About an hour before a gunman let loose a volley of bullets that nearly assassinated a former president, the law enforcement contingent in Butler, Pa., was on the verge of a great policing success.
Among the thousands of people streaming in to cheer former President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, local officers spotted one skinny young man acting oddly and notified other law enforcement.
The suspicious man did not appear to have a weapon.
Remarkably, law enforcement had found the right man — Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin, though officers did not know that at the time.
Twenty minutes before violence erupted, a sniper, from a distance, spotted Mr. Crooks again and took his picture.
Persons:
Donald J, Trump, — Thomas Matthew Crooks, Crooks
Locations:
Butler, Pa