Trump shooter Thomas Crooks searched for public appearances of Biden and ex-POTUS before assassination bid
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BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA: Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, searched for the locations of President Joe Biden and the former president's upcoming public appearances, according to a Wednesday, July 17 report by The New York Times.
The gunman fired a series of shots aimed at the 45th president while he was addressing supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Trump survived the close call with death, sustaining only an injury to the top side of his right ear. However, one attendee died, and two were critically injured.
A Secret Service sniper immediately neutralized Crooks, who died on the spot.
Thomas Matthew Crooks' devices revealed his searches before his assassination attempt
The MAGA spearhead announced his campaign stop in Butler on July 3. The exact motive behind Thomas Matthew Crooks's assassination attempt on Donald Trump and how long he took to prepare remains unclear.
However, after the FBI accessed his cellphones and other electronic devices, agents found that he searched images of Trump, Biden, Attorney General Merrick B Garland, and FBI Director Christopher A Wray. The searches also included "major depressive disorder" and dates and locations of Trump and Biden's public appearances.
The real estate mogul's rally in Butler was around 50 miles from Thomas Matthew Crooks' house in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Vincent Taormina, who went to a high school with the shooter in 2016, said that Crooks was "smug and arrogant" during political discussions and also mocked him for supporting Trump.
"He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we had," Taormina said to Fox News, referring to the 2016 White House contenders Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders.
Local police alerted Secret Service about shooter before Donald Trump's speech
According to the NY Times, the local police noticed a suspiciously behaving man, later identified as Crooks, before Donald Trump took the stage, and they alerted the Secret Service.
"Then they lost track of him. Twenty minutes before violence erupted, a sniper, from a distance, spotted Mr Crooks again and took his picture," read the report. It further added that two local officers were assigned to find Crooks, but the Secret Service permitted Trump to proceed with his appearance despite the threat.
After coming under scrutiny over their failure to protect the ex-president, the federal agency claimed that local law enforcement was responsible for securing the perimeter, including the factory premises, from where the shots were fired. Crooks aimed at Trump from the rooftop of a factory situated 130 yards away from the podium.
"I don't know whose responsibility that building was," said Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger. "But somebody should have been there."
According to the FBI, the gunman went to a shooting range the day before the failed assassination attempt and brought a ladder and 50 rounds of ammunition hours before committing the crime.
After narrowly escaping death, a fearless Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that started on July 15 with a bandaged ear. He announced Ohio Sen JD Vance as his running mate.
