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According to text messages reviewed by The New York Times, law enforcement officials in Butler, PA knew about would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks earlier than first reported.

This dramatically updates the timeline of the moments leading up to the assassination attempt.

From The New York Post:

Text messages between members of the Beaver County Emergency Service Unit obtained by the New York Times revealed a more concrete — and earlier — timeline leading up to the shooting that grazed the former president’s ear, injured two rallygoers and killed one.

The messages also revealed that Crooks, 20, was aware of the law enforcement presence as he prepared his assassination attempt on the GOP nominee.

“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” a counter-sniper texted a colleague as he headed out around 4:26 p.m.

“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 sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit,” he wrote of the suspicious person who turned out to be Crooks.

Around 5:10 p.m., Crooks was below the counter-snipers who were inside the AGR International building warehouse where the 20-year-old eventually climbed onto the roof and from which he fired his AR-15, the Times reported.

One of the counter-snipers took photos of him and shared them in a group chat around 5:38 p.m.

An officer also wrote in a text that they should tell the Secret Service about the suspicious person as the range finder he had on him alarmed authorities, the newspaper reported.

“Kid learning around the building we are in. AGR I believe it is,” the text reads. “I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.”

These text messages adjust the timeline of Crooks’ awareness to more than 90 minutes before the shooting — not the 60 minutes initially reported.

More over at The New York Post: