Crooks’ father, 53-year-old Matthew Crooks, told CNN he is trying to figure out what happened and will wait until he speaks with law enforcement before speaking about his son.
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania as her perpetrator assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trumpduring a campaign speech.
The suspect was shot and killed by the Secret Service seconds after he moved to fire at the podium from which Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This was the scene as shots rang out at Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday. The suspected gunman and one spectator were killed, and Trump was rushed off stage but is safe, officials said. The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt. https://t.co/4mPsC4TWTL pic.twitter.com/f3URGFyT9l
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 14, 2024
The FBI said it was working to determine a motive for the attack, which killed one Trump rally attendee and seriously injured two others.
State voter records show Crooks was a registered Republican voter. The upcoming November 5 presidential election would be the first election in which Crooks would vote.
Crooks lived about an hour away from where the Butler attack took place.
The US Federal Aviation Administration announced today that it has closed the airspace over Bethel Park for “special safety reasons.”
When Crooks was 17 he made a $15 donation to the political action committee ActBlue that raises money for left-leaning politicians as well as Democratic politicians, according to 2021 Federal Election Commission filings.
The donation was made in favor of the national political organization Progressive Turnout Project, which works to mobilize Democrats and get them out to vote. The two politicians did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Crooks’ father, 53-year-old Matthew Crooks, told CNN he is trying to figure out what happened and will wait until he speaks with law enforcement before speaking about his son.
Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and received a $500 award from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to the same newspaper.
A video from the 2022 graduation ceremony cited by the New York Times shows Crooks receiving his diploma amid cheers.
A video from the same ceremony posted online shows a bespectacled Crooks wearing a black graduation cap and posing with a high school official. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.
USA Today reported that dozens of law enforcement vehicles are outside Crooks’ home address, which is listed on his voter registration.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are at the scene, while a bomb disposal team has been deployed to the residence, according to a report by USA Today.
The perimeter of the suspect’s residence has been cordoned off with the special yellow cordon of police investigations, while a local police patrol car has been parked outside.
Reuters was unable to immediately locate Crooks’ social media accounts or other posts.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the two social media platforms had taken down any accounts associated with the suspect.
Source :Skai
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