Trump shooter searched JFK's assassin, flew drone over rally area, had explosives in car: FBI director

WASHINGTON − FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed Wednesday that the gun man who tried to assassinate f ormer President Donald Trump searched for the distance between former President John F. Kennedy and his assassin when he was shot in 1963.

Wray said the shooter at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, this month also flew a drone over the area two hours before Trump's campaign speech and had two “relatively crude” explosives in his car.

Wray revealed to the House Judiciary Committee for the first time that on July 6 the gunman did a Google search for how far assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was from Kennedy. The same day he registered for the Trump rally.

“That is a search that obviously is significant for his state of mind," Wray said.

The gunman first visited the rally grounds a week before the event for about 20 minutes, Wray said. The shooter then visited the grounds the morning of the rally about 70 minutes and then went back for good in the afternoon, Wray said.

Another revelation was that the AR-style rifle the shooter used had a collapsible stock, which Wray said may help explain how no one saw the man carrying the gun.

“We haven’t yet found anybody with firsthand observation of him with the weapon walking around beforehand," Wray said. “The collapsible stock could be very significant feature that could be relevant to that."

Wray said the drone and controller were found in gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks' car. The drone flew about 3:50 p.m. for about 11 minutes, apparently livestreaming over an area about 200 yards from the stage where Trump spoke , Wray said.

The FBI is studying two explosives in the shooter's car and one in his residence, Wray said. The devices were connected to receivers and Crooks had a receiver with him when he was killed by a Secret Service sniper, but the equipment didn’t appear capable of setting off what he called "relatively crude devices," Wray said.

Wray said investigators now believe the gunman climbed onto the roof with the help of mechanical equipment on the ground and piping on the side of the building, rather than a ladder.

“We do not believe he used a ladder to get up there,” Wray said.

The FBI recovered eight cartridges where the gunman was slain, Wray said, suggesting he fired that many shots. The gunman sent encrypted messages before the attack, which Wray said had "unfortunately become very commonplace" to thwart law enforcement.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said lawmakers want to know more about why Trump’s campaign team was denied extra security in the weeks before the rally, why buildings weren’t secured at the rally and why Trump was allowed on stage despite the presence of a suspicious person seen by the crowd with a range-finder.

Jordan focused on five minutes between 6:09 p.m., when the gunman was identified and 6:14 p.m., when Trump was led wounded from the stage.

“We need to know what happened play by play, moment by moment, second by second – communications that took place – during that critical five minutes,” Jordan said.

Gunman's pictures of Trump, Biden not necessarily from specific searches: FBI

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., asked whether pictures of political figures such as Trump, President Joe Biden and others were found on the gunman’s phone.

Wray said investigators haven’t found a manifesto or obvious motive for the shooter. He said pictures were saved in the cache of his electronics from news searches, rather than necessarily because of a specific search for a public official.

“There is a whole lot of work under way and still a lot of work left to do,” Wray said. “We’re going to leave no stone unturned. The shooter may be deceased but the FBI’s investigation is very much ongoing.”

Wray testimony follows resignation of Secret Service chief

Wray’s testimony came a day after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned over what she acknowledged was a “colossal failure” to protect Trump at a rally July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee excoriated Cheatle during a hearing Monday for having no explanation for how a gunman was able to climb onto the roof of a building within 150 yards of the former president and fire eight shots, one of which hit Trump in the ear. One rally attendee was killed.

Wray, a Trump appointee, has been criticized by some Republicans angered over the arrest of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 , as Congress certified President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump shooter searched JFK's assassin, flew drone over rally area, had explosives in car: FBI director