FBI names suspect in Trump assassination attempt

Butler, Pa. (AP) — The FBI early Sunday named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the alleged shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.

The political leanings of Crooks were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in to office.

Trump appeared to be the target of the assassination attempt as he spoke during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, law enforcement officials said. The former president, his ear covered in blood from what he said was a gunshot, was quickly pulled away by Secret Service agents and his campaign said he was “fine.”

A local prosecutor said the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead. The Secret Service said two spectators were critically injured.

Posting on his Truth Social media site about two and a half hours after the shooting, Trump said a bullet “pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

Kevin Rojek, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Pittsburgh field office, said late Saturday: “Tonight we had what we’re calling an assassination attempt on our former president, Donald Trump.”

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