FBI Director Christopher Wray told House lawmakers Wednesday his agency believes former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania live-streamed the venue with a drone two hours before the rally.
“We have recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used,” Wray said, which is now being analyzed by an agency lab. “The drone was recovered in his vehicle, so at the time of the shooting the drone was in his vehicle with the controller.”
Wray said the shooter was “flying the drone around the area” roughly “200 yards” away from the rally grounds just hours before the event was scheduled to begin. “We think, but we do not know,” Wray said, “that he was live-streaming, viewing the footage.”
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan pressed Wray about several bombs discovered in the shooter’s car after the assassination attempt.
“We’ve recovered three devices,” Wray said, “three in his vehicle and one back in his residence.” The FBI director characterized the bombs as “relatively crude devices” but added “they did have the ability to be detonated remotely.” The shooter, Wray said, had a transmitter with him when he was killed by law enforcement, but explained “because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked.”
FBI Director Wray says that Thomas Crooks, the attempted Trump assassin, was flying a drone about 200 yds from the stage where Trump spoke about two hours before
