Former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when shots rang out during his speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, with the assailant later identified by the FBI as a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park. The latter is believed to have fired from a rooftop about 130 yards away from the stage where Trump was speaking.
One spectator was killed by the gunfire.
Secret Service agents swiftly evacuated Trump while he defiantly raised his fist in the face of danger. Trump revealed that one of the bullets had grazed his ear but assured he was safe.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service “counter-sniper” shortly after opening fire. Law enforcement took several hours to publicly confirm Crooks’ identity, relying on DNA evidence due to the lack of identification on his person.
BREAKING: Gunman Who Attempted to Assassinate Former President Donald Trump Identified
The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Trump on Saturday has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired shots… pic.twitter.com/fmSXeRWVST
— OSINT Aggregator (@AggregateOsint) July 14, 2024
Officials disclosed that Crooks had been a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania. Interestingly, records from the Federal Election Commission showed that a person with the same name and address had donated a small sum of money to a Democrat political action committee in early 2021.
The FBI, in a statement issued early Sunday, stated that the investigation into the motive behind the assassination attempt was ongoing. Despite the early identification of the suspect, authorities had not yet determined what motivated Thomas Matthew Crooks to target the former president.
