This investigation has been hamstrung by missing evidence and data that should have been available from the get-go.
Among the most crucial of possible story elements is the precise location and actions (or lack thereof) of the two local snipers who had responsibility for the overwatch position above the roof where Crooks took position.
Where were they? Did they abandon their posts? Why is the story so wildly different between their direct higher-ups and the PA State Police? Why hadn’t the Secret Service interviewed them as late as August 9th? Why do we still not know the name of the second sniper?
It’s frankly implausible to believe that any investigation could be so sloppily run by accident or even gross negligence or incompetence.
In this episode we resolve several important details such as establishing the fact that ESU sniper Greg Nicol was indeed not at his post between 6:06 and 6:15, and we need to know why.
We also note that the four open windows in the overwatch building demand answers all on their own. Who opened them, and why? Were they manned? How can it be even remotely plausible to suggest, as Richard Goldinger did, that there was not way to view Crooks from any of those windows when that’s obviously not the case?
This is the heart of the case. Everything now rests on unraveling the means by which Crooks somehow managed to escape detection after he left the picnic table at 6:02 (or 6:05 depending on which source we are to believe), haul himself up on the roof at 6:06, and then remain completely undetected by the only LEO team that had the best post to detect and intercept him.
I am in the process of analyzing the travels of Greg Nicol throughout the event based on information provided (factual or not) and evidence obtained. I first had to make a few assumptions. The first was there was never intended to be a sniper team on the roof of AGR 6, and why. Here is my explanation.
I wish we could find out who that wolf tattoo (left forearm/bodycam#122125) cop is and what his role was during their briefing/meeting with Secret Service.
why was he the only one so upset over SS not putting a sniper team on the roof? why did no one else comment on that? was he the only one to see the hole and speak up? was he involved in the strategy/planning of the security detail?
also I’m still curious if that SWAT operator on the roof was able to account for his two people he kept looking for. he’s on at least two different bodycams captured asking for headcount because he can’t find two of his people.
the mass confusion and disorientation of so many LEO’s seems to be moving from coincidental to intentionally planned. so many trained and experienced people, teams, leaders, etc, all suddenly turned into chickens with their heads cut off?
This is my second assumption regarding the building 2 sniper nest locations. The assumption is that all three nests are on the second floor, and the reason why is explained.
Then we have to know what the command center was doing and who all was in there. Even if they all aren’t on the same radio frequency, all the different protection and security assets on the campus need to be able to communicate information to their superiors via radio or cell phone, and they expect for that information to get passed reliably and quickly to everyone else. It’s actually a fairly simple process compared to everything else, so for the mistake to be THIS big is going to be really hard to explain away as it being just some sort of an “accident”.
The Butler Township Lieutenant also needs to go under oath and explain what he was doing back here (what exactly is this location and building?). Unless the time on his bodycam is off, he starts running towards AGR Building #6 shortly before gunshots are fired, so he clearly must have heard something communicated. I’m placing him as the person to take blame for some of the communication mishap because he’s so much further away from everyone else on his team, so my guess is he’s near the command center somewhere. He should be able to explain what happened from his perspective. What did he know? He couldn’t communicate anything to all of the Secret Service agents around him?? It just makes no sense to me.
Wow…just wow! You team up with locals but don’t have it in your protocols to communicate with them? I don’t care what level of risk there is to national security, when you have joint operations you need immediate communications between all parties.
It’s circled in white on the operations map. I believe one of the bodycams released was his showing him walking out of that building towards the barns.
I remember the original reporting that there were 3 snipers initially. I would posit that each was assigned one of the open windows and when the third sniper left, he left the window open to allow the other two to cover the vacated vantage point more easily.
Probably against regs but seems possible. Also doesn’t help explain why either no one was manning any of the positions or why each position “didn’t see “ anything. So… more questions with each hypothetical answer.
Chris, if the SS had an agent imbedded with local police, then why did the SS agent have to come all the way from the stage area to start the investigation on the roof?
I guess this is going to be the next “sloped roof”. Almost a month later, the guy in charge finds out that the various teams involved couldn’t communicate? Sure.
But this new lie doesn’t even fix the main issues. Why did the southern snipers turn north? The SS was in communication with its own snipers, right? Second, what were Greg and the Butler sniper doing in that building?
Really. I hadn’t heard that. Then why was he meeting with LEOs after the shooting? Anyways, he is still a questionable character for distracting the LEO shortly before the shooting.
I think the way it was revealed from my perspective was, Greg Smith (or somebody claiming to be him) said he knew ZZ Cop and that he was a patriot. I was surprised, so I went looking for videos and found him being shooed away by the sergeant telling everyone who wasn’t LEO to leave.
My understanding of timeline:
6:05, Nicols sees Crooks sitting at the picnic table near the adjacent building entrance from the 2nd story AGR building. Crooks is spotting running to the alcove.
6:06pm, Nicols leaves his post to go find him.
About 6:07 or 6:08pm, Crooks is spotted on the roof.
Had Nicols instead just radioed to a uniformed officer and kept visual observation then he would have easily seen Crooks scale the building and access the roof.
Interesting interview. Former CIA agent stating that Trump didn’t trust CIA so didn’t use it for intelligence. instead he hired private intelligence firms
I noticed first time and still do is if you’ll look carefully at the earlier video of the “shooter” scooting up the roof you see someone in bright clean looking long white pants and long clean looking neatly combed hair on the camera side of his face partially covering it. Look for yourself, do not rely on a commenter plant or anyone telling you. Then minutes later after the shots Crook is seen with dirty white looking shorts and what appears as not as long, dirty looking messed up hair. Yes he had been shot but so much different hair. So did he change pants? No i still think had to be two different people, likely the first one wearing a wig. Someone smart enough could also likely scale the gun in the first video and probably guage the guys height in roof climbing video. Look for yourself.
How did “both” get on the roof, and real shooter get off without being seen? Simply went thru that open second story window on the connected building. Real shooter change to camo or whatever and mingle in with other law enforcement during the chaos.
Would also explain why no law enforcement tried to shoot any shooter before the assassination attempt. They had to be sure to hit Crooks and not the real shooter. Remember only SS Snipers had open view of roof.
