Case Closed? Judicial Watch Investigates Butler Assassination Attempt

In November, the FBI closed its investigation of the attempt by Thomas Crooks to kill President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. But Judicial Watch has not stopped looking for answers. What exactly happened in Butler in July 2024 before, during, and after shots were fired? A full picture of the Butler shooting is critical to understanding the attempt on the president’s life—and perhaps preventing future assassination attempts.

Last month, we obtained 48 pages of heavily redacted documents from the FBI in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents provide context to the Butler shooting story. One document is an interview of the first medic to reach Crooks on the rooftop. She pronounced him dead and noted that a SWAT team officer “checked the shooter’s right pocket and discovered a gray remote device with numerical push buttons and an antenna.” Other documents sketch FBI actions in the days after the shooting.

Judicial Watch has been relentless in pursuit of facts in the Butler case. We obtained numerous documents from local and state sources.

One request resulted in the production of bodycam footage from the Butler Police Department on the day of the assassination attempt.

Another request produced two photographs of shooter Thomas Crooks and included law enforcement emails about “sniper elements” deployed to protect the president. The sniper elements will “provide overwatch for the rally and would work in conjunction with the secret service counter-sniper unit,” noted a senior law-enforcement source.

In another legal action, Judicial Watch fought vigorously for the disclosure of a tape of  a 911 call made by Crooks’ father. The tape “is another piece of the puzzle in the Butler assassination attempt on President Trump,” noted JW President Tom Fitton.

In July 2025, after the FBI ignored our FOIA request for all records related to Thomas Crooks, we sued in federal court. “No more delays and excuses,” Tom said. “The FBI should release what it has on the man who tried to kill President Trump.”

Nine months later, in April 2026, the FBI released 37 heavily redacted pages that noted local law enforcement warnings about an “unknown male acting suspiciously.” The documents arrived five months after the FBI closed its investigation and were the first records to be released by the bureau about the assassination attempt.

The FBI tells JW they are holding approximately 75,000 pages of documents related to the Butler shooting and reviewing only a few hundred a month for release. Why the delay?

“The American people deserve full transparency about Thomas Crooks, his contacts, and why key details about the case remain hidden,” notes JW’s Fitton. Our federal lawsuit against the FBI continues.

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Micah Morrison is chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch. Tips: [email protected]

Investigative Bulletin is published by Judicial Watch. Reprints and media inquiries: [email protected]

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