(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a shocking development, a SWAT counter-sniper discussed “odd” evidence-scrubbing at the Pennsylvania rally site where GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump narrowly escaped assassination last month.
Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer expressed concern about how quickly the roof of the AGR International building was cleaned and how 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was disposed of before an official autopsy could be completed.
Shaffer’s comments came during a panel discussion hosted by five House Republicans — Representatives Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of (AZ), Matt Gaetz and Cory Mills (FL) and Chip Roy (TX) — at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Mills asked Shaffer:
“Do you find it odd that literally only days after the attempted assassination on 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?”
Shaffer responded, “Yes, I do.”
Mills further questioned, “Do you also find it odd … that the body of Matthew Crooks had not only been released and cremated — but that the coroner who’s responsible for releasing the body had no knowledge of it?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Shaffer agreed.
Moreover, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned after a poor testimony to Congress, said counter-sniper teams were not placed on the AGR International building because of the “sloped roof.”
Mills also accused the FBI of lacking transparency about Crooks’ alleged “online” research into explosives and encrypted messaging accounts.
Shaffer told Biggs that Crooks’ presence with a rangefinder scope should have raised his status from a “suspicious person” to a “person of interest” in law enforcement’s view.
In addition, Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA), a former police officer and member of the House Select Task Force investigating the shooting, revealed that “the FBI released the body for cremation ten days after” the attack.
In response, the FBI stated, “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 arranged for the cleaning of the location where the perpetrator died, which was in keeping with normal procedures. The shooter’s body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner’s office and our state and local law enforcement partners.
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