Sniper shot Trump gunman's weapon and delayed him - report |BBC news |BBC live news
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00:00A police sniper potentially saved lives by shooting the rifle of Donald Trump's would-be
00:04assassin and knocking him down, an investigation says. According to a report by Louisiana
00:10Congressman Clay Higgins, the sniper's bullet damaged Thomas Matthew Crooks's gun and disrupted
00:16his aim after he took his first shots in Butler, Pennsylvania. Moments later, a Secret Service
00:22sniper killed him. The report comes as the Secret Service temporarily reassigns some bodyguards from
00:28President Joe Biden to Trump, according to US media. Trump will also be given bulletproof
00:34glass protection to allow him to resume outdoor rallies. The former president did not have the
00:40protection during his 13 July rally in Butler when a bullet nearly hit him squarely in the head.
00:46Mr Higgins' report said a Butler SWAT operator was the first to fire at Trump's assassin from
00:52100 yards away. The congressman said the sniper ran towards the threat, running to a clear-shot
00:59position directly into the line of fire. Then, in a single shot, he fired at the gunman and hit part
01:05of his rifle, the report said. This knocked the gunman off his position temporarily, but, after
01:12just a few seconds, he popped back up, before he was fatally shot by a Secret Service sharpshooter.
01:19Crooks killed one crowd member and critically injured two others in the attack.
01:24Security levels around the former president have increased since then.
01:28The transfer of Secret Service agents is due to threats against Trump, 78, and made possible
01:34by the reduced travel schedule of Mr Biden after he dropped out of the election race,
01:39according to a report in The New York Times. The reassigned officers were responsible for
01:44either traveling with Mr Biden or going in advance of him to set up security measures at
01:49an event, a source told the newspaper. Kimberly Cheetle, the director of the Secret Service,
01:56resigned on 23 July following a hearing at the US House of Representatives about
02:01the assassination attempt.