The man who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump focused on him about a week before the shooting, and even did an internet search on the distance Lee Harvey Oswald was when he shot and killed President Kennedy in 1963.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the shooter seemed to have taken an interest in a number of public figures, based on his internet activity, but zeroed in on Mr. Trump on July 6.
That’s about the same time the shooter made his first visit to the rally site where, on July 13, he would fire at least eight shots at the stage, bloodying Mr. Trump, slaying one rally-goer and critically wounding two others.
Mr. Wray said they are still searching for the motives of Thomas Matthew Crooks but have not yet found any deep ideological beliefs that might inform that search.
What they have found is a striking recent interest in high-profile people, and Mr. Trump in particular. That included the July 6 Google search for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” Mr. Wray said.
“That’s obviously a search that is significant for his state of mind. That is the same day, it appears, that he registered for the Butler rally,” the FBI director said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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