The Butler County Emergency Services Unit pointed out potential vulnerabilities — including the rooftop where a gunman fired shots from during the July 13 campaign rally for former President Donald Trump — to the U.S. Secret Service after touring the Butler Farm Show grounds on its own the Wednesday before the event, according to the Butler County district attorney.

Those concerns seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the local ESU set up its own command on July 13 before ever receiving “anything in writing” from the federal agency, District Attorney Richard Goldinger told the Butler Eagle on Wednesday, July 31.

“It is my understanding that the ESU set up their own positions,” Goldinger said. “Secret Service didn’t tell them, left them on their own.”

According to Goldinger, there was never a copy of a plan by Secret Service and nothing in written form at all until roughly 1:30 p.m. the day of the event. Meanwhile, members of the Butler County ESU, along with the Beaver and Washington ESUs that were asked by the Butler unit to assist, were set up by 11 a.m., he said.

They followed a plan put forth by the Butler County ESU.

A copy of a plan by the Butler County ESU posted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, corroborates Goldinger’s statement on the timeline. The plan, acquired by the senator, appears to detail plans by the Butler County ESU. It notes that the team would meet at a Brady Paul Lane command at 9 a.m. with an operation plan brief at 9:15 a.m.

The command post was to be operational and staff was to be in place by 11 a.m., the plan states. Goldinger said this was indeed the case. Gates opened to the public at 1 p.m. Trump took the stage shortly after 6 p.m.

“They were on their own; they were getting nothing from Secret Service,” Goldinger said.

But they were not under the impression that their role included establishing a perimeter, he continued.

“It was never relayed to ESU that we were responsible for locking it down,” he said.

He said the team conveyed the concerns about vulnerabilities to Secret Service and on the day of the rally, conveyed concerns about a suspicious person, later identified as the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, but was never directed to adjust its plans.

According to Adams Township Sgt. Ed Lenz, who serves as commander of the Butler County ESU, four snipers met with the Secret Service’s countersniper team leader to confirm their locations — which were discussed that morning among ESU members — around 1:54 p.m.

Expectations of local law enforcement were communicated clearly leading up to the rally by the Secret Service’s countersniper and counterassault team leaders and at an informational meeting the week before the rally.

However, Lenz said he was unsure whether the same expectations were clearly understood by other Secret Service members.

“I’m not sure that it was very clear to the overall Secret Service command what they had actually asked us to do,” Lenz said. “At no point had they asked us to establish a perimeter. At no point was there supposed to be a perimeter team, we certainly would not have agreed to ... it because that’s not the job of a tactical officer.”

The Butler County ESU team was to set up a command post for the rally at Brady Paul FOP Memorial Lodge at 9 a.m., according to the information released by Grassley. Its post was separate from the command for state police and Secret Service, Goldinger noted. The briefing took place around 9:30 a.m., according to Lenz, during which ESU members also discussed contingency plans.

By 11 a.m., the teams were in place. Lenz noted two counterassault teams, a quick response team and three local sniper teams were operational.

According to Butler County ESU’s plan, released by Grassley, law enforcement anticipated Trump’s arrival to the grounds with a motorcade at 4:20 p.m.

The former president’s speech was expected to last 75 minutes and start at 5 p.m. His departure was tentatively planned for 6:15 p.m. However, Trump took the stage about an hour late.

During the rally, tactical officers, who patrolled the grounds, and snipers consisted of 25 Butler County ESU members, 10 Beaver County ESU members and six from Washington County.

Lenz said he was aware that the plan, posted by Grassley, may have also indicated countersniper teams, but said this was not the case and that word simply had not been adjusted on the PowerPoint.

A fourth sniper team was from the Secret Service, he said.

Lenz said there were two command posts: the Secret Service’s command post included state police. Butler County ESU’s command was stationed at the county post with Butler County Sheriff’s deputies.

Lenz said he had a portable radio for the state police, who would relay messages to the Secret Service.

Positioned in the second floor of a building on the AGR International property, Goldinger said, was a three-person team. Butler and Beaver county members were there when Crooks was spotted, but earlier, a member of the Washington County ESU also was positioned there.

Around 4 p.m., Lenz said one sniper left as planned.

That building is positioned behind and to the left of the one-story building that the shooter climbed onto, Goldinger said, noting the team had no visual of the gunman atop the one-story roof.

Texts between ESU members released by Grassley indicate that a sniper leaving his shift after 4 p.m. spotted the shooter.

“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” the message read, sent at 4:26 p.m. to remaining Beaver and Butler snipers in the AGR building, according to a report compiled by Beaver County ESU.

When Crooks was spotted, Goldinger said, the members of the ESU at the two-story building relayed that information to the ESU’s command, which then relayed the information to the Secret Service’s separate command, where state police was also stationed.

State police verbally relayed the message to Secret Service, Lenz said.

ESU members “could not” leave their post, Goldinger said. He said one of the members of the sniper team took actions to find the man, but didn’t get another visual on Crooks. One of the members remained at the assigned spot at all times, Goldinger continued.

Lenz said photos of Crooks taken by ESU members were distributed by text. While some members reported delays in receiving messages due to spotty cell service, he said local snipers and tactical officers had the information they needed acquired by phone calls and radio communications.

Time stamps from text messages released by Grassley show that at 5:38 p.m., a Beaver County sniper sent photos of Crooks to the Beaver, Butler and Washington snipers group chat. The photos were forwarded to state police, Lenz said. Shortly after, at 5:48 p.m., Lenz said a sniper team leader forwarded the photos to a Secret Service countersniper.

Six minutes later, Lenz said he notified the Butler Township Police Department on a different channel. Butler Township officers were handling traffic near the AGR building on foot.

The next sighting of Crooks was reported around 6:02 p.m., Lenz said, when he was seen moving between buildings in the direction of Sheetz.

“Nobody sees him again till he’s already on the building,” Lenz said. “At 6:08 p.m., Butler Township spots him on the roof for the first time.”

“Looking at some videos, you can see the (Secret Service) countersnipers got the information,” he said. “They reposition. They change their focus toward that AGR building. Countersnipers can’t take action just for a suspicious person.”

In response to the sighting of Crooks on the roof, a Butler Township officer helped hoist a colleague up to the roof. Later, it was revealed the shooter had turned his gun on the officer, who dropped to the ground.

At 6:11 p.m., Lenz said radio transmission indicated Crooks was armed and lying down on the roof.

“I had a bunch of different radios,” Lenz said.

“As soon as they confirm that he’s armed, (Crooks) changed from a suspicious person to an actual threat,” he said.

“I begin to deploy the quick response force,” he said. “They’re contacted on the radio, they answer. I start giving orders to deploy to the AGR roof.”

The coordinated response from the Butler County ESU followed the contingency plan discussed earlier that morning, Lenz said.

He said 30 seconds elapsed from the time Crooks was identified as an actual threat and the sound of gunshots.

“Before the end of my transmission, you can hear gunfire on the radio,” he said.

Within those 30 seconds, Lenz said he doesn’t know whether the Secret Service got the message that the gunman was armed. Up until that point, he was considered a suspicious person.

“I don’t know if Secret Service got that message,” Lenz said. “They still focused and reacted as fast as they could to that threat.”

If Trump returns to Butler County, as he said he plans to, Lenz said improving communication will be critical.

“I would honestly hope there would be more communication,” he said. “In every critical incident, communication is always the most difficult part, and that’s something we can always improve upon.”

“I think ensuring communication is occurring between every part of the plan, that only helps us ensure that things go smoother,” he said.

Lenz added that a unified communication line also would have been helpful at the July 13 rally.

“Instead of having to use a cellphone to call someone, they would be hearing that radio transmission in real time, which enables everybody to make faster decisions,” he said.

A “unified command post” would have involved team leaders stationed in the same area and different agencies communicating on the same line, he said.

“That way, there is quick real-time information sharing,” Lenz said.

“We were never invited into the Secret Service command post,” he said.

Goldinger said he has wondered if those speaking at the hearings in Washington, D.C., realize the extent of what was requested from local agencies like the Butler County ESU — a team made up of specially trained municipal police officers who respond in high-intensity situations, including cases involving an active shooter or raids by the drug task force.

“This was their ballgame,” Goldinger said.

But the ball was dropped multiple times leading up to the event, according to the district attorney.

Goldinger, who earlier this week said there would be a need for more communication before any future rally involving Secret Service, said there was a “complete lack of communication” from the agency before and during the July event.

He said a meeting with the Secret Service at the Connoquenessing Township venue on Thursday — the day after the Butler County ESU toured the Farm Show grounds solo — was described to him as “disorganized,” featuring “a bunch of people milling around” and “not a lot of direction.”

The communication with the ESU about the event came July 5, Lenz said. The event was announced the previous Thursday. Goldinger said he figured the ESU would be involved, but only had that confirmed in an email Monday or Tuesday from Lenz.

“Our ESU then reached out to Beaver ESU and Washington ESU,” Goldinger said. “They both agreed to provide some assistance.”

For the event, he said the Secret Service requested two sniper teams, highlighting that the resources offered were more substantial than that.

When asked if keeping the perimeter was feasible, Goldinger’s answer: “Absolutely possible,” if only, the vulnerabilities highlighted by the local ESU team had been heard.

The officers from the Butler-based group, which is intended to provide a faster response rate for crisis situations than what’s offered out of Allegheny County by state police, volunteered their time for the Trump rally, Goldinger said.

“Their role was not to patrol, walk around taking people into custody. They followed chain of command,” Goldinger said. “Our guys did their job.”

For days, the district attorney said he wasn’t ready to speak about the July 13 rally. It’s not standard procedure to talk about ongoing investigations, he noted, but he said he wanted the community to know the extent of the Butler County ESU’s role.