by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News July 17, 2024

The Butler Township police officer who has been villainized by legacy media for not stopping Thomas Matthew Crooks from shooting former President Donald Trump actually “saved President Trump’s life” by forcing the gunman to “hurry” his shots, which threw off his accuracy, a Butler Township official said, according to a report.

Commissioner Edward Natali told Breitbart News Daily in an interview that aired on Wednesday that the mainstream media are not accurately telling the story of what actually happened on Saturday at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

According to AP sources, rallygoers noticed Thomas Matthew Crooks climbing onto the roof and warned two officers. / Video Image

Natali said he wanted to “set the record straight,” telling Breitbart that seven Butler Township Police Department officers “were strictly there for traffic control.”

“I want to tell you about my officer. He was not climbing a ladder. He was not in a position to engage the suspect at all,” Natali said, explaining that one officer was on the ground and hoisted the second officer up with cupped hands so he could investigate what was happening on the roof.

“He’s peeking his head up to see where the suspect is,” he said, explaining that the suspect spotted the officer as he had his hands on the roofline.

“The suspect turns his rifle and points it at the head of my officer. Obviously, he’s not in a position to engage him by any means, and he did not retreat,” Natali said. “It’s not that he didn’t want to engage. He let go of the roof to try to get his gun, and of course, he fell backwards, actually getting injured in the process.”

Natali said he believes that the officer encountering the suspect likely “forced him to shoot, maybe in a more hurried-up rate.”

“I’m looking at it that we unfortunately lost people, but he saved President Trump’s life by forcing him to hurry up and not having his shots made as accurate as he could have,” Natali said, emphasizing that local police were not in charge of the building Crooks was perched on.

Butler Township Manager Tom Knights said the officer lost his grip and was not retreating when he fell 8 feet to the ground.

“He was literally dangling from the edge of a building and took the defensive position he needed to at that time. He couldn’t hold himself up,” Knights said.

The officer, who has 10 years of experience in law enforcement, severely injured an ankle in the fall and was in a walking boot, Knights said.

Natali went on to say that, while he does not want to point fingers, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s excuse of the slope of the roof making it dangerous to put a Secret Service agent on was absurd.

“I didn’t measure it, but does that slope of that roof actually look more than the slope of the roof over at the HDR compound. … I heard your segment about, you know, incompetence and inept this and stuff,” he said. “Maybe it’s the Peter Principle. Maybe she should go back to guarding Pepsi bottles versus protecting our presidents, and I know that’s kind of snarky and that’s usually not in my character, but it’s — God forgive me for that.”

The Associated Press cited Stan Kephart, a former police chief who worked event security for two former presidents, as saying the shooting followed an “an absolute and abysmal failure” on the part of the Secret Service to protect Trump. The agency is ultimately responsible for the candidate’s safety, he added.

“You don’t get to blame other people. They are under your control,” said Kephart, now a consulting expert on law enforcement event security.

The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN : “We are speaking of a failure. We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Mayorkas said he continues to have “full confidence” in the Secret Service’s leadership.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle also acknowledged the agency’s failure but is refusing to resign her position.

New video emerges from Butler County, after assassination attempt.pic.twitter.com/8rprJEqP7G

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 17, 2024

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  Report: Butler Township official refutes media reports about local officer who checked roof, WorldTribune.com

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