What We Know About the Identified Gunman

Thomas Matthew Crooks was a registered Republican but donated to a liberal group
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 14, 2024 8:31 AM CDT
What We Know About the Identified Gunman
Supporters of Donald Trump wait for him to speak in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024.   (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The Secret Service has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the gunman at Saturday's Donald Trump rally. Some details emerging about Crooks, who was shot dead by Secret Service agents while on a rooftop adjacent to the rally:

  • State voting records have Crooks as a registered Republican, reports Reuters. The upcoming election would have been the first time he would have been able to vote in a presidential contest.
  • However, at age 17, Crooks gave $15 to the liberal group ActBlue, which works to get out the Democratic vote, per the BBC.

  • Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The newspaper's coverage of the graduation notes that he received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative. In a commencement video, "Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to modest applause after his name is called out, a slender young man with glasses in a black graduation gown who briefly posed with a school official and accepted his diploma," per the New York Times.
  • Crooks' father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN he was attempting to understand "what the hell was going on" and would "wait until I talk to law enforcement" before talking about his son, per the BBC.
  • "We do not currently have an identified motive," said the FBI's Kevin Rojek.
  • Law enforcement swarmed the family residence in Bethel Park in suburban Pittsburgh, reports USA Today. It's about 40 miles from Butler, where the Trump rally took place. Crooks did not appear to have a criminal record.
(More Trump rally shooting stories.)

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