FBI shares new details in investigation of Donald Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks
USA TodayAUG 20 2024
FBI officials investigating last month's attempted assassination of former Pres. Donald Trump have ruled out any co-conspirators or any indication that the attack was directed by a foreign entity. However, they added, the motive of the gunman remains unknown.
At a briefing for reporters on Wednesday, Kevin Rojek, head of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office, indicated a number of online search terms for 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks before he fired eight shots at Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. New images and details of what transpired that day were also disclosed.
While investigations, which are ongoing, gave the FBI a "clear idea of mindset," Rojek said: "We are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time."
While Crooks' exact motive remains unknown, painstaking work by the FBI reveals that he searched for rallies by both Trump and Biden and narrowed in on Trump's Butler speech shortly after it was announced. It appears he was more intent on carrying out some act of violence of rather than pursuing a specific ideological goal.
It is good that more information about the shooting is finally being released. However, the FBI has still not answered vital questions about how a suspicious person could roam around for at least an hour, or how he was able to be on a roof so close to the former president for so long without being neutralized.