It’s the question that won’t go away. Honestly, ever since those pops echoed across the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024, everyone from military snipers to armchair detectives has been obsessed with the geometry of that afternoon. How far was the trump shooter from the podium?
People hear "assassination attempt" and they think of a grassy knoll or a distant window hundreds of yards away. But the reality in Butler was much tighter. It was uncomfortably close.
The Number Everyone is Looking For
Let’s get the hard data out of the way first. Thomas Matthew Crooks was positioned on the roof of the AGR International building. According to official reports from the FBI and subsequent congressional testimony, the distance from the muzzle of his AR-15-style rifle to the microphone where Donald Trump stood was approximately 400 to 450 feet.
For those who prefer different units, that is roughly 135 to 150 meters, or a bit more than a football field and a half if you include the end zones.
164 yards.
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That’s the figure many news outlets like the Associated Press and CBS News settled on after analyzing satellite imagery and geolocation data. To a civilian, 164 yards might sound like a long way. To a trained shooter, it’s basically a layup.
Why the Distance Matters for Marksmen
The AR-15 platform, which is what the shooter used, is chambered in .223 or 5.56mm. These rounds are designed for accuracy at much greater ranges than what we saw in Butler. In the U.S. Army, recruits have to hit a human-sized silhouette at 150 meters just to qualify. That is considered "close-range" in the world of modern ballistics.
The rifle Crooks used—a DPMS Panther Arms model—is capable of what's called 2-3 MOA (Minute of Angle) accuracy. Basically, at 100 yards, the gun is physically capable of putting a bullet within a 2 or 3-inch circle. At 164 yards, that variance only grows slightly.
So, if the equipment was more than capable, why wasn't the outcome different?
Wind. Stress. Adrenaline. A target that moves its head a fraction of an inch at the exact millisecond the trigger breaks. Experts like Brandon Webb, a former Navy SEAL sniper instructor, have pointed out that while the shot was technically "easy" for a pro, for a 20-year-old kid with a red dot sight and no formal combat training, it's a high-pressure environment.
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The Line of Sight Failure
The distance itself is only half the story. The real scandal involves the "how." How does a kid with a ladder and a rifle get within 150 meters of a former President of the United States?
The AGR Building Perimeter
The building Crooks used was part of the AGR International complex. Here’s the kicker: it was actually outside the Secret Service's secured inner perimeter.
- The Outer Ring: Local law enforcement was supposed to handle the areas beyond the magnetometers.
- The Inner Ring: Secret Service agents managed the immediate vicinity of the stage.
- The Gap: The AGR roof sat in a sort of "no man's land" where communication between local teams and federal agents reportedly broke down.
The roof was sloped. This is a detail that came up during the fallout. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle famously mentioned the "slope" of the roof as a safety concern for agents, a comment that was widely panned. Because the roof was slanted, Crooks was able to stay low, potentially out of the direct line of sight of the counter-sniper teams perched on the barns behind Trump until the very last moment.
26 Seconds of Chaos
The timeline is almost more jarring than the distance.
Crooks was spotted on that roof at 5:52 p.m. by Secret Service.
Donald Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m.
The first shots rang out at 6:12 p.m.
Think about that. There was a 20-minute window where the threat was essentially "known" or at least "suspected," yet the gap of 150 meters remained open. From the first shot Crooks fired to the moment a Secret Service counter-sniper team neutralized him, only 26 seconds passed.
Technical Specs: The Tool of Choice
It wasn't a sniper rifle. It was a standard, civilian-grade rifle.
The rifle had a 16-inch barrel. It was fitted with a Holosun AEMS red dot sight. This is important because a red dot sight has zero magnification. If you’ve ever looked through one, the "dot" covers a certain amount of the target. At 164 yards, that dot would have covered a significant portion of a human head, making precision shots difficult compared to a magnified scope.
Ballistically, the 5.56 round travels at roughly 3,000 feet per second. At 150 meters, the "flight time" of the bullet is less than two-tenths of a second. There is no lead time required. You point, you squeeze, and the impact is almost instantaneous.
Surprising Fact: The Rangefinder
Crooks didn't just stumble onto that roof. He was seen earlier in the day with a golf rangefinder.
Law enforcement actually spotted him with it over an hour before the shooting. A rangefinder is used to do exactly what we’re talking about: measure the distance between two points. He knew precisely how far he was. He knew he was 150 meters out. He had "doped" the range before he ever even climbed the air conditioning unit to get onto the roof.
What We Learned from the Ballistics
When you look at the crime scene, the spread of the eight shots fired is telling. One hit Trump's ear. Others hit the bleachers, tragically killing Corey Comperatore and seriously injuring two others.
The distance of 400+ feet meant that the shooter was close enough to be lethal but just far enough that his lack of professional training—combined with the movement of the target—saved the former President's life by a matter of centimeters.
Actionable Insights: Understanding Modern Security
The Butler incident changed how high-level security perimeters are drawn. If you are ever at a high-profile event, you’ll notice a few things differently now:
- Expanded Perimeters: The "150-meter" rule is dead. Security now looks much further out, especially at any structure with a clear line of sight.
- Drone Integration: Crooks flew a drone to scout the area 20 minutes before the shooting. Expect much more aggressive "no-fly" enforcement and counter-drone tech at any public gathering.
- Unified Command: The biggest failure wasn't the distance; it was the fact that the locals and the feds weren't on the same radio frequency.
The distance of 164 yards will go down in history as one of the most significant measurements in American politics. It represents a massive security gap that was exploited in broad daylight. Knowing the distance helps us understand the sheer gravity of the failure—and why the Secret Service has been undergoing a total overhaul ever since.
Next time you see a political stage, look around. Check the rooftops within 200 yards. You can bet the Secret Service is.