be to do that?”
“They’ve done a fantastic job,” he added. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
He told the Secret Service that he wanted to return to the podium and continue speaking.
“I wanted to keep talking – I wanted to keep talking, but I just got shot. It’s a very surreal experience, and you never know what you’re going to do until something like that happens.”
Trump himself has also seen the bizarre side of the incident and confirmed what was visible on the video clip in the first interview he gave after the shooting
A team of snipers was inside the building where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, Donald Trump’s assassin, opened fire from the roof after being spotted climbing into his shooting position 26 minutes earlier, new reports say.
The shocking new allegations emerged as authorities and the U.S. Secret Service face mounting questions about how Crooks was able to kill the former president and a member of the protest crowd.
One of the snipers saw Crooks outside the building and stared at the roof where he would eventually carry out the shooting, CBS News reported.
Another sniper even took a picture of Crooks after he went back, sat down and looked at his phone.
The snipers really got into action when Crooks pulled out a rangefinder. One of them radioed their command post, and Crooks disappeared again.
However, he returned once more, with a backpack. Several snipers radioed that he was going to the back of the building.
However, when backup arrived, he had already climbed onto the roof. Some officers suspected he had used the air conditioning to climb up.
By the time state police arrived on the scene, Crooks had already caused damage and been killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Shortly after Trump sped away, the lifeless body of Thomas Matthew Crooks was seen on a rooftop surrounded by police. His death was not confirmed until 7:24 p.m.
Yearbook photos have surfaced of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who opened fire on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania
A terrifying video shows witnesses pointing to the roof and shouting at officers to warn them. MAGA fans also say they warned police about Crooks as he crawled to his shooting position, but he was still able to fire.
Police at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, are being heavily monitored after it emerged that the roof had been identified as a “vulnerable point” for security.
Kimberly Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service said Monday night that she would not resign despite growing calls to oust her for her massive failings that led to one of the most horrific acts of political violence in history.
Local police, not the Secret Service, searched the building, but Crooks was still able to climb up and take aim at the former president.
The 78-year-old former president survived the horrific assassination attempt when the bullet missed him by less than an inch on Saturday afternoon.
That happened eight minutes after he took the stage at 6:03 p.m. Eastern Time, where Trump began his speech and pointed to a large graphic in the same direction as the one that showed the shooter on the roof of an AGR International building.
Even before he took the stage, Trump’s supporters said they saw the gunman crawling across the roof with a rifle, but they said their warnings to the Secret Service were ignored.
With the sun still high in the sky, Trump emerged at 6:03 p.m. to a chant of “God Bless the USA” over the loudspeakers. He continued to wave and fist pump at the crowd for several minutes.
Trump clutched his right ear as the first shots rang out at 6:12 p.m.
Trump pulled out a large graph showing statistics about the migrant crisis at the southern border and told the crowd at 6:11 p.m., “That graph is a couple months old…”
“If you really want to see something sad, look at what happened,” Trump continued — before abruptly grabbing the side of his head as several “pops” were heard throughout the room where the event was taking place.
The 78-year-old fell to the ground in a flash as five more shots rang out in quick succession above his head, before four Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and dove on top of the former president.
Staggering footage shows Trump crouched on the ground as officers protect him, blood trickling down his cheek.
Several Secret Service agents continued to storm the stage, while four heavily armed agents stood at the side of the stage, ordering those in attendance to “get down on the floor.”
The sniper, who was on an exposed rooftop 400 feet (120 meters) from the crowd, fired another shot at the stage a second later as Trump fans poured out of the stands.
The Secret Service quickly attempted to gain control of the pandemonium, shooting three people in the building within seconds, one fatally.
An emergency room doctor, with blood spatter on his shirt, later said he immediately jumped into action to perform CPR on a victim.
Those present claimed they alerted the Secret Service to a man on the roof where the gunman was later killed
“The guy was spun around, pinned between the benches and shot in the head. There’s a lot of blood and he had brain matter,” he told CBS News.
“So I got him together, so I have people there that are really helpful. I also did CPR and chest compressions.”
Trump returned to public life and the campaign trail with a triumphant appearance on the opening night of the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee on Monday.