NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
One year after gunfire erupted at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania – marking what would become the first attempt on the president’s life during the 2024 election cycle – members of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU) are breaking their silence.
For the first time, those who responded on that harrowing day are sharing their account in part two of Fox Nation’s “Butler Under Fire.”
The installment gives subscribers a new glimpse into the day that nearly claimed President Donald Trump’s life, featuring exclusive interviews, video footage, and audio recordings of the individuals who lived through the traumatic events.
“It will be something that weighs on us forever,” said Commander Ed Lenz of the Butler County ESU.
Then-Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Lenz’s job was to gather information on the ground and relay it up the chain of command on July 13, 2024. His unit worked to secure the event in a joint effort with the U.S. Secret Service.
Witnesses from that day would later suggest that the Secret Service’s lack of direction given to local agencies led to security failures that allowed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to position himself on a nearby rooftop and open fire at then-candidate Trump, striking him in the ear and killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore as he shielded his wife and daughters from bullets.
In the latest “Butler Under Fire” episode, the Butler County ESU met with Comperatore’s widow, Helen, to answer her questions about that day.
“They deserve to have the truth told,” Lenz said. “They gave us permission to do this. We have their blessing to be here, and they wanted to do this. That really is the deciding factor.”
“We’re not doing this for us. We’re doing this for them.”
Helen wanted to meet with local law enforcement to find out more about that fateful day from their perspective. Upon meeting the unit, she received hugs from many.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY
A firetruck in Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania honoring the firefighter, Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the Trump rally on July 13, 2024. (Sarah Rumpf-Whitten/Fox News Digital)
“For the team as a whole, getting to meet her and her showing support for the team means the world to all of us,” ESU member Michael Murcko said.
Murcko radioed Lenz about a suspicious person “lurking around the AGR building” and sighting the stage through a rangefinder – a device used to measure distances – that day, escalating the level of concern.
Not long after, Lenz contacted the state police sergeant, whose job was to relay the information to Secret Service.
“I can tell you 100% that the Secret Service was absolutely aware,” Lenz told Helen.
“They had all the information that we were telling them.”
According to Lenz, Crooks caught Butler County ESU Chris Kopas’ eye early on.
“The shooter was one of the people that I began to monitor. He kept going in and out of eyesight, looking up and paying close attention to where our sniper units were located within that building…” Kopas shared.
“It didn’t seem like he had any cares about actually being at a presidential rally.”
Cell phone video captured the gunman walking through the vendor row near the entrance at 4:26 p.m.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AFTERMATH, REACTIONS FROM INNER CIRCLE REVEALED IN NEW BOOK
Commander Ed Lenz speaks to the Comperatore family in Fox Nation’s “Butler Under Fire.” (Fox Nation)
At 5:45, a Beaver County sniper sent photos of Crooks to local snipers via a group chat. Local responders continued to relay urgent information, desperate to find Crooks, who had slipped from their sight.
Helen, in disbelief that the area wasn’t secured, called the incident the “ultimate failure.”
“What really gets me is that there was a threat and they [Secret Service] let him [Trump] come out on stage,” she said.
“If they had just held him, none of this would have ever happened.”
Butler Township Police responded to the incident, trying to locate Crooks once he had climbed on top of the roof.
“The way [we] were positioned inside the building was we were not meant to be seen. Every window on the second floor had a screen in [it], and these windows were fairly narrow at about 18 to 20 inches wide, so our field of view was limited,” Murcko said.
“We were not able to see the rooftop that Crooks was on.”
Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m.
Six minutes later, a Butler Township police officer attempted to scale the roof. Crooks, lying flat, was spotted with a rifle before others were alerted to the threat.
“I saw a wave of people running away from the rally,” Murcko recalled. “And when I heard one woman specifically scream, I knew something was wrong.”
Lenz said he received the first radio transmission alerting him that Crooks was armed only 30 seconds before shots were fired. He then radioed his quick reaction force to engage.
At 6:11 p.m., Crooks opened fire on the president. Trump, turning his head to read from a chart showing the number of illegal immigrants entering the country under the Biden administration, narrowly escaped death as one of the projectiles grazed his right ear.
Experts say, if he had not moved at the right time, it would have been “lights out.”
Comperatore was fatally shot. Two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were critically wounded by gunfire.
Helen said the Butler ESU “did what they were supposed to do” that day. At the same time, she is skeptical of other authorities for keeping a tight lid on information about Crooks.
“It needs to be talked about. It needs to be dug into. Start asking questions…” she said.
Part two of “Butler Under Fire” continues with expert input from investigative journalist Ken Silva and Tom Fitton, president of the government accountability non-profit Judicial Watch, and others to provide more context about that harrowing day.
Accounts from Crooks’ classmates and footage from congressional hearings regarding the incident are also featured.
To watch the full episode, subscribe to Fox Nation and begin streaming today.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.