Screenshot: iamdallasalexander/Instagram

Dallas Alexander, a veteran sniper whose team holds the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill, has suggested that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday night, may have had inside help.

Alexander, who spent 14 years in a sniper team for the Canadian military providing close protection for major world leaders including the Canadian Prime Minister, shared his views in an Instagram post.

“I’m a retired sniper so because I’ve been asked so many times here’s my opinion on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump,” he began, before delving into his analysis of the assassination attempt.

Having served in a tier one special operations unit called JTF2, Alexander is no stranger to high-stakes security scenarios. His experience includes providing security for VIPs in dangerous countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I spent just about 17 years in the military, 14 of which, just about 14 of which we’re at a tier one special operations unit called JTF2. Our sniper team has the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill. A huge part of our job while I was there and while I was a sniper was doing close protection for VIPs up to and including the Prime Minister, when he would go to dangerous countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, we would be in charge of that security,” said Alexander.

This background gives him unique insights into the layout and security measures typically involved in protecting high-profile individuals such as former President Trump.

Alexander expressed his belief that the shooter must have had assistance from within an agency, organization, or even the government. He argued that it would be impossible for someone to get onto a rooftop with a gun during broad daylight while a president was speaking without assistance.

“I’m very familiar with the layout of these types of things and what the jobs should be. And yesterday, what happened, I have no doubt in my mind that the shooter had help from somewhere within an agency, an organization, or the government,” said Alexander.

“The second I saw that aerial photo of what they were saying happened, it immediately made no sense to me. You cannot, in broad daylight, get onto a rooftop within what looked like maybe a couple of hundred yards. You can’t get into that position with a gun when there’s a president speaking. It cannot be done. You don’t even need to be a sniper to know that it’s the most f—king obvious thing, the most obvious place in the whole world.”

“So something happened, and I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. It’s too obvious that this guy had help getting there. So whether someone turned a blind eye or it was strategically planned, I mean, it had to be planned to a certain level because events like that and security like that, it’s not a small thing. And that is the most obvious place to be.”

Alexander went on to question the narrative that Crooks managed to sneak into position undetected. He argued that if someone had the skills to bypass layers of security undetected, they would also have the skills to make their shot count.

“I find it very strange that if the story that comes out is like, ‘Oh, yeah, he snuck into position and he got set up and nobody saw him. It was an oversight, security, and overwatch, and we just made a mistake. Sorry.”

“I think it’s also very weird that if that’s the case and someone is good enough to stalk within 150-200 yards of one of the hardest to stalk targets in the whole world, you’re not going to miss a shot. You’re not going to miss that shot. If you have the skillset to get in there, avoiding all these layers of security, then you will have the skillset to hit that first round. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“My opinion is, and whether this comes out now or way later, is that this guy had help from somewhere. I think that’s obviously concerning. It’s going to be wild. I think it’s all you’re going to see for the next little while. Anyway, just because I keep getting asked, that’s my two cents.”