FBI says shooter who nearly assassinated Donald Trump spent months searching for target
The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump carried out a sustained and detailed attack on a major rally before deciding to target the Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania in July, FBI officials said Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.
They said Thomas Crooks, 20, searched more than 60 times for information about the Republican presidential candidate and his then-rival, Democratic President Joe Biden, before registering for Trump’s rally in early July.
“We saw a sustained and detailed effort to plan an attack on certain events, meaning he looked at a number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek, the top FBI official in western Pennsylvania, said in a telephone briefing with reporters, Reuters reports.
Rojek said Crooks became hyperfocused on the Trump rally when it was announced in early July and viewed it as a target of opportunity. He also said the FBI has not yet been able to determine what motivated Crooks to attempt to assassinate Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
Additionally, Crooks’ computer activity showed that he was interested in a mix of ideologies, but did not definitively show that he was motivated by a particular left or right viewpoint, Rojek said.
On the other hand, those responsible for the FBI said they found no evidence that Crooks had worked with others or been directed by a foreign power, and there was no trace of illicit drugs or alcohol in his system.
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