The man who came within an inch of killing former President Donald Trump flew a drone near the rally site just two hours before Mr. Trump took the stage, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray revealed Wednesday.
Mr. Wray, testifying to Congress, also said the shooter fired at least eight rounds and had constructed at least three explosive devices, including two that were found in his vehicle at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
FBI agents still haven’t found any evidence that anyone else was involved in planning or executing the shooting, Mr. Wray said. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by Secret Service.
The drone flight was particularly troubling for lawmakers who say the Secret Service failed to deliver quality protection to Mr. Trump, a former president and Republicans’ nominee for president in this year’s election.
Mr. Wray said the shooter appears to have flown the drone about 200 yards from the stage at around 4 p.m. on July 13. Mr. Trump would take the stage roughly two hours later, and would be shot at — and bloodied by a round to his right ear — at 6:11 p.m.
“We think, but we do not know … that he was live-stream viewing the footage,” Mr. Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.
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Kimberly Cheatle, the now-resigned director of the Secret Service, told Congress on Monday that she couldn’t talk about the shooter’s drone activities, nor would she say whether her own agency flew drones to try to help secure the site.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, this week revealed that a counter-drone operator was listed on the Secret Service’s personnel list for the event. Mr. Grassley prodded Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, on whether it detected the shooter’s drone flight and what steps were taken.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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