Topline
The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally earlier this month is believed to be tied to a social media account rife with “antisemitic and anti-immigration” themes, the FBI said Tuesday, as more information comes to light on the 20-year-old gunman, though his motive remains unclear.
The FBI has not concluded whether the attempted assassin was the person behind the social media … [+]
Key Facts
The FBI found over 700 comments on the account, including some reflecting “antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified before Congress, calling the comments “extreme in nature.”
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who carried out the attack, had also practiced shooting at a sportsman’s club one day before the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and later obtained a rifle from his father, who thought Crooks would use that rifle at the sportsman’s club, Abbate testified.
Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said that on the day of the shooting, Secret Service counter snipers and Trump’s security detail had no knowledge that Crooks was on the roof with a firearm, adding that those agents only had knowledge Crooks was there when shots rang out.
In the minutes before the shooting, counter snipers and security detail had been working under the assumption that local law enforcement was working with a “suspicious individual,” Rowe said.
Crooks was live-streaming the event on a drone, according to the FBI, which has conducted over 450 interviews, and viewed laptops, hard drives and other devices.
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What We Don’t Know
While sparse details have emerged on Crooks in the wake of the shooting, his motive behind the assassination attempt remains unclear, following weeks of investigation. Crooks, a registered Republican who had donated to a Democratic organization, was killed by Secret Service agents moments after he fired toward Trump. He was not on the FBI’s radar at the time, and was not deemed a threat by the Secret Service, though former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said he was identified as “suspicious.” Investigators revealed Crooks had searched for information on Trump, and posted a cryptic message online with the date of the shooting, writing on Steam: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.” Prior to the shooting, he had also searched for information on how far Lee Harvey Oswald was positioned from President John F. Kennedy on the day of his assassination, the FBI said.
Tangent
The matter of what exactly hit Trump during the assassination had come into question after FBI Director Christopher Wray suggested earlier this month the former president could have been hit by a piece of shrapnel instead of a bullet. That suggestion drew heavy criticism from GOP lawmakers and Trump’s former physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who argued there was “absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” citing a preliminary evaluation by doctors at Butler Memorial Hospital, where Trump was treated after the shooting. Trump also blasted the suggestion he was not hit by a bullet, saying the “FBI never even checked.” The FBI later clarified Trump was hit by a bullet, “whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”
Key Background
Crooks opened fire at Trump minutes into his rally, forcing Trump to fall to the floor before he slowly rose, grabbing his bloody ear and pumping his fist in the air. Following the shooting, the Secret Service has taken heavy criticism over how a gunman could climb a nearby roof with an AR-style rifle and fire toward Trump with a clear line of sight. Some police at the event had seen Crooks lurking around near the rally 90 minutes before he shot at Trump, according to text messages obtained by The New York Times. Cheatle also said she was not clear which law enforcement agency was in charge of monitoring the warehouse Crooks had climbed onto the roof of. Cheatle resigned last week.
Further Reading
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