What is known and not known about the attempt on Trump’s life and its aftermath
What is known and not known about the attempt on Trump’s life and its aftermath
Two days after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally, local law enforcement officials provided more details about the incident. (AP video by Joshua A. Bickel)
Investigators are hunting for any clues about what may have driven Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to assassinate former President Donald Trump. The FBI said it was investigating the assassination attempt as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
A campaign rally site for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is empty and littered with debris Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Kevin Rojek, left, FBI special agent in charge, Lt. Col. George Givens, center, Pennsylvania State Police, and Col. Christopher Paris, right, Pennsylvania State Police, answer questions at a news conference concerning the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump addresses the crowd at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is moved from the stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
This 2021 photo provided by Bethel Park School District shows student Thomas Matthew Crooks who graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022, in Bethel Park, Pa. Crooks was identified by the FBI as the shooter involved in an assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Bethel Park School District via AP)
Law enforcement block a street in Bethel Park, Pa., that they say is near a residence of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former President Donald Trump, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 14, 2024, about the assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
A person watches news in a local bar near the Fiserv Forum watching news ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Milwaukee. Former president Donald Trump was whisked off the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after apparent gunshots rang through the crowd.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
An automobile license plate at the Buffalo Township Fire Company 27 is wrapped in black bunting in Buffalo Township, Pa., Sunday, July 14, 2024. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
This undated photo provided by the Buffalo Township, Pa., Volunteer Fire Company shows former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore. Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company via AP)
Former President Trump waves to supporters after arriving to the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Members of an honor guard are reflected in a mylar wall, left, during a rehearsal for the 2024 Republican National Convention on Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
People rally in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Investigators are hunting for any clues about what may have driven Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to assassinate former President Donald Trump. The FBI said it was investigating the assassination attempt as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
A campaign rally site for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is empty and littered with debris Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Kevin Rojek, left, FBI special agent in charge, Lt. Col. George Givens, center, Pennsylvania State Police, and Col. Christopher Paris, right, Pennsylvania State Police, answer questions at a news conference concerning the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Kevin Rojek, left, FBI special agent in charge, Lt. Col. George Givens, center, Pennsylvania State Police, and Col. Christopher Paris, right, Pennsylvania State Police, answer questions at a news conference concerning the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump addresses the crowd at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is moved from the stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
This 2021 photo provided by Bethel Park School District shows student Thomas Matthew Crooks who graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022, in Bethel Park, Pa. Crooks was identified by the FBI as the shooter involved in an assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Bethel Park School District via AP)
This 2021 photo provided by Bethel Park School District shows student Thomas Matthew Crooks who graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022, in Bethel Park, Pa. Crooks was identified by the FBI as the shooter involved in an assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Bethel Park School District via AP)
Law enforcement block a street in Bethel Park, Pa., that they say is near a residence of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former President Donald Trump, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Law enforcement block a street in Bethel Park, Pa., that they say is near a residence of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former President Donald Trump, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 14, 2024, about the assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 14, 2024, about the assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
A person watches news in a local bar near the Fiserv Forum watching news ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Milwaukee. Former president Donald Trump was whisked off the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after apparent gunshots rang through the crowd.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person watches news in a local bar near the Fiserv Forum watching news ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Milwaukee. Former president Donald Trump was whisked off the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after apparent gunshots rang through the crowd.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
An automobile license plate at the Buffalo Township Fire Company 27 is wrapped in black bunting in Buffalo Township, Pa., Sunday, July 14, 2024. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
An automobile license plate at the Buffalo Township Fire Company 27 is wrapped in black bunting in Buffalo Township, Pa., Sunday, July 14, 2024. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
This undated photo provided by the Buffalo Township, Pa., Volunteer Fire Company shows former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore. Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Buffalo Township, Pa., Volunteer Fire Company shows former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore. Comperatore was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. (Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company via AP)
Former President Trump waves to supporters after arriving to the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former President Trump waves to supporters after arriving to the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Members of an honor guard are reflected in a mylar wall, left, during a rehearsal for the 2024 Republican National Convention on Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
People rally in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
So far, details about the man who authorities say tried to kill former President Donald Trump amount to little more than a stick-figure drawing: a politically enigmatic loner who worked in a nursing home.
Still absent are the motivations behind the assassination attempt at Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania.
That’s not all. Investigators are still trying to piece together how Thomas Matthew Crooks eluded Secret Service agents and local police.
Officers and spectators alike took notice of Crooks before the shooting. And the roof of the building that he fired from appeared to be unsecured, l eaving a security expert baffled.
Here’s what we know and don’t know about the shooting.
What we don’t know:
— THE SHOOTER’S MOTIVE: Authorities have conducted hundreds of interviews, cracked into the shooter’s phone and searched his car and home. A motive behind the attempt on Trump’s life remains unknown.
— WHY WASN’T HE STOPPED: Police had a report of a suspicious man at the rally. And witnesses pointed at an armed man on a nearby roof that a police officer climbed onto. Crooks still fired several shots that killed one spectator, wounded two others and grazed the former president’s ear.
— WHY THE BUILDING WAS UNSECURED: The would-be assassin fired his AR-style rifle from a building that was close enough for a marksman to hit a human-sized target. A security expert said the structure should have been secured and under surveillance.
What we know: Police were aware of Crooks at the rally
Spectators at the Trump rally noticed a man later identified as Crooks pacing outside the event’s metal detectors. Police had reports of his behavior and were apparently exchanging photos of the suspect. Witnesses later pointed and shouted about the man with a rifle on the roof.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told The Associated Press that a local officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who saw the officer and turned toward him just before the officer dropped down to safety.
Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump. That’s when Secret Service snipers shot Crooks, according to two officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Slupe said the officer could not have wielded his own gun under the circumstances. Butler Township Manager Tom Knights added that the officer lost his grip and was not retreating when he fell and severely injured an ankle.
Still, Stan Kephart, a former police chief who worked event security for two former presidents, said the shooting followed “an absolute and abysmal failure” on the part of the Secret Service to protect Trump. The agency is ultimately responsible for the candidate’s safety, he added.
“You don’t get to blame other people. They are under your control,” said Kephart, now a consulting expert on law-enforcement event security.
What we know: Building’s roof was in striking distance
Crooks was an estimated 147 yards (135 meters) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. That is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle.
Patrick Brosnan, a former New York Police Department detective who runs a national private intelligence and security firm that has protected heads of state, suggested a building that close to the stage should have been secured and under surveillance from the start.
“It would just seem to me to be elemental and rudimentary as it relates to providing a steel band or circular band of protection for the former president, who is fully exposed,” said Brosnan, who has trained with the Secret Service and spoken in the past to Trump and his family about security issues.
What we know: FBI believes Crooks acted alone
The FBI believes Crooks, who had bomb-making materials in the car he drove to the rally, acted alone with a gun purchased by his father. But the agency has not identified a clear ideological motive.
The FBI said Monday that analysts had gained access to the shooter’s phone, though a law-enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said the device has not revealed meaningful information about any potential motive.
Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation. Records show that he was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania. But federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Democratic President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunch time. Other students mocked him for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, Kohler said.
“He was bullied almost every day,” Kohler told reporters. “He was just a outcast.”