The Secret Service had been warned about Thomas Matthew Crooks, and designated him a “threat”, 10 minutes before the former president Donald Trump took to the stage. However, sources in law enforcement told The Post that they allowed him to continue.

Sources said that the agency was warned about a “characteristic of suspicion” in Butler, Pennsylvania more than an hour prior to Saturday’s fatal shooting at Trump campaign rally.

Fox News was the first to report the new information, which emerged at a shocking Senate briefing on Wednesday by the Secret Service.

The Post was told by sources that Crooks did not have a gun at the time of the warning.

“He was identified by the police as a suspect because he carried a rangefinder and a backpack. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, said that this happened over an hour prior to the actual shooting. ).

You wouldn’t think that you could lose track of an individual in the span of one hour. Someone should be checking up on these sorts of things. “There is no evidence that this has happened at all.”

Previously, it was not known if local police had alerted Secret Service agents about Crooks’ presence outside the rally perimeter. The new information confirms that Secret Service agents received the message but did not act upon it.

Barrasso pointed out that the top Secret Service Agent in charge of the rally’s security was on the phone with local police as the shooting occurred.

He joined a chorus of critics who have called for Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service chief to step down.

The attack on Trump was the result of a combination of systemic security failures and momentary security failures.

Crooks was able to dance around the grounds of Butler, Pa. for several hours before opening fire. He killed a former firefighter hero, wounded the former president, and seriously injured two other people.

The groundwork for the disaster was laid well in advance by a series grievous decisions made at the highest level. Cheatle claimed that the agency chose not to station a sniper to the roof of the AGR International Building – where Crooks was later to launch his deadly rifle attack on the crowd – because it was slanted.

Crooks was given a perfect sniper perch by the decision to leave the roof of the building unguarded. He had an elevated position and an unobstructed view just 130 yards from Trump’s stage.

The choice to keep the agents off the rooftop is even more bizarre, considering that the Secret Service had been warned before the rally that the local police would not be able to spare a car to park in front of the building.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said to the Washington Post that the agency was “informed that the local law enforcement department did not possess the manpower necessary to secure that building.”

Secret Service officials confirmed to the outlet, that one way to ensure the building – which was just outside of the rally’s security perimeter – was properly secured was to station an officer outside.

Crooks was able to scale the building with ease, and position himself in the lobby using his father’s AR assault rifle.

It means that even before the event started or the first Trump 2024 balloons were inflated, a single-story, easily accessible structure, which was known to be a security risk, was left with inadequate protection, both on the outside and the roof.

Security personnel at the rally did not fare any better.

From the moment Crooks arrived, he stood out like a sore finger.

He was using a rangefinder, a type eyepiece scope used by golfers and hunters to measure distances quickly.

Crooks breezed through the entrance gates despite the item.

The rangefinder was not confiscated. A rooftop counter-sniper squad would report later that Crooks had been scoping out the team with his rangefinder, while they were watching him with theirs.

The 20-year old was watched by security personnel until he left the area of safety. He was photographed, reported and even drew suspicion from officials twice.

A member of Beaver County Emergency Services Unit took a picture of Crooks on the roof around 5:45 pm, 26 minutes before shots were fired. A Beaver County Police officer took Crooks’ picture and reported him as suspicious at the same time.

The reports were not acted upon or received in sufficient time to prevent the tragedy.

The rallygoers who were near the AGR Building saw Crooks on the roof of the building with a long-gun and began frantically screaming for nearby law enforcement.

Crooks, as shown in the video, had time to adjust his position repeatedly and prepare himself for his shot, even though the screaming continued. Just 12 seconds before the bullets started flying, another bystander screamed “He’s a gun!”

It’s already too late.

The Secret Service made a series of disastrous close calls, near misses, and mind-boggling decisions that culminated in an assassination plot against a former or present US president. This was the first attempt in 43 years.