New video shows Donald Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks walking around Pennsylvania rally before assassination attempt

Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted wandering through merch stalls less than two hours before he wounded the ex-president.

Crooks grazed Trump in the right ear as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, and killed supporter Corey Comperatore in the crowd.

Trump was shot at 6:11 pm by the first of eight bullets Crooks fired from the roof of a nearby building until he was gunned down by a Secret Service counter-sniper. 

Joe Tomko, owner of Iron Clad USA, inadvertently filmed Crooks strolling past his booth outside the rally at 4:26 pm - the earliest known recording of him at the rally.

This was exactly the same time a local police sniper texted his colleagues to say he had seen a man, believed to be Crooks, sitting at a picnic table nearby.

Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted wandering through merch stalls less than two hours before he wounded the ex-president

Crooks was filmed as the camera panned from the stall, selling political-themed hats and T-shirts, around the fairground to show how busy it was

The sniper's perch was on the other side of the rally to the merch stands where Crooks was filmed, 0.4 miles away and about an eight-minute walk, or three minutes on a bike

Tomko told DailyMail.com that he had no idea he filmed Crooks, 20, until he looked at the footage a week after the shooting on July 20.

'I was have breakfast with my parents and my father asked me if I ever looked through all my footage from that day,' he said.

'So I watched it all late in the evening and I just about jumped out of my skin [when I saw him], I was in such disbelief.

Crooks' movements were meticulously tracked since the shooting to determine what went wrong, and Tomko said he gave the video to the FBI for analysis. 

Crooks was filmed as the camera panned from the stall, selling political-themed hats and T-shirts, around the fairground to show how busy it was.

The video showed Crooks in the same gray T-shirt, made by the Demolition Ranch firearms influencer's page, and white shorts as he had on when he was killed.

Graphic photos of his body, which was released to his family 10 days after the shooting and cremated, on the roof showed him in the same clothes.

However, he had none of the gear he brought to the Butler Farm Show grounds, including the backpack that was found later, along with a bike and rangefinder.

Crooks was spotted by police and Secret Service agents several times before the shooting, but not stopped - a major security lapse that is under investigation.

Group texts between snipers from Beaver, Butler, and Washington County put Crooks in a different location about the same time as the Iron Clad video.

Beaver County sniper James Woods finished his shift and spotted Crooks at a picnic table 'about 50 yards from the exit' and texted the sniper group chat at 4.26pm

'It was so powerful to see him by himself, just walking, looking ahead, like he knew where he was going,' Tomko said of his footage.

Tomko said the clip was his piece of 'a historic moment' that he felt needed to be shared with the world.

Beaver County sniper James Woods finished his shift and spotted someone at a picnic table 'about 50 yards from the exit'.

He texted the group chat at 4:26 pm - the same time as the video - to notify the other snipers to keep an eye on him because he looked suspicious.

'Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,' he wrote. 

'I'm just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there.'

The person Woods saw is generally accepted to be Crooks, though it is not clear which exit he meant and therefore exactly where the picnic table was.

How long Woods waited to send the group text after he spotted him, or exactly where Crooks was when he sent it, is also unclear. 

Crooks grazed Trump in the right ear as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 , and killed supporter Corey Comperatore in the crowd

Graphics photos of his body, which was released to his family 10 days after the shooting and cremated, on the roof showed him in the same clothes

Woods was stationed on the second floor of the American Glass Research building - right next to the roof where Crooks fired from - along with fellow Beaver County sniper Greg Nicol.

The building is on the north side of the complex, about 150 yards north of the stage where Trump was shot, and has at least two picnic tables in grassed areas around it.

AGR is on the other side of the rally to the merch stands where Crooks was filmed, 0.4 miles away and about an eight-minute walk, or three minutes on a bike.

Tomko said he stewed on the video for two days, then gave it to investigators and answered their questions.

Tomko explained that the vendors area had no security and anyone could walk in off the street. Rally attendees then continued past the booths to a checkpoint with airport-style security to reach the actual rally.

He said Crooks was casually walking north towards that checkpoint, but he didn't pay attention to where he went after passing him. 

Crooks could easily ride his bike or walk in that direction, veer west to avoid the checkpoint, and go to the road to reach the AGR building.

Trump was dragged away from the stage, bleeding from his ear, as he shouted in defiance to the crowd

Nicol said he didn't think much of Woods' text at the time and didn't connect it to the next Crooks sighting, at 5:14 pm.

But when he saw the young man hanging around AGR and looking at the stage through a rangefinder - used by sharpshooters to measure distance - he was unnerved enough to take two photos.

Nicol didn't send the photos to the group chat until 5:38 pm, by which time Crooks had moved out of sight.

'Kid learning (sic) around building we are in. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out,' he wrote.

Another officer asked what direction Crooks was headed, to which another officer replied, 'if I had to guess toward the back. Away from the event.' 

Nicol also noted a bike with a backpack next to it had appeared, which investigators later said Crooks used to get around the area.

Word of the Crooks sighting found its way to the Secret Service at 5:44 pm.

Crooks didn't show up again until just after 6 pm when Nicol spotted him out a northwest-facing window running around with his backpack on.

Nicol said he ran down the stairs to keep track of Crooks, but by the time he got out the door the young man was gone.

Just as he got outside, two cops arrived and he yelled to them about the potential threat and they started a running search of the AGR complex.

Video police found showed Crooks clambering on to the roof at 6.06pm, and an officer yelled over the radio.

'Someone's on the roof. I have someone on the roof with white shorts,' they said.

Secret Service was informed at 6:09 pm and its two snipers, stationed on roofs right above the stage, turned to face AGR.

At the same time, a policeman was boosted on to the roof near Crooks, but was forced to jump back to the ground when Crooks pointed the gun at him, as the officer was unarmed.

'The officer was in a defenseless position and there was no way he could engage the actor while holding onto the roof edge,' Butler Township manager Tom Knights said.

He said the officer 'immediately communicated the individual's location and that he was in possession of a weapon. Moments later, the individual commenced firing'.

Crooks knew he was out of time, and fired at Trump seconds later, grazing the former president's ear as he turned at the last moment.

He got off seven more shots before being gunned down by one of the Secret Service counter-snipers.