BlackRock Inc., the American investment monolith, has removed an advertisement that briefly included Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who shot and injured former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. The company said that Crooks, a former student at Bethel Park High School, had appeared in the 2022 ad alongside other unpaid teenagers.
Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper after he fired shots at a Trump campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. His actions injured the former president and two others, resulting in one fatality. Before the incident, he was a quiet, lonely student at a high school who appeared in a television advertisement for the corporation.
Severing Ties With Would-Be Assassin
The now-dead gunman is shown twice in the 30-second advertisement, attentively listening to a teacher at Bethel Park High School, located on the southern outskirts of Pittsburgh, wearing a gray hoodie.
Crooks, who was a senior at the time the advertisement aired, does not speak in the video titled "AP and Honors Economics," which highlights BlackRock's retirement plan offerings for public school educators.
A spokesperson from BlackRock confirmed to the New York Times that Crooks had indeed appeared in the advertisement.
"In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks," the company said in a statement to on Sunday, adding that the ad has been pulled.
"We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims.
"BlackRock strongly condemns political violence of any kind and will do our part to promote civility and unity in the country."
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School the year the commercial aired. He was among twelve students who received National Math & Science Initiative Star Awards.
Horrifying Details Emerge
Details of Crooks and his background has surfaced in the days following the shooting. Disturbing stories have emerged from people who knew Crooks during his time at Bethel Park High School.
According to Frederick Mach, a current team captain who was a few years younger than Crooks at the school, Crooks tried to join the rifle team but was rejected due to his poor shooting skills.
Jonathan Myers, who was on the team when Crooks tried out, recalled feeling a sense of foreboding about him during that period. "He didn't just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous," Myers told ABC News.
"He didn't just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous," Myers told ABC News.
Fellow classmate Jameson Murphy said: "He tried out...and was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day."
According to Murphy, Crooks once fired a shot that missed his target by nearly 20 feet. It happened from the seventh lane, the closest one to the right wall, where he hit the left wall instead, completely missing all the targets on the back wall. Murphy remembered this incident vividly.
Other team members recalled that Crooks often made inappropriate jokes and generally seemed off.
On Sunday morning, photos surfaced showing Crooks in yearbook headshots wearing glasses, braces, and an American flag t-shirt. This was shortly after his attempt to harm the presumed Republican nominee and the fatal shooting at the rally.
Crooks worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where he assisted in providing food and care for elderly and convalescent patients after hospitalization.
His employer confirmed on Sunday that he had passed a background check and had no issues while performing his duties prior to the assassination attempt on Trump.
On Saturday evening, Crooks wore all gray as he climbed onto the roof of a manufacturing plant about 130 yards from the rally site in Butler. From there, he fired shots using an AK-style rifle.
Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief aged 50, lost his life in the incident, while Trump narrowly escaped with a grazing injury to his ear.
Two other attendees at the rally were critically injured before Crooks was fatally shot by the Secret Service.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Crooks used a rifle purchased by his father in the attempted assassination.
