Trump shooter saw rally as 'target of opportunity,' FBI says

The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump last month looked at various events or targets for a potential attack but zeroed in on Trump’s Pennsylvania rally as “a target of opportunity” after it was announced in early July, the FBI said Wednesday.

In a briefing for reporters, the FBI said it has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews so far in its investigation into the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pa. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by a single shot to the head from a Secret Service counter-sniper.

Nearly seven weeks after the shooting, the FBI says it still has not identified a motive for the shooter or any particular ideology for him. It also says it has not found any co-conspirators or individuals with advanced knowledge of the plot, or any foreign connections.

But the FBI special agent leading the investigation said an extensive analysis of Crooks’ online search history has provided insights into his mindset and the research he conducted for the attack.

“We saw through our analysis of all his, but particularly his online searches, a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek told reporters. “Then when this event was announced, the Trump rally was announced early in July, he became hyper-focused on that specific event, and looked at it as a target of opportunity.”

Insight Into Searches

Rojek said that in September 2023, an account connected to Crooks showed a search for when Trump’s campaign had upcoming appearances in Pennsylvania, where Crooks lived.

Then in April of this year up until the eve of the shooting, Crooks searched online for campaign events for both Trump and President Biden, Rojek said.

On July 4, Crooks searched for details of the Trump rally in Butler, and two days later registered to attend the event, Rojek said. The same day, Crooks conducted several online searches, including “where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show,” a reference to the location of the rally.

Crooks also conducted online searches about explosives as early as September 2019, the FBI said, including about detonating cords, blasting caps, and how to make a bomb from fertilizer.

Investigators found homemade bombs in Crooks’ vehicle after the shooting, but the devices were not detonated.

Rojek said the FBI has also looked at what ideologies may have motivated the gunman, and said investigators still see a “mixture.”

“We’ve seen no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning,” he said. “It’s really been a mixture and something that we’re still attempting to analyze and draw conclusions on.”