THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jun 23, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
Forbes
Forbes
14 Jul 2024


The man the FBI said carried out an attempted assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump is believed to have acted alone and was not known to law enforcement before the shooting, according to multiple reports, the latest development as authorities try to piece together why gunfire erupted at a campaign rally Saturday night.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-VOTE

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign ... [+] event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.

AFP via Getty Images

The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspected shooter in the early hours of Sunday morning, and had determined by Monday afternoon that he is believed to have acted alone in what is being investigated as a case of possible domestic terrorism.

Law enforcement officials found explosive material allegedly belonging to Crooks, which were found after multiple reports of suspicious packages around the shooter's location, The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported.

CNN also reported explosive material was found in Crooks’ residence.

Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service after firing shots at the Trump campaign event from a nearby building that was outside the rally and an AR-style rifle was recovered at the scene, authorities said.

Crooks was found by a law enforcement officer on the roof of a nearby building moments before shooting at Trump, and pointed his rifle at the officer, the Associated Press reported citing an anonymous source, who retreated off the roof moments before the Secret Service fired on Crooks.

Crooks was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School and registered Republican with no criminal history, The New York Times reported.

He donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic voter contact campaign in 2021, but did not seem to be otherwise politically involved.

He was employed by the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a dietary aid, according to administrator Marcie Grimm, who said Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean."

At age 20, Crooks was not old enough to have voted in a presidential election before.

Crooks was identified as the shooter using his DNA and biometric information, law enforcement officials said.

CNN reached Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, on Saturday, but the man said he would not speak to the public about his son until he figured out “what the hell is going on” and spoke to law enforcement.

Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.

Trump was hosting a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, about an hour from Crooks’ hometown of Bethel Park, when several gunshots were fired. Trump ducked behind a podium and was surrounded by Secret Service agents, who ushered him off the stage with blood visible on the right side of his face. Trump later said he was "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president pumped his fist into the air several times as he was escorted away to loud cheers from his audience. The bullets were fired from several hundred feet away, local District Attorney Richard Goldinger told CNN. President Joe Biden said in a statement he is "grateful" to hear Trump was safe and condemned acts of political violence. Local news outlets have reported that the rally attendee killed Saturday was 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, former fire chief of the Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania volunteer fire department. Two other people also suffered serious injuries. Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Saturday: “We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”

"We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness," Trump posted Sunday morning. "Our love goes out to the other victims and their families."