 "Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected Donald Trump rally shooter?")
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in Saturday's attempted assassination of former United States (US) President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, US, news agency Reuters reported on Sunday.
Crooks was shot and killed by the US Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired shots toward a stage where Trump was speaking on Saturday evening (local time). Trump was injured after being shot in the ear, after Crooks reportedly opened fire from a nearby roof with what appeared to be a rifle, in an attack that is being investigated as an attempted assassination.
According to the Reuters report, the FBI said that it was working to determine the motive behind the attack, in which one rally attendee died and two others were critically injured. The Secret Service said Trump was safe after he was rushed off the stage with blood on his face.
Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks?
Reuters reported that according to state voter records, Crooks was a registered Republican. In fact, the upcoming November 5 US presidential election would have reportedly been the first time Crooks would have been old enough to vote in a presidential race.
However, Crooks, who lived about an hour away from where the Trump rally shooting took place, had made a $15 donation at age 17 to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for Democratic and left-leaning politicians, Reuters reported, citing a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.
The donation was reportedly earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, which is described as a national group that rallies Democrats to vote. Reuters reported that the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More From This Section
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper, Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School and he had also received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative.
A 2022 graduation ceremony video, cited by the New York Times, purportedly shows Crooks, with glasses and in a black graduation gown, receiving his high school diploma amid some applause. Reuters said that it could not verify the authenticity of the video at the time of reporting.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials told the news agency on Saturday that Crooks had not carried identification to the site of the shooting and thus had to be identified using other methods.
During a press briefing, FBI special agent in charge Kevin Rojek was quoted saying, "We're looking at photographs right now and we're trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation."
The Secret Service said it killed Crooks, who fired multiple shots from an elevated position outside the Trump rally venue.
Citing two officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Associated Press reported that Crooks was engaged by members of the Secret Service counterassault team.
Law enforcement reportedly recovered a rifle, believed to be a semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design, at the scene.
How has Thomas Matthew Crooks' family responded?
At the time of filing, Crooks' father, 53-year-old Matthew Crooks, was reported to have told a US national media organisation that he was trying to figure out what happened. He added that he would wait until he spoke to law enforcement agencies before speaking about his son.
Meanwhile, US' Federal Aviation Administration announced on Sunday that it had closed the airspace over Bethel Park for "special security reasons".
According to a USA Today report, dozens of law enforcement vehicles were seen stationed outside a residence that was listed as the address on Crooks' voter registration record.
Along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, even a bomb squad was on the scene, added the report.
(With agency input)