Last year, a Trump rally turned tragic when Thomas Crooks opened fire, discharging eight bullets that resulted in the death of one man, left two others critically injured, and grazed the ear of former President Donald Trump, as reported by the authorities.
The 20-year-old Crooks fatally shot Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old father of two. The gunfire also sent David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, to the hospital with critical injuries. During the incident, Trump, who was campaigning for a comeback, quickly sought cover. When he reemerged, blood was noticeable on the side of his face.
In a recent editorial, the New York Post urged the government to disclose more details about the shooting. The piece argued that the current lack of transparency has fueled the spread of conspiracy theories regarding the event.
In a dramatic scene on July 13, 2024, at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was swiftly escorted away by Secret Service agents after shots were fired during his campaign rally. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Trump, showing resilience, pumped his fist as agents hurried him offstage after a bullet grazed him at the rally. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
An anonymous source revealed to the press that Crooks’ potential for violence had been apparent for years on public online platforms. “His radicalization, violent rhetoric, and fixation on political violence were all openly documented under his actual name. This threat was not hidden,” the source stated.
Authorities told Congress they found no evidence that Crooks followed any particular ideology on his laptop, but according to the Post’s source, there was a clear timeline of Crooks’ changing ideology and violent rhetoric that remains to be addressed.
“The investigation, conducted by over 480 FBI employees, revealed Crooks had limited online and in person interactions, planned and conducted the attack alone, and did not leak or share his intent to engage in the attack with anyone,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X Friday.
They conducted more than 1,000 interviews, he said, examined more than 2,000 tips from the public, seized 13 devices and reviewed half a million digital files. They uncovered 25 of Crooks’ accounts on social media platforms or online forums.
Thomas Matthew Crooks pictured shortly before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Investigators believe Crooks planned the shooting alone, had no accomplices and did not speak about it with anyone. And unlike the 22-year-old Tyler Robinson charged with assassinating Charlie Kirk in September, Crooks died at the scene and never got back on Discord.
While the FBI has not publicly identified a political motive, Crooks’ online comments over several years shifted from pro-Trump to anti-Trump, according to digital records described in the Post. Whatever caused that remains unclear, but before he focused his murderous intent on the president, his posts about rage and violence were reportedly directed at Democrats.
“Trump bombed Iran to keep them from getting a nuclear weapon,” said Bill Gage, a former U.S. Secret Service agent and a consultant with SafeHaven Security Group. “What do you think he would do if he found out there was information that someone [or some] group was involved in his attempted assassination?”
Thomas Matthew Crooks, seen in this yearbook photo, graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022. Two years later, he was shot and killed after opening fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Bethel Park School District)
He said that online speculation suggesting Crooks had worked with anyone else doesn’t make enough sense to consider seriously.
“One big problem with conspiracies is that you have to dream up other conspiracies to explain away gaps in your original conspiracy,” he told Fox News Digital. “To think that a foreign intelligence agency, terror group or anyone else was involved in this and then think that a secret cabal of shadow government officials is keeping it quiet defies logic.”
Authorities have said Crooks had no criminal history and no documented mental illnesses. The murder weapon was purchased legally by his father in 2013.
A large crowd waits for the arrival of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, PA, on Saturday, October 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
However, during a congressional briefing in July 2024, senators were told that Crooks wrote a threatening message on “Steam,” an online gaming platform ahead of his shooting, Fox News reported previously.
“July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds,” he wrote, according to sources who attended the briefing.
When investigators reviewed his laptop, they found a few searches in July of: Trump, Biden, when is DNC convention, and July 13 Trump rally. They also found Crooks had two cellphones — one recovered from the scene, and another with just 27 stored contacts that they found at his home.
“The internet is too big of a place,” Gage said. “Crooks was a mentally ill loner that slipped through the cracks. We will most likely never know his true motivations.”
