The details of the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, are slowly emerging after his tragic death during an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Crooks was a 20-year-old gunman from Bethel Park, which is located approximately 45 miles south of the venue where the shooting occurred.
Crooks worked as a dietary aide at a local nursing home, having passed all necessary background checks with no red flags emerging. His employers were shocked to learn of his involvement in the assassination attempt and stated that they are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials during the ongoing investigation.
The motives behind Crooks’ actions remain unclear, but he was described by former classmates as a loner who had been relentlessly bullied throughout high school. He loved playing video games and hunting, occasionally wearing his hunting gear to school. Despite having few friends, Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and even received an award for his performance in math and science that year.
While state voting records show him as a registered Republican, Crooks made a $15 donation to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on the day of President Biden’s inauguration when he was still 17 years old. His body was found on the roof of a nearby manufacturing plant after the shooting, and he was wearing a shirt for a popular gun-focused YouTube channel called Demolition Ranch, which has over 11 million subscribers.
Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, is reportedly struggling to understand what drove his son to attempt an assassination on a former president. He and the rest of the family are remaining tight-lipped until they have spoken with law enforcement officers about the incident.
The FBI has confirmed that Thomas Matthew Crooks acted alone in this tragic event, which left one person dead and another injured. The authorities found an AR-15 rifle at the scene, as well as explosives in his car and bomb-making materials at his family home. As more information comes to light, questions remain about the motives behind this shocking attack on a former president of the United States.
