BUTLER, Pa. (AP/The Hill) — Donald Trump’s campaign says he is “fine” after what law enforcement officials are treating as an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Officials said the man who opened fire was a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania.
The FBI early Sunday named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the shooter in the assassination attempt on the former president.
“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the FBI said.
Trump says he felt bullet ‘ripping through the skin’ in possible assassination attempt Shots were fired at Trump’s rally Saturday evening in Butler, during which the former president said a bullet pierced his ear. The U.S. Secret Service said the shooter and one spectator at the rally were killed, and two other attendees were critically injured.
Trump appeared to grab his ear and drop behind the lectern when shots rang out at the rally, and Secret Service agents swarmed on top of him. They surrounded him as he stood up, and he put a fist up to the crowd as they led him off stage. Blood could be seen on his ear and face.
Officials also told the Associated Press that federal agents were still working to understand when and how Crooks obtained the gun used in the shooting.
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.
More on Trump rally shooting
Bomb-making materials were also found inside Crooks’ vehicle near the Trump rally and at his home, according to two officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
In a press conference late Saturday night, Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Pittsburgh, said authorities had not yet identified a motive in the incident.
“We do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” Rojek said.
Authorities told reporters Crooks wasn’t carrying identification so they were using DNA and other methods to confirm his identity.
Relatives of Crooks didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. His father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN late Saturday that he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but wouldn’t speak about his son until after he talked to law enforcement.
A blockade had been set up Sunday preventing traffic near Crooks’ house, which is in an enclave of modest brick houses nestled in the hills of blue-collar Pittsburgh.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. In a video of the school’s graduation ceremony posted online, Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to receive his diploma, appearing slight of build and wearing glasses. The school district said it will cooperate fully with investigators. His senior year, Crooks was among several students given an award for math and science, according to a Tribune-Review story at the time.
In a social media post, Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president was quickly whisked from the stage by Secret Service agents, his ear covered in blood.
Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunch time. Other students mocked him for the way he dressed, such as hunting outfits, Kohler said.
“He was bullied almost every day,” Kohler told reporters. “He was just a outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays.”
A prosecutor said the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead, and the Secret Service said two spectators were critically injured.
Biden and political leaders of all stripes condemned the attack. “There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
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