Incredible new video shows the chaotic aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and reveals what led to the former president visibly asking for his shoes back.

Secret Service - who have come under heavy scrutiny for their efforts that day - was quick to respond after Thomas Crooks, 20, fired shots and immediately surrounded the former president to insulate and shield him from more gunfire. 

Initially dazed, Trump told agents, 'let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes' as he got up from the ground. 

The video, posted by WBEN just as Trump was arriving at the RNC in his first appearance since the assassination attempt, covers an angle previously unseen amid the chaos from behind Trump as he spoke. 

It shows the Secret Service tackling Trump and removing his shoes and tossing them off the stage.

Trump himself has also seen the bizarre side of the incident, confirming what was visible on the video clip in the first interview he gave after the shooting. 

'The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,' he said. 

Trump has praised the speed and strength of his security.

He said he received a bruise on his arm just from a secret service member keeping him on the floor.

'That's just from a guy grabbing me,' Trump said. 'You know how strong you have to be to do that?' 

'They did a fantastic job,' he added. 'It's surreal for all of us.'  

He told the Secret Service he wanted to try and go back to the podium and keep speaking. 

'I wanted to keep speaking - I wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot. It's a very surreal experience, and you never know what you're going to do until a thing like that happens.' 

A team of snipers were inside the building where Donald Trump's 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks from the roof and opened fire after being spotted climbing into his shooting position 26 minutes earlier, bombshell new reports claim. 

The shocking new allegations surfaced as authorities and the U.S. Secret Service face mounting questions over how Crooks was able to shoot the former president and kill a member of the rally crowd.

One of the snipers saw Crooks outside the building and staring up at the roof where he would eventually commit the shooting, CBS News reported. 

Another sniper even took a photo of Crooks after he went back, sat down and checked his phone. 

Snipers began to take real action when Crooks got out a rangefinder, with one of them sending a radio message to their command post, before Crooks vanished once more. 

He returned once again, however, with a backpack. Multiple snipers radioed that he was headed to the back of the building. 

However, by the time backup arrived, he'd already gotten to the roof, with some officers hypothesizing that he used an air conditioning unit to make his climb. 

By the time state police arrived at the scene Crooks had already done his damage and been killed by a Secret Service sniper. 

A horrifying video shows witnesses pointing at the roof and shouting at officers trying to warn them. MAGA fans also say they alerted law enforcement to Crooks as he crawled to his shooting position, but he was still able to shoot.

Law enforcement at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania are facing intense scrutiny after it was revealed the roof was flagged as a security 'vulnerability'.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said on Monday night that she would not resign despite mounting calls for her to step aside over the huge lapses that led to one of the most horrific acts of political violence in history. 

Local police, not the Secret Service, swept the building, but Crooks was still able to climb to the top and take aim at the former president. 

The former president, 78, survived the horrifying assassination attempt when the bullet missed him by less than an inch on Saturday afternoon.

It came eight minutes after he took the stage at 6:03pm ET, where Trump began his remarks and pointed to a large graphic in the same direction where the shooter was perched atop an AGR International building.

Even before he took the stage, Trump supporters said they spotted the gunman 'bear-crawling' across the roof with a rifle, but claimed their warnings to Secret Service were ignored.

With the sun still high on a bright day, Trump emerged to 'God Bless the USA' playing over the loudspeakers at 6:03pm, and remained waving and shaking his fist at the crowd for several minutes.

Trump brought out a large graphic with statistics on the migrant crisis at the southern border, and told the crowd at 6:11pm: 'That chart's a couple of months old...'

'If you want to really see something that's sad, take a look at what happened,' Trump continued - before he abruptly grabbed the side of his head as several 'pops' filled the event space.

The 78-year-old dropped to the floor in an instant as five more shots rang overhead in quick succession, before four Secret Service agents raced to the stage and dove on top of the former president.

Stunning images showed Trump cowered on the floor as agents protected him, with blood dripping down his cheek.

Several more Secret Service agents continued to flood the stage, while four heavily armed officers lined the perimeter ordering attendees to 'get down.'

The sniper, sat 400ft across from the rally on an exposed rooftop, fired another shot at the stage a second later while Trump fans streamed out of the bleachers.

Secret Service scrambled to take control of the pandemonium where three attendees were hit, one fatally, within a matter of seconds.

An emergency room doctor with blood spattered on his shirt later said he sprang into action to perform emergency CPR on one victim.

'The guy had spun around was jammed between the benches and a head shot here. There's lots of blood and he had brain matter,' he told CBS News.

'So I got him together so I got people there really helpful. I did CPR chest compressions as well.'

Trump returned to public life and campaigning with a triumphant appearance at the opening night of the Republican National Convention on Monday in Milwaukee.