FBI leads investigation into attempted assassination of former President Trump

The House Oversight Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee are expected to receive virtual briefings on Tuesday about the assassination attempt of former President Trump that happened at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, Fox News' Chad Pergram reported.

A speaker at former President Trump’s Pennsylvania rally, where he was injured by an attempted assassin’s bullet, spoke out Monday after treating the attendee who was fatally shot in the head.

Rico Elmore, a hydraulic mechanic with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 171st Air Refueling Wing, said he was seated in the VIP area of the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally when shots rang out.

Elmore, seated near GOP Senate candidate David McCormick, former House candidate Sean Parnell and Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo, had recently returned to his seat when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.

"Immediately, myself, Sean Parnell and J.D. Longo, we’re both, because of our military background, we’re like, ‘Something’s going on,’" said Elmore, who is also the Beaver County Republican Committee's vice chair. "So, we're looking around, trying to scour the area, and you hear it again. And then we just start yelling, ‘Everyone get down.’"

Elmore recounted watching Secret Service agents protect Trump before noticing a rallygoer calling out for a medic, so he crossed a barricade to assist Corey Comperatore, who had been shot in the head.

While those in attendance proclaimed him a hero, Elmore said the true hero was the doctor who performed CPR on Comperatore, who ultimately died from his injuries.

"People perceived that I was somebody of importance. I'm just an average Joe who wanted to be there, went to the event and who spoke at it, but people perceive otherwise. So, I took it on and said, you know, ‘Everyone get down, get down, get down,’" he recounted.

Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

A veteran Nevada law enforcement officer, who served in the elite FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, said he was left "blown away" after a barrage of gunfire broke out at former President Trump's rally in Pennsylvania.

Ashton Packe, a retired Las Vegas detective, shared an inside look into the investigation of the assassination attempt in Butler.

"I was initially just blown away," he said. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing was actually happening because we put so much faith and belief in the system of the Secret Service to protect former presidents, current presidents and their families."

Packe applauded the U.S. Secret Service personnel who quickly surrounded the former president without hesitation.

"I think I counted less than three seconds from the initial shot to an agent throwing himself on President Trump's body," he said. "I've analyzed the video. I've gone through it several times myself."

The law enforcement veteran said the suspect, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was "amateur hour."

"As far as the suspect is concerned, it was amateur hour," he said. "Anyone you know with an AR-15 rifle or a M4 variant is very effective within 150 yards of where that shot was taken.

"And so he failed at this, as I'm sure he's failed at many things in his life," Packe said.

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

The wife of Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, said she does not blame President Biden for her husband's death over the weekend, adding that she has no ill will toward the commander-in-chief.

Helen Comperatore told the New York Post that the only person responsible for her husband's death was the gunman, who the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

"I don't have any ill will towards Joe Biden," she told the outlet. "I'm not one of those people that gets involved in politics. I support Trump, that's who I’m voting for but I don't have ill will towards Biden. He didn't do anything to my husband. A 20-year-old despicable kid did."

Helen did say while Biden has attempted to call her, she has not picked up the phone because of her late husband's political views as a Republican.

"I didn't talk to Biden. I didn't want to talk to him," she said. "My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him."

As of Monday evening, Trump has not reached out to her.

Corey, 50, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, shielded his wife and daughter from the gunfire that erupted at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Corey was killed while three others were wounded, including Trump.

"Me and the kids were all there as a family," Helen said. "He was just excited. It was going to be a nice day with the family."

"It was a bad day," she continued, emphasizing that her husband was "very loving."

She added, "He was a simple man but he put his wife and kids first all the time. I did nothing here. I didn't lift a finger. He did everything."

President Biden revealed that his phone call with former President Donald Trump was "very cordial" after the assassination attempt at the GOP nominee's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

"I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing," Biden told NBC’s Lester Holt during an interview on Monday night. "He sounded good. He said he was fine, and he thanked me for calling."

"I told him he was literally in the prayers of Jill and me, and his whole family was weathering this," Biden added.

The wide-ranging interview touched on a number of topics from Biden’s troubled run for president in November to how the assassination attempt on Trump impacted the election.

Holt first focused on Biden’s own actions following the news of what happened at Trump's rally. Biden was in Delaware on a planned vacation and he immediately canceled his plans, returned to the White House and addressed the nation. He announced within hours that he had spoken with Trump on the phone.

"[My] first reaction was, oh my God, this is, oh, there’s so much violence now," Biden told Holt. "I mean, the whole notion that there is this – there’s not place at all for violence in politics in America. None. Zero."

Fox News' Peter Aitken contributed to this report.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the shooting at former President Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania, died a hero as he protected his family by standing between the gunfire and his wife and daughter.

"Corey Comperatore had just turned 50, he was a former fire chief, an Italian American of Calabrian origins," Meloni wrote on X. "He died a hero, acting as a shield for his wife and daughter, standing between them and the bullets detonated by the attacker who fired during Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania. Corey sacrificed his life to save that of his loved ones, instinctively, without a moment's thought."

"A gesture of love and extreme altruism which can only be honoured. To all his family members, I renew my deepest condolences. Rest in peace, Corey," she continued.

The Pennsylvania gun club where would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks practiced his aim was open Monday after visits from the FBI amid a probe into the deadly security breach that let an armed madman within 130 yards of the former president.

It was not immediately clear whether investigators found anything of evidentiary value at the range, and members condemned the suspect and his actions as something their community is "not about."

A lawyer for the Clairton Sportmen's Club previously distanced the members from Crooks.

"Obviously, the Club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred [Saturday]," attorney Rob Bootay said in a statement. "The Club also offers its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former President."

The club is one of several in the area where members take part in sports shooting events and promote firearms safety.

The FBI's visit comes as the bureau looks to identify a motive and is scrutinizing newly obtained data from the suspect's phone.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Local police in Butler, Pennsylvania, notified former President Trump's Secret Service detail during his campaign rally on Saturday before the assassination attempt that they were looking for a suspicious person in the area, a senior federal law enforcement source confirms to Fox News.

The federal law enforcement source told Fox News "there were multiple radio transmissions describing a search for a suspicious person after citizens reported this to local police. Local law enforcement leader confronted the individual at the rooftop."

The suspicious person, later identified as gunman Thomas Crooks, 20, was first alerted to local police by rally attendees on their way to the rally. The spectators said they observed Crooks pacing and acting strange near the metal detectors, according to NBC News. Local police began pursuing Crooks on foot and notified the Secret Service that they were searching for a suspicious person near the event.

It is unclear exactly when the Secret Service was flagged and whether it was before Trump took the stage at his rally. It was also not clear how long Crooks was on the roof, but sources told Fox News he was initially seen without the gun about 30 minutes before the attack.

A local officer noticed a suspicious man carrying a range-finder "in or just-outside" the venue before Trump took the stage at his rally, a law enforcement source told Fox News. The officer reported the sighting to state police and took a photo. There was a discussion about whether the item he was carrying was a pair of binoculars to try and see the rally better.

A few minutes into Trump's remarks, Crooks opened fire, attempting to assassinate Trump.

Fox News' Matt Finn, Michael Ruiz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

A Pennsylvania mayor was sitting in the front row, only feet away from former president Donald Trump, the moment a gunman opened fire during a rally on Saturday and details what it was like being so close to the assassination attempt.

Jondavid Longo, the mayor of Slippery Rock, told Fox News Digital that he and his family had been looking forward to the rally and traveled over to Butler in the morning for the event.

He said Slippery Rock is about 30 miles from Butler.

Longo says he was fortunate enough to hear from Trump on Halloween night in 2020 and was even more excited about Saturday's rally as he was invited to deliver a few remarks and lead the Pledge of Allegiance before Trump took the stage.

"And just what I thought was going to be a special day, 15 minutes later, the day took a complete 180, when a maniac decided to open fire on President Trump and into the rally at President Trump's attendees," Longo said.

Read more about Jondavid Longo’s first-hand account of the attempted assassination of Trump.

This is an excerpt of a story by Fox news Digital's Stepheny Price and Jasmine Baehr.

President Biden on Monday mistakenly referred to the U.S. Secret Service director when asked by NBC News’ Lester Holt whether it was acceptable that there has been no communication following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

“It is acceptable that you have not heard – at least publicly – from the U.S. Secret Service director?” Holt asked the president during an interview.

“Oh, I’ve heard from him,” Biden responded, not appearing to catch his mistake.

The USSS director is Kimberly Cheatle, who is under scrutiny this week over the Secret Service's failure to stop the assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

“Have you heard from her, publicly?” Holt asked.

“Publicly I’ve sat down in a situation room downstairs,” Biden said. “The Secret Service, the FBI, the national security agencies, Homeland Security, all the major elements.”

Cheatle is slated to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability next Monday, July 22.

Despite calls growing for her to step down, Cheatle told ABC News Monday that she had no plans to resign.

The leader of the Fraternal Order of Police took issue with the U.S. Secret Service claims that local authorities were supposed to be posted in the area where a gunman shot former President Trump during a campaign rally over the weekend.

Patrick Yoes, the group president, also said the protection of Trump and security of the site where his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was being held is the primary function of the Secret Service. He said Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle had doubled down on the agency's claim.

“All of us want answers,” Yoes said in a statement, noting remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that a security failure almost cost Trump his life. “All of us in law enforcement can agree that the roof of the building should have been secured by law enforcement. It clearly was not.”

The Secret Service has come under fire after it was revealed the alleged shooter was able to obtain an elevated shooting position just outside the security perimeter of the rally. Yoes noted that the agency relies on the support and assistance of local authorities for such events.

“Suggestions made in the media that suggest local agencies should play no role in assisting the USSS at events like that one in Butler simply do not know what they are talking about,” he said.

Yoes said the Secret Service will come to rely on local authorities in the coming months as the election nears.

“Yet, in the wake of some of the anonymous comments from unknown officials, State and local agencies may wonder if they can rely on the Secret Service,” he said. “I am concerned that anonymous statements or media speculation could have a chilling effect on the ability of Federal, State and local law enforcement to work together through what will certainly be a grueling campaign.”

Cheatle has vowed to stay on as director despite some calls for her to resign.

Former U.S. Secret Service special agent for former President Reagan, Tim McCarthy, joined “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” Monday to weigh in on the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

McCarthy, who was assigned to Reagan when the former president was shot by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981, said that incident and what happened at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania Saturday were both failures.

“There’s a lot of questions to be asked and answered. And I said it was a failure,” McCarthy said, later commenting that the Secret Service is “going to have to do a hell of a deep dive” to see what needs to change.

McCarthy said Trump “did the right thing” but ducking down as he soon as he realized what was happening.

"God bless him for being so alert and doing that because it certainly helped,” he said.

Former President Trump said during an interview with ABC News on Monday that he has rewritten what was supposed to be a “humdinger” of a speech after a shooter attempted to kill him on Saturday, and will now present one aimed at “unity.”

Trump spoke with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl over the phone, when Karl asked him about his close call with an assassin’s bullet and if it had changed him.

Karl said Trump told him he didn’t like to think about it, but he thinks it has had an impact.

Trump also reportedly told Karl he saw the Doug Mills photograph of a bullet flying past him, marveling that had he turned his head he could have been killed.

Trump also reportedly spoke to Karl about his conversation with President Biden after the attempted assassination, telling the reporter Biden was “very nice…he couldn’t have been nicer.”

The event led Trump to even re-write his speech that he is scheduled to give at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.

“Trump told me that in the wake of the shooting, he has completely rewritten his convention address, saying he had written a humdinger, but now it’ll be more of a unity speech,” Karl reported. “As for the injury to his ear, he says he’s doing fine and hopes the bandage will be off by the time he gives his convention speech on Thursday night.”

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle tells ABC News she plans to stay on despite calls growing for her resignation over the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday.

In an exclusive interview, Cheatle called the shooting “unacceptable” and said the “buck stops with her,” called the situation "unacceptable," but has no plans to step down.

“It was obviously a situation that as a Secret Service agent, no one ever wants to occur in their career,” Cheatle said.

Responding to reports that law enforcement officers had seen the shooter before the shooting, Cheatle said she didn’t have all the details.

“Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult,” she said.

The suspected gunman who shot former President Trump before he was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents was not affiliated with the military, the Pentagon said Monday.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed moments after opening fire on Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One attendee was also killed and two others were wounded.

“We’ve confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch active or reserve component in their respective databases,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in an off-camera briefing.

Singh added that the Department of Defense doesn't plan to change its force posture following the shooting.

She said approximately 1,700 National Guard members and a small number of active duty personnel will be providing support to local authorities from Monday through Thursday in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., confirmed Monday that he’d been briefed by the FBI on the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

“This morning, I was briefed by FBI Deputy Director Abbate on the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump,” Durbin said.

The Democratic senator said he’d requested a closed-door, in-person briefing next week with the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI for all Judiciary Committee members when the Senate is back in session. 

Rep. Wesley Hunt spoke with Fox News Digital ahead of Republican National Convention events on Monday and relayed his takeaways from watching the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

"What it really articulated in my mind was the idea of what combat really means to me and to watch his courage under fire," Hunt said.

"He knelt down and he wanted to put his shoes back on, stood back up, and then told the crowd to fight because he wanted to walk off that stage with dignity," he added.

Hunt, a West Point graduate and War on Terror combat veteran, said he had seen horrible things while serving in the military.

"But nothing compares to watching a man that I admire, and a man that is fighting for this country, and is fighting for our values, and is fighting for our way of life every single day become a political target. For what? For what?," he asked.

Hunt added that he believes Trump will be President of the United States again and emphasized his disgust for some social media posts regarding Trump surviving the shooting.

"We should all be appalled by what we saw," Hunt said, adding that some tweets were "utterly disgusting."

President Biden said it was a “mistake” to say “bull's-eye” when he referenced former President Trump last week, a remark that has been scrutinized in the days since the former commander-in-chief was shot during a campaign rally.

In a clip of an interview with NBC News slated to air Monday night, Biden was asked about using the term while talking about Trump.

“It was a mistake to use the word," Biden told Lester Holt. "I didn't say crosshairs. I meant bullseye. I meant focus on him. Focus on what he's doing. Focus on one of his policies. Focus on the number of lies he told. The debate focus.”

“I mean, there's there's a whole range of things that, look, I'm not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one,” he added. “I'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I'm not the guy who said they won't accept the outcome of this election automatically. You can't only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he's saying and I mean the idea.”

Some Republicans have blamed rhetoric used by Biden and Democrats at-large for the shooting of Trump on Saturday. Biden made the remarks on a phone call with donors last week.

“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump," Biden reportedly said. "I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bull's-eye."

Biden was asked whether his words could incite political violence from his supporters.

“Well, I don't think, okay. How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real?" he said. “When a president says things like, he says. Do you just not say anything, becacuse it may incite somebody?”

“Look, I have not engaged in that rhetoric. Now, my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric. He talks about it being a bloodbath if he loses, talking about how he's kind to forgive over and actually, I guess, suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol.”

Biden noted Trump's remarks after Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was brutally attacked in the couple's San Francisco home.

“I'm not out there making fun of, like, I remember the picture of Donald Trump when Nancy Pelosi's husband was hit with a hammer,” he said.

Charles Marino, a former Secret Service Special Agent and the CEO of Sentinel Security Solutions said the Secret Service’s plan to protect former President Trump and the crowd at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania a “catastrophic failure.”

Marino was a guest on “The Claman Countdown” on Fox Business Monday, when host Liz Claman asked him about where things broke down, leading to the attempted assassination of Trump.

“Look, we saw a catastrophic failure of the overall security plan. The Secret Service relies on support from state and local law enforcement all over the United States to fulfill their mission,” Marino said. “However, the Secret Service creates and owns the overall security plan, and this extends out to the outer perimeter to include locations that cause concern for elevated threat, like this building location, which had a direct line of sight to the stage. So the Secret Service is not only responsible for creating the plan, but also making sure that it's effectively implemented.”

He added that if the Secret Service and local police made a joint decision to provide coverage of the building to make sure nobody can get access to the roof, they have to ensure coverage is in place before and during the visit.

“That seems to be the case where that did not occur,” Marino said.

The security expert was also asked about recent news of Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being given protection by the Secret Service.

“I think the protection of RFK Jr is long overdue. He’s met the criteria for quite some time,” Marino said. “He's one of the earliest candidates to identify a VP running mate. So this should have been set in motion long ago, especially in this heightened threat environment in the U.S. and divisiveness around politics. So that's the right decision.”