Around midnight on Saturday local time, less than six hours after the attack that left former U.S. President Donald Trump lightly injured at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the FBI formally identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, less than an hour away. Crooks was shot by Secret Service and Police snipers in an exchange of fire immediately after he opened fire, resulting in one dead and two seriously injured, in addition to Trump.
Federal agents, who have taken over the investigation, have not provided additional information about the attacker or his possible motivations, but early this morning they searched his home and his family's home, cordoning off a suburb on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. In the area, in addition to the FBI, there are members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad. His family is being questioned, and investigators are searching for clues about the reasons and motivations among his belongings and computer equipment. "It is an active and ongoing investigation," the agency says, urging anyone with relevant information to report it urgently.
About Crooks, it is known for now that he was only 20 years old, had no criminal record according to public records, and used an AR-15, one of the most well-known and deadly semi-automatic rifles. At a late-night press conference on Saturday, the federal agent in charge of the investigation, Kevin Rojek, explained that the perpetrator had no identification on him and that DNA evidence and biometric confirmation were used to identify him. A CNN team managed to speak with the father of the sole suspect in the attack. Bewildered, he said he was trying to figure out "what the hell is going on" but that he would "wait to speak with the authorities" before making specific comments about his son.
Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to the newspaper. A video from the 2022 graduation ceremony cited by The New York Times allegedly shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma amid applause.
State voter records indicate that Crooks was registered as a Republican, and the upcoming elections on November 5 would have been the first in which he would have been old enough to vote. In the United States, it is necessary to register to vote, and each person can indicate whether they are Republican, Democrat, or independent. Not everyone marks the party boxes or necessarily updates their information if they do not intend to participate in the primary process.
As recorded in the Federal Election Commission records, three years ago Crooks made a modest $15 donation to ActBlue, a progressive political action committee that raises money for Democratic and left-wing politicians. The donation, as explained by American media, was intended for the Progressive Engagement Project, a group that mobilizes Democrats nationwide to participate in elections.
During the night and early morning, social media was filled with rumors and false attributions. A conservative influencer mistakenly identified an Italian sports journalist as the shooter, causing his photo to circulate quickly, leading to confusion. Some users seeking notoriety took advantage to generate noise and troll by using their photo to impersonate the shooter once the name was known. And even various accounts, trying to quickly politicize the situation, rushed to create fake accounts on platforms like Instagram to steer the conversation towards their interests, making it appear that the man shot by the police was clearly either a Republican or a Democrat, depending on the case.
According to witnesses, Crooks climbed to the top of a building about 120 meters away from the stage where Trump was speaking and quickly opened fire, but without accuracy. The spokesperson for the Secret Service, responsible for presidential security and facing serious criticism, categorically denied on Sunday that there were specific alerts or that additional requests from Trump's entourage had been dismissed, as suggested by different alternative right-wing voices.
"There is a false claim that a member of the former president's team requested additional security resources and that they were denied. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added resources, technology, and protection capabilities as part of the increased pace of campaign travel," wrote Secret Service Communication Director Anthony Guglielmi in a post on Sunday morning.