Donald Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks also ‘considered DNC & RNC as targets’ before trying to assassinate ex-prez
THE gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally considered targeting the Democratic and Republican National Conventions before zeroing in on the former president.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, conducted extensive research on the DNC, RNC, and events of President Joe Biden before "hyper-focusing" on Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the FBI disclosed on Wednesday.
Crooks searched for details about future campaign stops by Trump and Biden, who at the time was still the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.
Federal officials described Crooks' analysis as a "sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack," FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said.
The deranged gunman eventually settled on Trump's Butler rally and "hyper-focused" on it.
Rojek said the attempted assassination of Trump appears to have been a "target of opportunity."
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A motive has still not been determined.
The FBI reiterated that there is still no evidence that suggests a foreign enemy directed Crooks to commit the attack.
"I would say that we see no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning," Rojek said.
"It's really been a mixture of something we're still attempting to analyze and draw conclusions on."
In their update, the FBI released photos of the assault rifle Crooks used in the shooting, his backpack, and two improvised explosive devices investigators found in the trunk of the gunman's car.
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