FBI Still Investigating Motive Behind Trump Assassination Attempt as New Evidence Surfaces
U.S. officials have confirmed that the suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump acted alone and there is no indication of foreign interference. However, the FBI remains unsure about the motive behind the attack, describing the assailant, Thomas Crooks, as having a “mixture of ideologies.”
During a news conference on Wednesday, the FBI released details of Crooks’s online activities, along with photos of the weapon and explosive devices found in his vehicle. Crooks, a 20-year-old, attempted to assassinate Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. His bullet grazed the former president’s ear, killing one person and seriously injuring two others.
Kevin Rojek, head of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, revealed that Crooks had started searching online for Trump campaign events as early as September 2023. Crooks also searched for events involving Joe Biden, who was the Democratic nominee at the time, as well as information about the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
“When the Trump rally was announced in early July, Crooks became fixated on it and saw it as a chance to act,” Rojek explained. Crooks registered for the event a week in advance and conducted extensive research on the location and Trump’s speaking arrangements. He even searched the distance from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Authorities also noted that Crooks had tried to find instructions for making bombs and acquiring the necessary ingredients.
“We believe he meticulously planned this attack,” Rojek said.
Who Was Thomas Crooks?
The FBI has described Crooks’s online presence as showing a “mixture of ideologies,” and the investigation into his activities is ongoing. “There is no clear political affiliation we can attribute to Crooks,” Rojek stated. Despite being a registered Republican, Crooks made a small donation of $15 to the liberal group ActBlue in 2021. Additionally, he reportedly made antisemitic comments online, but investigators are still verifying if Crooks authored those posts. The FBI previously disclosed that Crooks had at least two social media accounts with conflicting ideological content, but they have not released the details of these accounts.
On the day of the rally, Crooks climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire, shooting eight rounds at Trump before being neutralized by a Secret Service sniper.
Controversy and Aftermath
During the news conference, FBI officials addressed concerns raised by some conservatives, including Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana, regarding the handling of the crime scene and the return of Crooks’s body to his family. Rojek stated that standard procedures were followed, including conducting an autopsy before returning the body, and clarified that keeping human remains indefinitely is not a common practice.
The autopsy results showed that Crooks had no illegal substances or alcohol in his system at the time of the attack. The FBI also reported that Crooks’s family has been cooperative throughout the investigation.
A bipartisan Congressional task force is currently reviewing the security lapses that allowed the attack to occur. Following the incident, Kimberly Cheatle, then-director of the Secret Service, resigned due to mounting criticism from lawmakers. Ronald Rowe has since taken over as acting director. Additionally, five Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation into the security breach.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Trump held his first rally since the incident in North Carolina last week, where he spoke from behind bulletproof glass.
