Although a widely circulated news photograph shows the astounding moment a bullet whizzed by Donald Trump’s head on July 13, while he spoke at a rally in Butler, Penn., the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation cast a doubt on whether that bullet actually struck the edge of Trump’s ear. It could have been something else, said Christopher Wray to the House Judiciary Committee.
“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray said. “I don’t know right now whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have landed somewhere else.”
He did not say what kind of shrapnel could have hit Trump’s ear, while some Trump opponents have speculated that it could have been glass from the teleprompter. That theory has been dismissed by the liberal fact-checking site Snopes.
A photo, taken by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Doug Mills from his vantage point beneath the stage, shows a bullet passing by Trump’s ear.
Wray confirmed that the F.B.I. has recovered eight casings of bullets. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said that the assassin, now dead, had fired eight shots.
Wray said that the gunman may have had a firearm with a collapsible stock, which would make it easier for him to carry the weapon unnoticed. But Wray gave no reason for why he was not stating this definitively, since the weapon was found with the gunman, Thomas Crooks, on the roof.
On July 5, Crooks, 20, had visited the site of the upcoming July 13 rally in Butler, according to Wray, and that he had researched online information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, including searching for the phrase “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.” Lee Harvey Oswald is the man who is blamed for killing President Kennedy in 1963.
After researching those terms, Crooks then registered for the rally. On the morning of the rally, Crooks went to the site in Butler, and then left in the afternoon to buy 50 rounds of ammunition, Wray testified.
Wray, whose agency is in charge of the investigation, also said that Crooks had purchased a ladder, according to a blood-soaked receipt that was found on his dead body after snipers took him out. But Wray said no ladder was found at the scene and he doesn’t know how Crooks got up on the roof of the building that gave him a clear shot at Trump.
Crooks was documented back at the rally site just before 4 p.m. on July 13, when he flew a drone within 200 yards of the stage where Trump would be speaking at about 6 pm. The F.B.I. found the drone in Crooks’ car, along with a drone controller and two explosive devices that could have been remotely detonated. Crooks had a transmitter as well for the devices, Wray said.
Other testimony from the Pennsylvania State Police has shown that the Secret Service was alerted to Crooks’ presence on the ground with a rangefinder at 5:51 p.m.
At 5:52 p.m., the Secret Service shared the information about the suspicious person with the rangefinder.
At 6:03 p.m., Trump took the stage at Butler.
At 6:09 p.m., people in the area started shouting about the man on the roof with the gun. One officer tried to get up on the roof, but retreated when Crooks turned his gun on him.
One video, shot at 6:11:28 p.m. show people shouting and fleeing after they spot the gunman.
The shots were fired at 6:11:33 p.m., killing one man behind Trump and wounding two others, plus the minor wound to Trump’s ear.
Wray was more forthcoming in his testimony than was Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who testified on Monday and then resigned her office after her testimony was widely criticized as disingenuous and evasive.