Local police spotted Thomas Matthew Crooks' gun: Takeaways from Trump shooting hearing

Senior FBI and Secret Service officials painted the fullest picture yet of the communications breakdowns that allowed former President Donald Trump's shooter to open fire and offered other key details about the assassination attempt at a Tuesday Senate hearing.

The hearing focused on the ongoing investigation into how a 20-year-old managed to fire a bullet into Trump's ear at a Pennsylvania political rally.

Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said he was "ashamed" and "cannot defend" the lapses that nearly led to the first assassination of a current or former president in more than 60 years.

Rowe assumed his acting role last week, after Kimberly Cheatle stepped down as Secret Service director on July 23 as part of the fallout from the attack, which took the life of 50-year-old firefighter and father Corey Comperatore.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate revealed new details on the final hours and minutes in the life of Thomas Matthew Crooks', Trump's would-be assassin, including that he was photographed by law enforcement nearly an hour before the attack, and that a local officer radioed seeing him on a rally-adjacent roof with "a long gun" about 30 seconds before he opened fire.

Here are four takeaways from the Tuesday hearing, which was held jointly by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee:

A photograph and a radio message: communication failures

Local law enforcement had Crooks within their sights well before the Butler, Pennsylvania attack, which took place at about 6:11 p.m. on July 13, according to Abbate.

Nearly an hour before the attack, a local SWAT operator photographed Crooks. The photo was shared with local SWAT operators in a text message group more than 30 minutes before the attack. In between, local SWAT personnel saw Crooks near the building of the attack carrying a range finder and browsing news sites on his phone.

However, the Secret Service command post wasn't notified of a suspicious person until about 5:46, and service operators lost sight of Crooks for six of the final minutes of his life, from about 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m., including when he pulled himself onto the nearby rooftop.

About 30 seconds before Crooks began unloading his weapon, a police officer who had been lifted by a fellow officer to peer onto the roof, radioed that Crooks was armed with "a long gun."

But it was too little, too late.

Pressed by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, about whether there was a communication channel to say there's a gun and the bearer needs to be taken out, Rowe said that information stayed in state and local law enforcement channels.

"(The local police) were in the midst of dealing with a very critical situation and they articulated that over the radio, as I understand it. However, it was never relayed over to us," Rowe said.

Possible social media posts: first signs of 'extremist views'

Abbate disclosed investigators have uncovered a social media account they believe belonged to Crooks, although they are still getting that verified.

Abbate declined to specify the social media platform until the information is confirmed. But he did say the account posted more than 700 comments in the 2019-2020 timeframe, including anti-Semitic and anti-immigration messages.

"If it is in fact the shooter that posted these comments, it's the first real indication where he's expressing what are described as extremist views and talking about political violence," Abbate said.

However, Abbate also testified that investigators are working to verify if Crooks posted left-leaning content as well. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Abbate to confirm Crooks expressed pro-immigration and pro-pandemic lockdown views on conservative social media platform Gab, which is associated with far-right users.

"We're still working to certify and verify that that's his account also, but it does have differing points of view, it would appear, Abbate said.

Scoping location six days in advance?

Crooks appears to have been scoping out the site of his attack less than a week before he executed it.

Abbate said Crooks visited the Butler farm show site on July 7, the day after he registered for the rally and only four days after the rally was announced.

Crooks also practiced shooting at a sportsman club the day before the attack, and appears to have done more scoping on the day itself, Abbate said.

On the morning of July 13, Crooks visited the rally grounds for about 70 minutes. Later that day, after returning back home and getting a rifle from his father under the pretense of returning to the club, Crooks bought ammunition and ventured back to the rally site.

At about 3:51 p.m., Crooks flew a drone about 200 yards from the farm grounds and live streamed the approximately 11-minute flight.

'I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured'

Rowe expressed anger at the security failures that allowed Crooks to pose a deadly threat to the Republican Party's presidential nominee. During a Pennsylvania visit, Rowe was able to see for himself the line of sight Crooks had on Trump by visiting the rally sight and lying in a prone position on the roof of the attack.

"What I saw made me ashamed," Rowe testified. "As a career law enforcement officer and a 25 year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured."

The mea culpa on behalf of the agency charged didn't spare Rowe from some blistering criticism during the hearing.

"Your agency has not been transparent and forthcoming, so please, let's not go there," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said at one point."

"I have been forthcoming, sir," Rowe shot back.

"That remains to be seen. You've been on the job a few days. So far, you've fired nobody," Hawley said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 4 takeaways from Senate's Trump shooting hearing: New details emerge