The Butler Farm Show grounds are prepared ahead of former President Donald Trump's rally on Friday, July 12. Butler Eagle File Photo

A Butler County man is seeking a court order to overturn a denial by state police for copies of vehicle and body camera footage recorded at former President Donald Trump’s July 13 rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

Bradford Price, of Mars, filed a petition for judicial review last week in Common Pleas Court arguing the state police violated Act 22 of 2017, which allows people to submit written requests for audio and video recordings made by police within 60 days of the date the recording was made.

In the petition, Price claims state police did not respond to his Aug. 13 written request. He said he sent the request via certified mail to the state police open records office in Harrisburg, and someone in the state police mail room signed for the letter on Aug. 18, according to the petition.

He said he called the open records office Sept. 16 and talked to a staff member who told him that his request was logged in on Aug. 21, according to the petition.

Price claims that by failing to respond to his request, the state police violated Act 22. He said state police were required by law to respond to the request.

According to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, Act 22 requests are deemed denied if the agency fails to approve or deny the request in 30 days.

In his petition, Price says 15-minute recordings were made from dashboard and body cameras from two troopers and two marked state police vehicles near the front entrance to the Farm Show grounds on Route 68 between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m.

Authorities have said Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park fired gunshots shortly after 6 p.m. that day from the roof of the AGR International building nearby killing spectator Corey Comperatore, 50, of Buffalo Township, and injuring Trump and two other spectators at the rally.

Price said he was wearing a bright blue collared shirt, shorts, red hat and sunglasses, and was carrying a large camera around his neck and should be visible in the videos. He said he asked one of the troopers for directions to the front entrance to the venue, and the trooper rolled down a window in one of the vehicles and kindly gave him directions, according to the petition.

Before that encounter with the trooper, Price said he saw a man, who he believed was 16 or 17 years old, openly carrying an assault rifle in his left hand parallel to the ground with a knapsack or backpack slung over his shoulder, according to the petition.

Price said he initially thought the young man was with a group of five or six people that was walking behind him. As he continued walking, Price said he looked again and noticed the young man was still walking behind him, but the rest of the group was not there.

He said he believed the young man was carrying the gun to make a public statement by “exercising his Constitutionally protected right to openly carry his assault rifle.” He said the thought of an assassination attempt occurring later that day never crossed his mind, according to the petition.

Price said he walked to the trooper who was sitting in his patrol vehicle facing Route 68 “to establish visible contact with someone in law enforcement while in the presence of this young man” and to ask if there was a closer entrance to the rally. He said the young man would have been visible to people driving on Route 68 and “noticeable to any attentive police onlookers,” according to the petition.

As Price approached the main entrance, he said a second state police vehicle was parked just outside of a fence and was facing Route 68, and the young man walked past the entrance were the police vehicle was located with his gun in plain view, according to the petition.

Because of the death of a spectator and injuries to Trump and two other spectators, Price claimed it is imperative that the recordings are released to Price for public viewing.

“Unredacted footage from those two PSP officers and from their vehicles will assist the many investigations currently underway, and help determine who this lone individual was outside of the Donald J. Trump political rally just 2 1/2 hours before the former president being shot in his ear and carrying an assault rifle openly for anyone to publicly see.

“This video footage should fill missing gaps of the incomplete timeline regarding the shooter’s whereabouts before the event if those video recordings conclusively demonstrate that this individual was in fact the AGR rooftop shooter,” Price said in the petition.

In addition to release of the footage, the petition asks the court to enjoin the state police from withholding audio and video records responsive to Price’s Act 22 request that other law enforcement agencies (i.e. Butler Township and Beaver County) have provided through similar Act 22 requests from the rally, and award him reimbursement of the $200 petition filing fee.

The civil court case has been assigned to Judge Kelley Streib.