The shooter made a “detailed effort” to attack a major event before deciding to target Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, the FBI says.
The gunman who tried to kill former US President Donald Trump had made a “sustained and detailed effort” to attack a major gathering of some kind before deciding to target the Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania in July, FBI officials said.
FBI officials said Thomas Crooks, 20, searched for information about Trump and his then-rival, Democratic President Joe Biden, more than 60 times before registering for Trump's rally in early July.
“We saw … a sustained and detailed effort to plan an attack against some events, meaning it looked at any number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek, the FBI's top official in western Pennsylvania, said in a telephone news conference Wednesday.
Rojek said Crooks was “hyperfocused” on Trump’s rally when it was announced “and viewed it as a target of opportunity.”
Rojek said the FBI has not yet been able to determine what motivated Crooks to try to assassinate Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Crooks' computer activity showed he was interested in a mix of ideologies, but did not definitively prove he was motivated by a particular left- or right-wing viewpoint, Rojek said.
FBI officials said they had found no evidence to suggest Crooks had worked with anyone else or had been directed by a foreign power.
There were no traces of illicit drugs or alcohol in his system, they said.
The assassination attempt raised questions about how Crooks was able to climb a nearby building and fire eight shots at the former president before being killed by a Secret Service member. Several congressional and government investigations are examining the event's security arrangements.
Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating Crooks himself. Officials said they had gained some insight into his mindset, though they still did not know what motivated him.
The criminals sought out Trump campaign events as early as September, FBI officials said, and began targeting campaign events for both candidates near where he lived in western Pennsylvania in April.
He also looked up the dates of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, they said.
In the days leading up to the July 13 rally, Crooks sought information about the location, including where Trump would speak and details of the company that owned a nearby building where he would later fire eight shots, one of which grazed Trump’s ear. Video evidence shows Crooks was on the roof of the building for only about six minutes.
The criminals, who left several explosive devices in his car, had already sought information about the components of the bombs in 2019.
