Stunning Body Camera Footage Shows Police Frustration After Trump Attack

A newly surfaced video reveals that police in Butler, Pennsylvania, expressed frustration over warnings they claim to have given the Secret Service about security concerns before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“I f—ing told them that they needed to post guys f—ing over here… I told them that f—ing Tuesday,” a Butler Township police officer is heard saying in audio from his body-worn camera, which was obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “I talked to the Secret Service guys. They’re like, ‘Yeah, no problem. We’re going to post guys over here.’”

In one of the videos, also obtained by The Journal, an officer discusses a suspicious individual they lost track of, describing him as “a gentleman with a flat face that we were looking for earlier. He was creeping people out.”

“He was watching people out in the woods by the water tower. I’m not sure if he is the gentleman down or not,” the officer remarked.

Approximately 10 minutes after the shooting, another officer arrived at the scene, visibly frustrated.

“I thought you guys were on the roof. I thought it was you. I thought it was you,” the officer exclaimed.

“No,” another officer clarified, explaining that no officers had been stationed on the roof.

“What the f—,” the officer responded, expressing disbelief. “Why were we not on the roof? Why weren’t we?”

Another clip shows an officer being helped onto the roof, only to quickly descend after spotting an armed would-be assassin aiming a firearm at him.

“He’s armed. I saw him. He’s laying down,” the officer reported over the radio, according to a transcript.

“He turned around and I f—ing dropped,” the officer recounted.

The officer then sprinted to his squad car to retrieve a rifle as additional officers arrived on the scene.

“F—ing this close, bro. Dude, he turned around on me,” he told fellow officers.

“He’s laying down, proned out, book bag next to him,” the officer described.

“Watch out cause he can f—ing come right down on you over there,” he cautioned as other officers moved toward the roof.

In another video, the same officer who initially spotted the would-be assassin climbed back onto the roof after the scene was secured, noting that he had sent out an alert about the suspect.

“Dude, I was calling out, ‘On top of the roof!’” he said. “Were you on the same frequency?”

“I’m f—ing pissed,” another officer said while walking near the attacker’s body. “We couldn’t find him.”

Federal officials have stated that they believed local authorities, including snipers, would secure the building. However, local police said they informed the Secret Service that they would be inside the building with snipers positioned on the second floor.

“Butler’s team didn’t want the snipers on the roof because they would have been exposed to temperatures over 90 degrees throughout the day, the official said. Also, the sloped roof would have obscured some of the snipers’ vantage points,” The Journal reported.

“On the day of the rally, the Secret Service had limited interaction with local police, including the Butler County Emergency Services Unit,” the report added.

Butler Township police Lt. Matthew Pearson stated last week that Butler Police would not disclose the names of the officers heard on the body camera audio due to the ongoing investigation.

“Butler Township Police are cooperating with an internal Secret Service investigation, so we cannot comment at this time,” he said.

The Secret Service confirmed that it is reviewing the body camera footage to “ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again.”

“The U.S. Secret Service appreciates our local law enforcement partners, who acted courageously as they worked to locate the shooter that day,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.