Altercation at Trump Rally Prior to Shooting
FBI Records Reveal Altercation at Trump Rally Site before Shooting
Judicial Watch Sues National Intelligence for Records on Covid-19 Origins
Judicial Watch Sues Justice for Records on Unsolved $1.5 Million Art Theft
Illegal ‘Gangster’ Sold Drugs, Machine Guns in one of America’s ‘Safest Cities’
FBI Records Reveal Altercation at Trump Rally Site before Shooting
We continue to uncover concerning details about the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, at the Butler, PA, rally site.
We forced the release of 27 heavily redacted pages from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was reportedly involved in an altercation with a group of people and making “hateful comments” directed at President Trump.
We filed the July 2025 lawsuit after the FBI failed to respond to a July 2024 FOIA request (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02216)). We asked for:
All records, including but not limited to, investigative reports, interview summaries (Forms 1023), letterhead memoranda, photos, audio/visual recordings, database inquiries, interagency communications, and any other records, whether contained in the Central Records System or cross-referenced files, related to Thomas Matthew Crooks, born September 20, 2003 in Butler Township, PA and died on July 13, 2024, who attempted the assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024.
All records of communication in any form, including but not limited to emails, text messages, encrypted app communications and voice recordings, between FBI officials and/or FBI sources, contractors, and assets on the one hand, and Thomas Matthew Crooks on the other hand.
A July 17 FD-302 investigative report states that a woman who attended the Trump rally was interviewed by the FBI and reported that Crooks “had an altercation with a group of people in the area [where the woman was standing] prior to the shooting.” The witness continued that “she observed Crooks climbing the building a short time after the interaction.”
The report shows that another rally attendee interviewed by agents said he also heard the altercation involving Crooks at the rally. The report states, “[Redacted] reported just before Donald Trump came on the stage, CROOKS was making ‘hateful’ comments toward Trump. [Redacted] wasn’t sure if Crooks was filming the event or speaking with someone on his cell phone.”
A July 17 FD-302 investigative report shows that a woman contacted the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) to report that she had attended the Trump rally in Butler and that she had seen a “suspicious individual” at the rally who was acting “very nervous” in the parking lot and she took a picture of the license plate of his Hyundai vehicle.
The records include a July 17 FD-302 investigative report in which a deputy with the Butler Sheriff’s Office, whose name is redacted, tells investigators she was assigned the Trump rally two days before the event and was provided a map of the rally grounds one day prior to the event. The report states:
No other formal briefings were provided. [Redacted] asked [redacted] what the role of posts 3, 4, 5, and 6 were? she was told that those posts were to monitor and make sure the fence line remained secure. [Redacted] was not involved with any of the planning for the rally. [Redacted] was not briefed on the use of deadly force prior to the event.
[Redacted] was not familiar with the Butler Farm Show grounds prior to the rally. [Redacted] arrived at approximately 10:40 am and [redacted] personally drove her to her post. No other ops plans were given to [redacted] position was between the two fence lines with the rally site behind her. [Redacted] could see the front and left sides of the AGR building. [Redacted] had no field of view to the right or back sides of the structure. [Redacted] was unaware of any law enforcement presence at/in the AGR building. [Redacted] didn’t anticipate having any people gather at the AGR building. [Redacted] was surprised that there ended up being approximately 100 in that area. [Redacted] confirmed that the group of people were on the opposite side of the fence line from her position. [Redacted] reported that she and a PSP [Pennsylvania State Police] trooper had to address a few problems “a few hours” before the arrival of Trump.
[Redacted] did state that it was at times difficult to discern what agency was talking on the radio.
At some point prior to the arrival of Trump, [redacted] recalled hearing radio traffic from Sgt. [redacted] on the sheriff’s channel requesting officers to be on the lookout (BOLO) for a man on a bike with long hair, grey shirt, backpack and possibly wearing a hat. [Redacted] asked why they were looking for this male and was told that he was seen with a range finder. [Redacted] had received a photo of the subject via text from Sgt. [redacted] at 5:53 pm. [Redacted] never received information from the crowd regarding the BOLO subject. [Redacted] heard someone on the radio saying, “long gun”. [Redacted] repeated “long gun” on the sheriff’s channel. [Redacted] was in the process of going towards Post 5 to share the photo with PSP when the shots were fired. [Redacted] estimated 5-6 rounds fired. [Redacted] believed the shots came from in front of her at the AGR building. [Redacted] immediately exited her vehicle, withdrew her firearm and was prepared to engage any threat that she saw. [Redacted] was still between the fence lines, so she was unable to move towards the AGR building. [Redacted] did not engage any further enforcement actions.
[Redacted] confirmed that the BCSO [Butler County Sheriff’s Office] is not outfitted with body worn cameras (BWC). [Redacted] did not take any photos or videos from personal devices.
No other media outlets or law enforcement agencies have reached out to [redacted] other than the PSP and FBI. This is the first statement she has provided regarding the shooting at the Trump rally.
A July 17 FD-302 investigative report shows the FBI interviewed a member of the Beaver County Sheriff’s Department’s Emergency Services Unit who was working at the rally. The interview subject reports “that his team did not have communication with the United States Secret Service (USSS) and does not know if USSS was present at the 0900 [9 a.m.] operations order brief.” Further, “his team did not have communications with PSP [Pennsylvania State Police] or [Secret Service] during the event.”
A heavily redacted July 17 FD-302 report shows that its analysts determined that Crooks registered for the Trump rally in Butler on July 6, 2024:
[Crooks], DOB September 20, 2003, registered for the July 13, 2024, Trump Campaign Rally on July 6, 2024, at 5:31 p.m. with the phone number [redacted] from the ZIP code 15102. He completed the two step authentication, validating that he was a real person, with the email address (bcook@mailfence.com). CROOKS requested one ticket for the event. The Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with his registration was [redacted] and conducted by a Virtual Private Network (VPN) associated with a New York area IP address.
According to the [redacted] CROOKS did not register for any other Trump Campaign Rallies and did not provide any campaign financing.
It should not have taken two years and a federal lawsuit to find out that the Butler shooter was involved in an altercation with Trump supporters and made hateful comments towards Trump at the Butler rally minutes before he nearly killed Trump. These new FBI documents are disturbing and astonishing, detailing more conduct by the shooter that should have gotten the attention of the Secret Service.
In February 2026, this lawsuit forced the release of the first FBI documents (37 heavily redacted pages) about the Butler assassination attempt.
In December 2025, we sued the U.S. Secret Service for communications records related to Code Pink protesters who disrupted a dinner held by President Trump at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2025 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-04408)).
In September 2025, we filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for messages among top leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation referencing social media posts of Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-02740)).
In March 2025, we sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)).
In August 2024, we uncovered documents from the district attorney’s office in Butler County, PA, detailing the extensive preparation of local police for the rally at which former President Trump was shot. The preparation included sniper teams, counter assault teams and a quick response force.
In August 2024, in response to a separate open records request, we obtained bodycam footage of the July 13 assassination events from the Butler Township Police Department.
In August 2024, following up on reports that the Biden Secret Service denied Trump’s requests for additional Secret Service protection, we filed a FOIA lawsuit for Secret Service and other records regarding potential increased protective services to Trump’s security detail prior to the attempt on his life at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-02495)).
Judicial Watch Sues National Intelligence for Records on Covid-19 Origins
Covid-19 affected the lives of every American and lives around the world. To prevent a recurrence, we need the facts, and we have actively sought answers to key questions about the disease.
In our latest move, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for records and communications of its employees with other government officials regarding coronaviruses, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and related Covid-19 research (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office of the Director of National Intelligence(1:26-cv-01234)).
We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence failed to respond to a November 20, 2025, FOIA request for:
Records and communications of any ODNI employees, contractors, or individuals detailed to ODNI and any of the following individuals that contain these keywords: coronavirus, COVID 19 (in any form). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, Wuhan, bats.
The individuals are:
- Ralph Baric – @unc.edu
- Toni Baric – @unc.edu
- Anthony Fauci – @niaid.nih.gov
- Francis Collins – @nih.gov
- Cliff Lane – @niaid.nih.gov
- David Morens – @nih.gov
- Gray Handley – @cdc.gov
- Ping Chen – @cdc.gov
- Dennis Carroll – @usaid.gov
- Peter Daszak – @ecohealthalliance.org
- Aleksei Chmura – @ecohealthalliance.org
- Bob Garry – @tulane.edu
- Linfa Wang – @duke-nus.edu.sg
- Jeremy Farrar – @who.int (current) / @wellcome.org (former)
- Vincent Munster – @nih.gov
- Ian Lipkin – @columbia.edu
The date range for the request is January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2024.
The initial Covid-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Covid-19 entered the conversation in the U.S. in January 2020.
On October 30, 2025, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) sent a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, requesting records related to the Committee’s investigation into the origins of Covid-19 and risky life sciences research.
Paul’s letter pointed out that members of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) were in contact with Dr. Ralph Baric, a coronavirus expert and collaborator with Dr. Zhengli Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), well before the outbreak of the global pandemic. Paul stated that Baric’s relationship with the Intelligence Community dated back to at least 2015:
[I]n a September 2015 email, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contacted Dr. Ralph Baric, a scientist who collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), to discuss a “possible project” relating to “[c]oronavirus evolution and possible natural human adaptation.”
Here are some of our previous activities:
In March 2026, we sued the U.S. Department of Defense for records on funding proposals submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. The Biological Technologies Office was launched in 2014.
In June 2025, we sued the War Department for all records regarding U.S. military personnel possibly contracting Covid-19 in October 2019 during the World Military Games in Wuhan, China. The lawsuit cited a December 2022 report issued by the Pentagon titled “Report to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives: 2019 World Military Games” which states that seven “service members who attended the games exhibited Covid-19-like signs and/or symptoms” during the time surrounding their attendance at the games.
In May 2025, we received records from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that revealed its plans to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for 17 million health care employees and that only one of 4,682 claims for injuries and deaths due to Covid-19 “countermeasures” at the time was compensated.
Records uncovered in 2024 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through a FOIA request showed an April 2020 email exchange with several officials in the bureau’s Newark Field Office referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China as including “gain-of-function research” which “would leave no signature of purposeful human manipulation.”
Records from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that a Pfizer study surveyed 23 people in 2021 to gauge reactions to its Covid vaccine booster before asking the FDA to approve it.
Records from the Health and Human Services included the initial grant application and annual reports to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from EcoHealth Alliance, describing the aim of its work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to create mutant viruses “to better predict the capacity of our CoVs [coronaviruses] to infect people.”
Health and Human Services records included emails of then-Director of the National Institutes of Health Francis Collins showing a British physicians’ group recommended the use of Ivermectin to prevent and treat Covid-19.
Records from Health and Human Services regarding data Moderna submitted to the Food and Drug Administration on its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine indicated a “statistically significant” number of rats were born with skeletal deformations after their mothers were injected with the vaccine. The documents also revealed Moderna elected not to conduct a number of standard pharmacological studies on the laboratory test animals.
Food and Drug Administration records detailed pressure for Covid-19 vaccine booster approval and use.
NIH records revealed an FBI “inquiry” into the NIH’s controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The records also show National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about “gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth Alliance’s lack of compliance with reporting rules and use of gain-of-function research in the NIH-funded research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
HHS records revealed that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277 was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
NIAID records showed that it gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.
HHS records included an “urgent for Dr. Fauci ” email chain, citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-fundedEcoHealth Alliance. The government emails also reported that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help “raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from China on important international councils as high level commitment from China.”
HHS records included a grant application for research involving the coronavirus that appeared to describe “gain-of-function” research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses, attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
HHS records showed the State Department and NIAID knew immediately in January 2020 that China was withholding Covid-19 data, which was hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) records showed the former director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr. James W. Le Duc warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the Covid issue by Congress.
HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and related data for the Covid-19 vaccines showed a key component of the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), were found outside the injection site, mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals, eight to 48 hours after injection.
Records from the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP) revealed safety lapses and violations at U.S. biosafety laboratories that conduct research on dangerous agents and toxins.
HHS records included emails between National Institutes of Health (NIH) then-Director Francis Collins and Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), about hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19.
HHS records showed that NIH officials tailored confidentiality forms to China’s terms and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an unreleased, “strictly confidential” Covid-19 epidemiological analysis in January 2020.
Fauci emails included his approval of a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus.
Our four-part documentary regarding the coordinated effort by the government and Big Tech to censor and suppress information on topics such as Hunter Biden’s laptop, Covid-19, and election debates is available here.
Judicial Watch Sues Justice for Records on Unsolved $1.5 Million Art Theft
Ben Stahl, an internationally acclaimed artist and illustrator, was commissioned years ago by the Catholic Press to create 14 paintings depicting the Stations of the Cross. “The Way of the Cross” was a series of 6-foot by 9-foot paintings depicting the Good Friday events from Jesus’ condemnation by Pontius Pilate to Jesus’ body being placed in the tomb.
One night in April 1969, the paintings were carefully removed from their frames and stolen from the Museum of the Cross. None was recovered.
We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records regarding an unsolved $1.5 million art theft in 1969 in Sarasota, FL (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (1:26-cv-01166)).
The search for the truth was taken up by Stahl’s children, particularly David Stahl, who alleges the investigation was mishandled by local police and the FBI. He cites irregularities including reportedly lost files due to floods and fires. Although the Sarasota Police Department reopened the case in 2013, no new leads emerged.
Prior to our lawsuit, David Stahl submitted a FOIA request to the Justice Department and received 12 fully redacted pages.
We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the FBI failed to respond to a February 18, 2026, FOIA request for:
All records in main files or cross-referenced files related to the investigation of artwork stolen in 1969 from the Museum of the Cross in Sarasota, Florida. Such records shall include, but not be limited to, investigative reports, witness summaries (Forms 1023), letterhead memoranda, agents’ handwritten notes, communications in any form, crime scene photographs, fingerprints, evidence logs, and any other records. (This request slightly modified a similar request sent on Dec. 11, 2025 with a corrected year of the date of the art theft.)
This should be a straightforward search for records. After more than five decades, the FBI should be able to find and release these records. The public deserves answers.
Illegal ‘Gangster’ Sold Drugs, Machine Guns in one of America’s ‘Safest Cities’
Laredo, Texas, is on the FBI’s list of safest cities, but that didn’t stop an illegal alien from selling drugs and machine guns from his home there. Our Corruption Chronicles blog tells the story.
Although the latest government figures confirm that America has the most secure border in history, the damage of Biden’s catastrophic free for all immigration policies are ongoing with hardcore criminals operating inside the United States and terrorizing even the nation’s “safest” communities. In a recent example, a Mexican illegal alien who had twice been deported ran an illicit operation that distributed drugs and machine guns from a house in south Texas. His name is Carlos Alberto Garcia-Guajardo and federal authorities confirm he acted as a broker for selling narcotics and weapons in Laredo, Texas, a Mexican border town that appears on the FBI’s list of safest cities. In fact, the agency says crime rates in border cities are lower than the national average with Laredo among the leaders.
Nevertheless, in that safe border town an illegal immigrant welcomed into the U.S. under Biden emulated the “gangster” lifestyle, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which also prosecuted Garcia-Guajardo’s partner in crime Fernando Patino, also an illegal immigrant. Patino, who is 32, pleaded guilty to his criminal charges, but the 34-year-old Garcia-Guajardo went to trial and was convicted by a jury on all 12 counts after less than three hours of deliberation. This month a judge sentenced Garcia-Guajardo, who was last ordered deported in July 2024, to over four decades in prison and Patino to 30 years followed by five years of supervised release.
Garcia-Guajardo evidently received a bigger sentence because he was the leader of the criminal enterprise that involved countless drugs and weapons and because he committed other dangerous offenses such as discharging firearms near children and from moving vehicles.
At trial, the jury heard that Garcia-Guajardo and Patino sold cocaine and firearms, including several machine guns, out of a residential home in Laredo, the supposedly safe border city. Testimony included details of the undercover operation that exposed the illegal scheme. Around the beginning of 2025 Patino and Garcia-Guajardo began selling cocaine and machine guns to undercover agents while using the sale of the narcotics and firearms to negotiate additional future deals, according to the DOJ. “Evidence also showed Garcia-Guajardo and Patino not only sold drugs and weapons but fired them indiscriminately within their neighborhood and conducted extensive drug trafficking,” the agency reveals, adding that “both Garcia-Guajardo and Patino drove around Laredo, firing various firearms from the windows of their vehicle.” The alien criminals also used children to test various weapons, including machine guns, and several videos show them drinking excessively and using drugs during the firearm evaluations.
The crackdown of this alarming criminal enterprise run by illegal aliens in what reportedly is one of America’s safest cities is part of the Trump administration’s Operation Take Back America. The nationwide initiative was launched last spring to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, eliminate drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect American communities from perpetrators of violent crime. The measure empowers federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials around the country to protect their communities from ongoing threats by charging the most serious, readily provable offenses. Under Operation Take Back America federal prosecutors in the southern district of Texas have filed another 353 cases this month involving immigration and border security with the majority of charges—212—against criminal aliens who had previously been deported. Many have prior felony convictions in the U.S. involving narcotics and violent crimes and dozens are accused of engaging in human smuggling. “Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal histories, including convictions for human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children,” reads the statement issued by the DOJ’s southern district of Texas announcing the latest cases.
Operation Take Back America hit the ground running with federal prosecutors in southwestern border districtscharging over 6,000 illegal immigrants
Until next week,
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