Former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin conducted an online search of the distance Lee Harvey Oswald was from John Kennedy when he shot and killed the president in November 1963, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Wednesday.
An analysis of Thomas Matthew Crooks’ laptop showed he made that search on July 6, the same day that Trump’s July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was announced.
“On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.
“That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind,” the FBI director added. “That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.”
FBI Director Wray on Crooks’: “On July 6th, he did a Google search for ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’ and so that’s a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind…that is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.” pic.twitter.com/bsygFiTLYu
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 24, 2024
Wray further testified that a search of Crooks’ laptop did not offer further evidence of the shooter’s motive beyond having an interest in public figures “more broadly.”
He told lawmakers that Crooks flew a drone about 200 yards from the rally site for 11 minutes at approximately 4 p.m. on July 13. Trump was shot at 6:11 p.m.
Wray confirmed that two explosive devices were found in the assailant’s car and one more at his home.
The director said Crooks likely did not have the ability to detonate the ones in his car from the roof where he fired his shots.
“It looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” he said, adding the FBI was still investigating the matter.
FBI Director Wray says that Thomas Crooks, the attempted Trump assassin, was flying a drone about 200 yds from the stage where Trump spoke about two hours before the rally, “live streaming.”
Also says FBI recovered 3 explosive devices, 2 in Crook’s car and one in his home. pic.twitter.com/sT7rmuCl0H
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) July 24, 2024
Wray said a remote bomb detonator was found near the shooter on the roof.
Podcast host Matt Tardio, who served as a sniper in the Army’s Special Forces, posted on X last week that Crooks appeared to have obtained a detonator for a specific firing system.
The Donald Trump shooter appears to have had the remote detonator for an Alpha Wireless Firing System (linked below). @ReincarnatedRus – Thanks for the tiphttps://t.co/EvcuRqUX4W pic.twitter.com/MUK4PneTbz
— Matt Tardio (@angertab) July 17, 2024
Wray testified the gunman fired at least eight shots before a countersniper shot and killed him.