FBI Interviews Local Officer Who Saw Trump Shooter and Retreated Before Shots Fired

The FBI is interviewing a local officer who saw the Trump shooter and retreated before shots were fired, as authorities investigate an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former President Trump.

The FBI is interviewing a local police officer who saw Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man accused of shooting former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, before shots were fired, Fox News has learned.

The officer retreated to take cover before the gunman opened fire, according to sources. The FBI is now interviewing the officer to gather more information about the incident.

FBI Interviews Local Officer Who Saw Trump Shooter and Retreated Before Shots Fired

Authorities have received intelligence in recent weeks from a human source regarding an Iranian plot to kill Trump, which prompted an increase in U.S. Secret Service protection, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News.

The Secret Service increased its protection detail assigned to Trump because of the intelligence, and the agency expressed its concerns to the Trump campaign about his outdoor events.

FBI Interviews Local Officer Who Saw Trump Shooter and Retreated Before Shots Fired

The alleged plot doesn't appear to be connected to Crooks, who is a 20-year-old man from Ohio.

Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations denied the allegations, calling them "unsubstantiated and malicious."

FBI Interviews Local Officer Who Saw Trump Shooter and Retreated Before Shots Fired

"From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice," the mission said in a statement.

Trump has been an increasing target for Iran following the January 2020 killing of Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Forces.

FBI Interviews Local Officer Who Saw Trump Shooter and Retreated Before Shots Fired

Soleimani was killed in a U.S. strike in Baghdad, days after Iranian-backed militia supporters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies expert on Iran's global threat network, said it would be a "historic mistake to pretend the IRGC does not mean what they say."

"Supreme Leader Khamenei harbors personal hatred for Trump due to Trump's historic decision to target Iran's chief terrorist, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq in 2020," Taleblu said.

News of the alleged threat came as Iran's acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, is slated to visit New York this week for meetings at the United Nations.

Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran, called on the U.S. government to deny a visa to Bagheri Kani, saying that he is visiting the United States while Tehran is plotting assassination and kidnapping attempts against Americans on U.S. soil.