A SWAT counter-sniper who was present at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally where Donald Trump and three audience members were shot—resulting in one fatality—has corroborated claims from GOP lawmakers about potential evidence tampering following the incident. During the July rally, Thomas Matthew Crooks was killed while attempting to assassinate the 45th president.
Ben Shaffer, a Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper, expressed concern over the rapid clean-up of the rooftop where Crooks was killed. The area was scrubbed, and Crooks’ body was removed before an autopsy could be completed. Several House Republicans, including Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Eli Crane (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Chip Roy (TX), and Cory Mills (FL), held a panel discussion on Monday to address the assassination attempt, according to the New York Post.
During the panel, Rep. Mills questioned Shaffer, asking, “Do you find it odd that literally only days after the attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump, while the roof was too sloped to place individuals for counter-sniper operations, that it wasn’t too sloped of a roof for the FBI to go ahead and tamper, in my opinion, with evidence by washing the roof off that may have had significant evidence on it?”
Mills also inquired about the fact that Crooks’ body was cremated without the coroner’s knowledge. Shaffer responded affirmatively to both concerns, stating, “Yes, absolutely.” Erik Prince, former Navy SEAL and founder of Blackwater, commented that it “sounds like destruction of evidence.”
Mills further criticized the FBI’s lack of transparency, particularly regarding Crooks’ online social media accounts and encrypted overseas messaging. Shaffer informed Biggs that Crooks had been spotted at the Butler Farm Show with a rangefinder scope, which should have elevated him from a “suspicious person” to a “person of interest” on the day of the rally. “That would warrant some type of either investigatory detention or stop-and-question,” Shaffer added.
In response to these accusations, the FBI issued a statement later that day. “Any suggestion the FBI is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination which took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, is inaccurate and unfounded,” the FBI stated on Monday evening. “The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence.”