Investigators examined the phone of Thomas Matthew Crooks on Monday in search of a motive behind the 20-year-old’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper on Saturday after he opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. He had never been arrested and left behind few friends and little evidence so far of a significant digital footprint.
Lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill demanded that Secret Service and FBI officials explain how the nursing home attendant managed to evade security and access a rooftop overlooking the campaign event in Butler County.
Crooks was spotted on the roof and briefly confronted by a local police officer before he unleashed a volley of shots that killed one rallygoer, seriously injured two others and left Mr. Trump bleeding from an ear grazed by a bullet.
Questions about the apparent security breakdown grew more urgent after a news report from NBC affiliate WPXI News in Pittsburgh that police had spotted the shooter on the rooftop almost 30 minutes before he opened fire.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi blamed the lapse on local police, telling The New York Times that Pennsylvania authorities had been delegated the task of securing and patrolling the surrounding area.
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Investigators later said they found explosives in Crooks’ car.
Crooks used an AR-15-style rifle purchased by his father more than a decade ago and bought ammunition just hours before he took aim at Mr. Trump.
The FBI said it delivered a briefing Monday about Crooks’ phone to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, and Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel’s ranking Democrat.
The agency said it was investigating the shooting as an “assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and as potential domestic terrorism.”
Crooks’ background has offered investigators little insight into why he tried to assassinate Mr. Trump.
He was a registered Republican who lived in Bethel Park, a suburb south of Pittsburgh. He worked in a nursing home and recently graduated from a local community college.
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Federal records show he made a $15 donation to the Progressive Turnout Project on Inauguration Day in 2021 when he was 17.
His father is a registered Libertarian, and his mother is a registered Democrat.
Authorities said they haven’t found any social media accounts revealing a motive for the assassination attempt.
Crooks was a member of Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pittsburgh and reportedly wore a Demolition Ranch T-shirt at the time of the shooting. Demolition Ranch is a YouTube channel that publishes videos about guns and explosives.
He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and won a $500 National Math & Science Initiative Star Award.
This year, he graduated with an associate degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County.
Former high school classmate Jason Kohler, 21, described Crooks as a loner who was “relentlessly” bullied, mainly for wearing hunting gear to school.
Sarah D’Angelo, another former classmate, said Crooks “never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
She said Crooks had a few friends but never a close group.
Mark Crooks told the Daily Mail that he wasn’t on speaking terms with his nephew.
“I haven’t seen that part of my family in years. Honestly, it’s been so long, and I don’t think much about them,” Mark Crooks said. “It’s a shame. The kid is like a stranger to me. They’re private, and they don’t reach out to anybody any time.”
Equally as mysterious is how Crooks was able to climb onto a roof and take aim at the Republican presidential candidate.
Bystander videos appeared to capture the gunman positioned on a rooftop more than 400 feet away from the rally stage.
Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Slupe said onlookers called local police to report the man’s presence on top of the building.
When an officer was hoisted up to confront Crooks, the gunman aimed his rifle at the officer, who then ducked for cover. Gunshots rang out seconds later.
Former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed in the shooting.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that Mr. Comperatore “dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally.”
“Corey was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community, and most especially, Corey loved his family,” the governor said. “Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community.”
An outpouring of donations has been sent to the victims’ families through GoFundMe campaigns.
One was started by a family friend of the Comperatores who had brought in more than $1 million as of Monday evening.
Supporters of Mr. Trump have raised more than $4 million in another GoFundMe campaign for the three shooting victims, including donations from UFC President Dana White, musician Kid Rock and conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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