The man who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in July 2024 acted by himself, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Investigators found no evidence linking 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks to anyone else in the United States or abroad, Fox News reported, citing a briefing from FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and a senior official who spoke anonymously.
Officials said agents reviewed 35 accounts connected to Crooks, including banking records and social media. The FBI also gained access to email accounts Crooks held in Germany and Belgium within days of the attack. When those foreign accounts surfaced as possible leads, the bureau contacted the relevant governments and quickly obtained their contents, the senior official told Fox News.
Authorities concluded there was no indication that any individual, group, or foreign government directed, encouraged, or materially aided Crooks. The FBI said the investigation uncovered no foreign person or organization tied to him.
The bureau’s probe involved more than 1,000 interviews and over 2,000 public tips. Agents executed more than 10 search warrants, issued around 100 subpoenas, and seized 13 electronic devices associated with Crooks and his family for forensic review. In total, about 485 FBI employees worked the case.
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Bongino also told Fox News that earlier reporting about Crooks’ online behavior had been overstated. He said the bureau found only a small record of political commentary and references to political violence dating back to 2019 and 2020.
Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was identified as the shooter who opened fire on Trump during a rally in Butler. He was killed at the scene by a Secret Service sniper. One attendee, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, died, and two others — David Dutch and James Copenhaver — were critically wounded. Trump, then 79, was struck in the upper right ear.
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According to the FBI, Crooks used a .223 rifle that his father controlled access to. Officials said eight rounds were fired. Investigators later found 22 unfired rounds and multiple unused magazines in Crooks’ vehicle along with a ballistic vest. An undetonated explosive device was also discovered inside the car, Fox News reported.
As for motive, the senior official said Crooks left no manifesto and offered no clear explanation for why he carried out the attack.
