I don’t know a ton about Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), but I do know he has a background in law enforcement, so including him on the bipartisan task force investigating the J13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump seems like a sound decision. As one of 13 congressional members assigned to the task force, Higgins has been delving into the incident — had, in fact, already been investigating it personally prior to his appointment to the task force.
On August 12, Higgins filed a preliminary report to the task force Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA), whose district encompasses the Butler County Fairgrounds (commonly referred to as “Butler Farm”) where the incident occurred. The report was initially embargoed but on Thursday, was authorized for release.
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As Higgins makes clear, this is a preliminary investigative report and is neither exhaustive nor final. It is brief — only six pages — and includes Higgins’ own description of his training and experience, as well as his investigative approach. As part of his investigation, Higgins traveled to Butler County on August 4 and stayed until August 6, spending time on the ground investigating the scene itself as well as speaking with numerous local law enforcement personnel.
The full report may be viewed here, but as someone (one of many) who has been following the investigation and aftermath of J13 closely, I wanted to set out several key points from it, along with my own related impressions/questions. (My notes are italicized and in brackets.)
- The Secret Service (USSS) had never assigned a counter-sniper team to a former POTUS before J13. [What about presidential candidates/nominees?]
- Butler County tactical command had set aside radios for USSS to use for the event in the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) command post RV and reminded the USSS counter-sniper teams to pick them up, but they were never retrieved by USSS.
- Regarding videos circulating that purport to show a “muzzle flash” from inside the American Glass Research (AGR) building from a window below Crooks’ firing position, Higgins carefully examined the window and interviewed the AGR employee whose office it is in and determined that the window does not open and has never opened. Higgins’ conclusion is that the purported muzzle flash is either a digital fabrication or the reflection of an iPhone camera/light.
- Crooks did not use a ladder; he climbed onto the roof via an AC unit, which Higgins was able to reproduce/recreate easily.
- Crooks fired eight shots from the rooftop. He was partially concealed from the northern counter-sniper team by trees but not from the southern counter-sniper team. However, he was several feet back from the peak of the roof, which helped minimize his skyline profile.
- The ninth shot was from a Butler SWAT operator on the ground about 100 yards away; that shot hit the rifle stock and fragged Crooks’ face/neck/right shoulder. Per Higgins: “The SWAT operator who took this shot was a total badass; when he had sighted the shooter Crooks as a mostly obscured by foliage moving target on the AGR rooftop, he immediately left his assigned post and ran towards the threat, running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing 8 rounds. On his own, this ESU SWAT operator took a very hard shot, one shot.”
- Following that shot, Crooks went down and then popped back up.
- The southern counter-sniper team fired the 10th — and what Higgins believes to be the final — shot, which appears to have entered Crooks’ left mouth and exited the right ear area.
- The FBI released all first responders the evening of J13 and the crime scene after three days, which Higgins finds surprising, knowing there would be follow-on investigations.
- The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which, according to Higgins, “is unheard of. Cops don’t do that, ever.”
- One of Crooks’ shots hit a pressurized hydraulic line from a piece of staged heavy equipment. Higgins wants to know if this was retrieved and retained by the FBI.
- The FBI released Crooks’ body to his family for cremation on July 23. No one else knew about this until August 5.
- “[T]his action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort.”
- Higgins has nothing but praise for local law enforcement and AGR personnel who assisted him in his investigation. “I recreated every step of the County tactical team that was inside and every movement of Crooks outside. Examined every window, etc. It was long and hot, and the AGR exec stayed with us. No area was restricted in any way.”
- Higgins does not believe there was a second shooter on the water tower, which he explains in great detail, due in large part to the limited accessibility of the tower, though he does intend to return and climb the tower.
I found the report informative and look forward to Higgins’ more thorough report when he completes it. The key takeaway from this, in my view, is that the USSS didn’t avail themselves of available radios, which would have allowed them to be in direct communication with the local law enforcement personnel with whom they were supposed to be coordinating and, more importantly, the FBI moved very quickly to clear the personnel, clear the crime scene, and clear the shooter’s body, even while knowing that there were ongoing investigations and would be follow-on investigations. Why were they in such a hurry? How are we supposed to feel reassured that they are conducting and will conduct a thorough, honest investigation?
