The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The incident took place at a campaign rally on Saturday.
The suspect, Crooks, was shot and killed by Secret Service agents moments after allegedly firing shots toward the stage where Trump was speaking. One rally attendee was killed, two other spectators were critically injured, and Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the ear.
The FBI is currently working to determine Crooks' motive for the attack. State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican. This year's election would have been the first presidential race he was eligible to vote in. Crooks lived about an hour away from Butler, where the shooting occurred. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials closed the airspace over Bethel Park on July 14 for "special security reasons."
In addition to his voter registration, a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing revealed that Crooks had made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that encourages Democrats to vote. Neither ActBlue nor the Progressive Turnout Project responded to requests for comment.
Thomas Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. He received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative. A graduation ceremony video from 2022 shows Crooks receiving his diploma, wearing glasses, and a black graduation gown, and posing with a school official.
Law enforcement officials reported that Crooks carried no identification to the site of the shooting and had to be identified using other methods. Kevin Rojek, the FBI special agent in charge, mentioned during a press briefing that they were using photographs and running his DNA for biometric confirmation.
Following the shooting, dozens of law enforcement vehicles were stationed outside Crooks' residence listed on his voter registration record. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) were on the scene, along with a bomb squad. The perimeter of the suspect's residence was guarded by yellow police caution tape, and an Allegheny County Police vehicle was parked outside.
Dan Maloney, a 30-year-old resident from the area, expressed his disbelief, calling the situation "insanity." Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to questions regarding whether any accounts related to Crooks had been removed from their platforms.
The U.S. Secret Service is conducting an investigation into how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get astonishingly close to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. This incident marks a significant failure in the agency's core protective duties.
The shooter, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots from an "elevated position outside of the rally venue," according to the agency. An analysis by the Associated Press of over a dozen videos and photos from the rally, along with satellite imagery, indicates that the gunman managed to get alarmingly close to the stage where Trump was speaking. A video posted on social media and geolocated by the AP shows a man in gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, the site of Trump's rally.
The roof was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a skilled marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For context, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, used by the shooter, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.
The Secret Service did not have representatives at a late-night news conference where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek expressed surprise that the gunman was able to fire at the stage before being neutralized.
According to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, members of the Secret Service's counter-sniper team and counter-assault team were present at the rally. The counter-assault team, code-named "Hawkeye," is responsible for eliminating threats to allow other agents to shield and evacuate the protected individual. The counter-sniper team, known as "Hercules," uses long-range binoculars and sniper rifles to address distant threats.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that his department, along with the Secret Service, is working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. He emphasized that ensuring the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events is a top priority.
"We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today," Mayorkas said.
"This remains an active and ongoing investigation," the FBI said in a statement. Garland added, "My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack. We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy."
The Secret Service is investigating how Crooks managed to get close enough to shoot Trump from an elevated position outside the rally venue. Their primary mission is to protect political figures, and this incident has raised serious questions about security measures at such events.
