Crime
Secret Service Tells Senators They ‘Identified’ Shooter Roughly 50 Mins Before Trump Took Rally Stage, Sources Say
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By NICK POPE
“I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position.”
The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the FBI told lawmakers Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin was identified well before shots rang out at the Pennsylvania rally, according to sources familiar with the briefing.
Federal law enforcement held the briefing with lawmakers to go over specifics of the shooting that nearly killed Trump on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the call, USSS and FBI officials stated that the gunman, later identified as Thomas Crooks, was noticed about an hour before the shooting, or approximately 50 minutes before Trump took the stage to address the crowd, according to two sources familiar with the briefing.
“There was zero accountability from Secret Service,” one source familiar with the briefing told the DCNF. “They identified the shooter 60 minutes prior to the assassination attempt.”
Given that the shooter opened fire about 60 minutes after being identified, and about ten minutes into Trump’s speech, this means that the identification occurred roughly 50 minutes before the former president took the stage.
Another source familiar with the briefing confirmed this particular detail to the DCNF. One of the sources said the officials told senators that Crooks was spotted with a range finder.
Both sources familiar with the briefing described it as a major disappointment given the gravity of the subject it addressed.
“Multiple members” who wanted to ask questions on the video call were not granted the opportunity to do so, according to another source familiar with the briefing. “They did not have answers to basic questions,” the source told the DCNF in reference to USSS and FBI.
USSS also spotted Crooks on the roof from which he opened fire about 20 minutes before shots rang out, according to ABC News, citing its own sources familiar with the briefing.
The security lapses that allowed Crooks to get several clean shots off at Trump from close range have raised serious questions from Republicans, who have widely and sharply criticized the USSS’ performance on Saturday as one of the worst failures in the agency’s history.
USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle has been lambasted for her response to the situation, which has included a statement to ABC News that security was not present on the roof from which Crooks opened fire because it is sloped.
Several lawmakers went public with their criticisms after the briefing as well.
“I just got off a briefing with the Secret Service and FBI. I am appalled to learn that the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage,” Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn wrote in a Wednesday post to X. “I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position.”
Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee expressed a similar view in his own post to X after the briefing.
“Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle needs to step down immediately. Today’s (mostly) information-free briefing only confirmed that,” Lee wrote. “What little information she gave us was at once deeply troubling and glaringly incomplete.”
Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming also ripped the Secret Service after the briefing concluded.
“This was a 100% cover-your-ass briefing. He was identified as being suspicious one hour before the shooting. He had a range finder and a backpack. The Secret Service lost sight of him,” Barrasso said in a statement shared on X. “No one has taken responsibility. No one has been held responsible. Someone has died. The President was almost killed. The head of the Secret Service needs to go.”
The FBI and USSS did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Crime
Canadian teacher showed Charlie Kirk assassination video to young students, said he deserved to die
From LifeSiteNews
A Toronto teacher was suspended after reportedly forcing students to watch the assassination video while lecturing them about ‘anti-fascism, anti-trans, and how Charlie Kirk deserved this to occur.’
A Canadian teacher from the Toronto area has been suspended after showing the assassination video of Charlie Kirk to children aged 10 to 11 in his class, allegedly telling students Kirk deserved to die.
The teacher, from the Corvette Junior Public School in Toronto, Ontario, has been suspended and is under investigation by officials at the Toronto District School Board.
According to a Toronto Sun report, a source close to the situation said that several students from the teacher’s class “went home and complained to their parents, traumatized at witnessing the on-camera death, which they were forced to witness numerous times over.”
The source added that “parents subsequently reached out to school administrators, who will be putting him on leave at the start of the school day, September 12th, 2025.”
According to the source, while the teacher was playing Kirk’s assassination video, “repeatedly, he gave a speech to his students regarding anti-fascism, anti-trans, and how Charlie Kirk deserved this to occur.”
This past Friday, school officials sent parents a letter about the incident, calling the teacher’s alleged actions “extremely troubling and completely disturbing.”
“During class, students were said to have been shown a portion of a violent video in response to questions being asked about a recent tragic event in the United States,” reads the letter, which was signed by Corvette Junior Public School Principal Jennifer Koptie.
The letter confirmed that the video was allegedly shown to kids in grades 5 and 6 by a staff member at the school, who was supervising a French immersion class, but was not the student’s regular teacher.
“While an investigation must still be conducted to learn all of the details, the report of this incident is extremely troubling and completely unacceptable,” the letter continued.
Koptie wrote that the teacher has been “relieved of all teaching responsibilities pending the outcome of the investigation and will not be at the school.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Kirk, who was the CEO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was shot in the neck during an event on the campus of Utah Valley University last Wednesday and later died.
Law enforcement has Kirk’s alleged shooter in custody, as reported by LifeSiteNews.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the roommate and alleged “partner” of Charlie Kirk’s assassin suspect has been confirmed to be a man who identifies as transgender.
Canada’s Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, last week, gave a touching tribute to Kirk, saying he was “mercilessly assassinated” for simply expressing his “contrary views.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, after a long delay last Thursday, broke his silence on the assassination of Kirk, saying he was “appalled” by his murder while calling for “prayers” for his family.
Quick Hit:
Chaos followed the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk when police first arrested a 71-year-old man who confessed he was only trying to distract them from the real shooter.
Key Details:
- George Zinn, 71, was arrested after yelling, “I shot him, now shoot me!” but later admitted he was trying to mislead police.
- The real suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested Thursday night and identified publicly Friday morning.
- Zinn was charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, while Robinson faces charges as the alleged assassin.
Diving Deeper:
Charlie Kirk, one of the most prominent young leaders in the conservative movement, was assassinated in a brazen political attack that shocked supporters nationwide. Instead of immediately capturing the real suspect, police initially detained George Zinn, a man with a long history of causing disruptions at political events and protests.
Video of Zinn being handcuffed quickly spread, leading many to believe the threat had been neutralized. But Zinn’s arrest was a diversion — one that he admitted to orchestrating in order to shield the real shooter. He told police he wanted to “draw attention from the real shooter,” an action that delayed accountability and nearly allowed a dangerous criminal to evade justice longer.
Zinn’s background only adds to the picture. As the Salt Lake Tribune noted, he has a history of disrupting events — from political speeches to cultural gatherings like the Sundance Film Festival. His disruptive activism fits a pattern of left-wing agitators who thrive on chaos, and in this case, he played a role in protecting an assassin.
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