Former President Donald Trump announced that he would undergo an FBI interview as the bureau investigates the motives behind 20-year-old Thomas Crooks' attempt to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. "They're coming in on Thursday to see me," Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, stated during an interview on Fox News that aired on Monday. Authorities had identified the would-be assassin more than an hour before the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, and circulated a photo among law enforcement, according to an FBI official on Monday.
"The shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person," revealed Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office, during a press briefing on the agency's investigation into the assassination attempt. He detailed that a local officer had photographed Crooks and shared the image with other law enforcement at the rally site. Approximately 30 minutes later, Rojek noted, SWAT team members observed Crooks using a rangefinder and accessing news sites. Crooks was spotted with a backpack at 5:56 p.m., just under 20 minutes before the shooting, and was later captured on a police dashboard camera at 6:08 p.m. walking on the roof from which he eventually fired the shots, Rojek added.
Although not tasked with investigating security lapses around Trump, the FBI is compiling a timeline of events, Rojek explained. The FBI has yet to determine a motive for Crooks, who was fatally shot by a Secret Service agent after initiating gunfire. However, they discovered that he had researched previous mass shootings, improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister in May. Trump, despite his past criticisms of the FBI, consented to a standard victim's interview, which Rojek assured would be handled consistently with any other victim interview. "We want to get his perspective," Rojek said. He also confirmed that Trump was hit by a bullet, though it was unclear if it was intact or fragmented.
The FBI characterized Crooks as a solitary individual with minimal social connections, mostly restricted to immediate family. Through encrypted applications, Crooks conducted 25 firearm-related purchases and acquired six chemical precursors for explosive devices, according to FBI officials. His longstanding interest in science and conducting experiments did not raise concerns with his parents, who have been cooperative with the investigation, the FBI noted.
