Rally attendees Ben Maser and Greg Smith say they saw alleged Trump shooter on roof beforehand, alerted cops repeatedly

(This video is also available on X and Substack.)

In an interview with local news station KDKA-TV/CBS Pittsburgh, a man named Ben Maser says he was “up at the fence line” at the Trump rally today, saw the alleged shooter “move from roof to roof,” and reported it to a police officer.

“And when I turned around to go back to where I was is when the gunshots started, and then it was just chaos…”

“There were two officers that were actively sear[ching]– you could tell that they were searching and looking for somebody. And we just tried helping, telling them where the guy was…”

“I did not have a good look at him… I just seen him going from one building to another. There was a little gap in between…”

He estimates that the alleged shooter was “probably 200, 250 yards” from the stage.

Maser’s comments seem to corroborate another attendee, Greg Smith, whose interview with the BBC went viral Saturday evening:

this BBC interview with a guy outside the security perimeter who claims he saw the shooter before he fired is absolutely wild pic.twitter.com/vJpKZTxSAe

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 13, 2024

Here’s a rushed, partial transcript:

Smith: We couldn’t see [Donald Trump], but we could hear him. So we walked up and in probably five to seven minutes of Trump speaking — I’m estimating here, I have no idea — but we noticed the guy crawling, you know, bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us. 50– 50 feet away from us.

So we’re standing there, you know, we’re pointing, we’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof.

Interviewer: And he had a gun, right?

Smith: He had a rifle.

Interviewer: A rife.

Smith: We could clearly see him with a rifle. Absolutely. We’re pointing at him. The police are down there, running around on the ground. We’re like, ‘Hey, man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle!’ And the police were like, ‘Huh? What?’ You know, like, they didn’t know what was going on, you know? We’re like, “Hey, right here on the roof! We can see him from right here! We see him, you know, he’s– he’s crawling!”

And next thing you know, I’m thinking to myself, I’m like, “Why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him off the stage?”

I’m standing there pointing at him for, you know, two, three minutes. Secret Service is looking at us from the top of the barn. I’m pointing at that roof, just standing there like this. And next thing you know, five shots ring out.

Interviewer: So you’re, you’re certain that the shots came from that guy on the roof?

Smith: A hundred percent. Hundred percent.

Interviewer: And he was up there for a couple of minutes?

Smith: He was up there–

Interviewer: You saw him for a couple of minutes.

Smith: Absolutely. At least 3 to 4 minutes.

Interviewer: And you were telling the police–

Smith: Yep.

Interviewer: ..and the Secret Service

Smith: We were telling the police, we were pointing at him, for the Secret Service, who were looking at us from the top of the barn. They were looking at us the whole time when we were standing by that tree. Binoculars–

Interviewer: Could they see him?

Smith: Probably not, because the roof, the way the slope went, he was behind where they could see. But, why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs here? I mean, this is not a big place.

Interviewer: Did you see– I mean, obviously everyone, when the shooting started, everyone was very panicked. Did you see what happened to him at all?

Smith: Oh, yeah. They blew his head off. Secret Service blew his head off.

Interviewer: Ok, sorry. Well, ok– just be carful because we don’t know quite who’s watching. But you’re pretty sure they shot the guy?

Smith: Absolutely. 100%. Yep.

Interviewer: You saw that happen?

Smith: Yep. Yep. Yep.

Interviewer: Ok. And did you see them go up to him afterward?

Smith: They– yeah! They crawled up on the roof. They had their guns pointed at him make sure he was dead. He was dead, and that was it. It was over.”

Interviewer: That’s incredibly shocking.

Smith: The guy on the roof right there. You can see the white roof, right there.

Interviewer: Did you get a look at him? Could you–

Smith: No, other than he was in muted colors; tan type clothing. We saw the rifle flinging around as he was trying to call. I mean we saw the rifle. 100%.

Interviewer: Do you– I mean do you know about guns? Do you know what kind of weapon it was?

Smith: Oh I absolutely know about guns. For sure. Yeah.

Interviewer: Do you know–

Smith: It was a rifle of some sort. I wouldn’t know, you know– I wasn’t close enough to read the label on it, but-.

Interviewer: You’re not sure–

Smith: It was a rifle of some sort. Yeah. Absolutely.