TOPSHOT – Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump touches his injured ear during a sound check on day three of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump will participate in an FBI interview with a victim of the attempted assassination of him at a campaign rally, the agency told reporters Monday.
The interview with Trump “will be consistent with any other victim interview we do,” an FBI official said at a news conference.
The official said the agency wanted Trump’s “perspective” on the July 13 incident, when a shooter with an AR-15 rifle fired eight rounds while the Republican presidential nominee was on stage at the rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The FBI said it was unable to provide more details about the attacker’s motive, despite conducting hundreds of interviews, sending data requests to dozens of companies and reviewing thousands of tips in the 16 days since the attack.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is led off stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Republican candidate Donald Trump was evacuated from the stage at today’s rally after shots were fired at the event in Pennsylvania, AFP reported. The former US president was seen with blood on his right ear as he was surrounded by security agents, who pushed him off the stage as he fired his first into the crowd. Trump got into an SUV and drove away.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An agency official in Monday’s call described the would-be killer, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a “loner” with few social interactions outside of his immediate family.
A spokesman for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Crooks, who was shot by the US Secret Service seconds after opening fire, killed rally driver Corey Comperatore and injured two others.
Trump also suffered a minor injury to his right ear during the attack. Kevin Rojack, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, said on the conference call that Trump was “hit by a bullet, either whole or fragmented,” fired by Crooks.
That assessment clarified recent congressional testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who had signaled uncertainty about whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel. Ray’s response caused outrage Trump supporters.
Rozek offered a number of details about Crooks’ social media habits and his planning for the attack, although his motive remained opaque.
Crooks was “very smart, went to college and held steady employment,” Rojek said.
Analyzes of Crooks’ electronics, social media accounts and other sources show he made “significant efforts to conceal his activities.”
But his search engine history revealed that Crooks had searched for information on mass shootings, explosives, power plants and other attempted political assassinations.
Rozek said that at one point, Crooks asked, “how far Oswald was from Kennedy.”
FBI investigators clear a rooftop where a gunman was positioned during the investigation into a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, US, July 14, 2024.
Carlos Osorio Reuters
The gun used in the attack was legally purchased in 2013 by Crooks’ father, who transferred it to his son last year, the FBI official said.
Law enforcement recovered two explosive devices from the trunk of Crooks’ car near the site of the Trump rally and another from his bedroom.
On the afternoon of the rally, Crooks flew a drone near the event area for about 11 minutes.
More than an hour before the shooting, Crooks had been identified as a suspect by a law enforcement officer, who took a photo of him and sent it to other SWAT members and local personnel at the scene.
As for how Crooks got to the roof of a building near the rally stage, Rojek said the FBI believes he climbed HVAC equipment and a pipe that was on the outside of the structure, then traversed several roofs.
Around 6:11 p.m. ET, Crooks shot eight before he was killed.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.