Friday, August 30, 2024 - A senior FBI official has revealed that the gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden.
20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks searched online for events
of both Trump and President Joe Biden, repeatedly looked up information about
explosives, and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last
month as a “target of opportunity,” according to FBI.
Investigators who have conducted nearly 1,000 interviews do
not have a motive for why 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump
during a July 13 campaign rally but they believe that he conducted “extensive
attack planning,” including looking up campaign events involving both the
current president and former president, particularly in western Pennsylvania.
The FBI analysis of his online search history reveals a
“sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, meaning he looked
at any number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge
of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters Wednesday.
Once a Trump rally was announced for July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, “He became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said.
Crooks’ internet searches in the days leading up to the
rally included queries about the grounds where the rally was held, “Where will
Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show?” “Butler Farm Show podium and ”Butler
Farm Show photos.”
The new details add to an emerging portrait of Crooks as a
man who investigators say had taken an eerie interest in explosives, major
events and prominent political figures, but whose internet searches across
major parties have frustrated efforts to assign a simple motive.
“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to
make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.
The FBI has confirmed that Trump was struck in the ear by a
bullet during the attack. Crooks, who was positioned on the roof of a nearby
building, fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service
counter-sniper.
“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to
make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.
The FBI said it also still hasn't seen any indication that
Crooks was directed by a foreign entity to conduct the attack.
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