In a chilling revelation, the head of the congressional committee investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has described the autopsy report of the assailant, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as "gruesome."
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Representative Mike Kelly, a Republican from Pennsylvania, who is leading the probe, shared these unsettling details with the Daily Mail, although he did not specify when the report would be made available to the public.
According to the Daily Mail, Kelly, who represents Butler, Pennsylvania, where the shooting took place, has spearheaded numerous investigative trips to the fairgrounds where Trump was addressing a gathering. The tragic incident resulted in one fatality and left several people, including the former President, injured. Kelly cautioned that the autopsy report is not for the faint-hearted, stating, "The autopsy, there's a warning that goes with it. It's pretty graphic."
While Kelly acknowledged that he has not fully examined the coroner's report, he confirmed its horrific contents. He also underscored the importance of remembering the Crooks family, who also 'lost somebody' on that tragic day. Kelly revealed that the FBI had informed him of Crooks' peculiar behavior prior to the shooting, which included 'walking around the house talking to himself' and 'flapping his arms,' as initially reported by Punchbowl News.
As more information about the shooting trickles in, a recent report suggests that a senior Secret Service official has been asked to retire. Michael Plati, the Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations, is expected to end his service with the agency soon, as reported by Fox News. The decision is allegedly linked to the agency's performance during the shooting incident involving Trump on July 13.
However, a spokesperson for the Secret Service told the Daily Mail that Plati's retirement was a personal decision, stating, "Assistant Director Plati was not asked to resign or retire by anyone. This was a personal decision that he has made and we thank him for his 27 years of dedicated service to the federal government."
The spokesperson also addressed the possibility of Plati testifying before Congress, stating, "The U.S. Secret Service respects the role of oversight. We have and will continue to make employees available for transcribed interviews and to date we've provided over 2,400 pages of responsive documentation to Congress."
As Congress continues its investigation into the shooting, concerns about the Secret Service's operations have been raised by whistleblowers. In August, a whistleblower alleged to Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, that the lead Secret Service agent in charge of Trump's rally in Butler was 'inexperienced' and 'failed to implement appropriate security protocols.' Hawley demanded in a letter to the Acting Director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, that the 'ineffective' lead site agent be suspended and investigated immediately.
In a related development, Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana who was appointed to the bipartisan task force reviewing the assassination attempt, encountered difficulties while examining the shooting. Higgins, a former police captain, attempted to view Crooks' body as part of his personal inspection, which he said 'caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact.' He discovered that the FBI had released the body for cremation ten days after the shooting, a decision he described as 'obstruction.'
As the investigation continues, these revelations underscore the complexity and gravity of the incident. The findings of the congressional committee, the FBI, and the Secret Service will undoubtedly play a crucial role in understanding the events leading up to the assassination attempt on the former president.
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