What we know about Thomas Matthew Crooks, gunman who tried to assassinate Trump at Pa. rally
Questions are swirling about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who was shot dead by Secret Service agents after he tried to assassinate Donald Trump as the former president spoke onstage at a Saturday campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
As details have trickled out, a clearer picture of the would-be assassin has started to emerge.
His background
Crooks lived in Bethel Park, Pa., a midsize town of roughly 33,000 residents about 45 miles south of the Butler Farm Show grounds where the shooting took place.
He worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center not far from his home, Marcie Grimm, the center’s administrator, said in a statement.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,” the statement read in part.
“We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials at this time,” they added before saying they couldn’t comment any further on the specifics of the case.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to former President Trump and the victims impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. Former classmates described him as a “relentlessly bullied” loner who loved playing video games and hunting.
Ex-classmate Jason Kohler told KDKA that Crooks was so fond of the sport, he would occasionally wear his hunting outfits to class.
Another former classmate, Sarah D’Angelo, told the Wall Street Journal Sunday morning that Crooks had “few friends” and “didn’t have a full friend group,” saying she remembered him regularly playing video games on his laptop during homeroom period at school.
Another person recalled Crooks’ awkward interactions.
“If someone would say something to his face, he would just kind of stare at them,” Julianna Grooms, who graduated a year after the gunman, told the Journal. “People would say he was the student who would shoot up high school.”
Crooks did not appear in the 2022 Bethel Park High School Yearbook, though he can be seen in video accepting his diploma at his class’s graduation that year.
Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
- The gunman grazed Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old retired fire chief, and injured two other rally-goers.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he looked for the dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
- Crooks’ search history also revealed a broad interest in high-profile people and celebrities, regardless of their political affiliation, FBI officials reportedly said.
- Trump exclusively recounted surviving the “surreal” assassination attempt with The Post at the rally, remarking, “I’m supposed to be dead.”
- High-profile politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it “a heinous, horrible and cowardly act.”
Bethel Park High School denied that Crooks was bullied during his high school years, calling it a “painful misconception.”
“According to our records, Mr. Crooks excelled academically, regularly attended school, and had no disciplinary incidents, including those related to bullying or threats,” the statement insisted — noting that the district “maintains detailed records, including academic performance, attendance, disciplinary history, and health records” for students.
TribLive reported Crooks was also the recipient of a $500 National Math and Science Initiative Star Award in his graduating year.
Political affiliation
A question of significant interest immediately following the assassination attempt was whether Crooks leaned Republican or Democratic in his political views.
But the clues discovered so far paint a mixed picture. According to state voting records, Crooks was a registered Republican, though given his age, he would have been too young to cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
However, Crooks made a $15 donation to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021 — the day of President Biden’s inauguration, when he was 17 years old, the Intercept reported.
Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammo hours before taking aim at the former president.
When his body was found on the roof of a manufacturing plant over 130 yards away from Trump’s rally stage, he was found with an AR-style semi-automatic assault rifle that belonged to his father.
The would-be assassin was wearing a shirt for a popular gun-focused YouTube channel, Demolition Ranch, which has over 11 million subscribers.
An ex-classmate who confirmed pictures of Crooks told The Post, “He didn’t seem like really weird or anything. I would have pegged him as a Republican.”
nvestigators are scouring through the shooter’s cell phones and computer in search of answers to the assassination attempt — but have not yet identified a motive.
Nothing in their investigation so far has indicated that Crooks, who was a registered Republican, had strong partisan political views in either direction, officials told lawmakers.
Officials have also not found any evidence of co-conspirators or connections to foreign actors, according to the report.
Home life
Police in Bethel Park were keeping both press and members of the public away from Crooks’ home, a modest brick ranch house on a leafy green, middle-class suburban street.
His father, Matthew Crooks, reportedly said he is trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” as his son was identified as Trump’s attempted assassin.
He wouldn’t provide details to reporters about his son, and wanted to “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before speaking out on the horrific shooting, the elder Crooks told CNN on Saturday night.
No information was immediately forthcoming about Crooks’ mother.
A neighbor told The Post he saw an Allegheny County bomb squad preparing to enter the home shortly after 1 a.m.
“I saw a post of his name and that he lived in Bethel Park, so I looked him up and he lives .3 miles away,” Dan Maloney, 30, said of the younger Crooks.
“I went down there and spoke to the county bomb squad at 1:06 a.m. He said he was about to go into the house. I didn’t know the guy. No one in this neighborhood really talks to each other.”
Asked about the shooting itself, Maloney said, “It’s a tragedy. One person died, another is in the hospital. He went after a former president and likely the next president.”
The shooting
The FBI said Crooks — who was not carrying identification when he was shot dead by the Secret Service — acted alone.
It was later revealed that 20 minutes passed between the time that Secret Service snipers first spotted Crooks perched on a roof with a rifle and the time he began firing at the former president.
Additionally, law enforcement confirmed that Crooks was free to roam event on his bike and scout the scene before taking aim at Trump.
Crooks’ car was packed with explosives when authorities found it not far from the Butler rally, while bomb-making materials were found at the family home.
A motive in the attempted assassination remains unclear.
