The FBI disclosed on Monday that the individual who shot former President Donald Trump in the ear and killed one of his supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 utilized foreign-based encrypted email accounts to procure firearm components, chemicals, and other explosive materials.
During a conference call involving journalists on Monday morning, FBI officials stated, “We believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities.”
Kevin Rojek, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Pittsburgh field office, mentioned that investigators are still probing into Thomas Matthew Crooks’ motive following over 450 interviews and the review of more than 2,100 tips, which included images, videos, documents, and audio recordings.
Rojek detailed that starting from the spring of 2023, the shooter, under an alias, made over 25 purchases related to firearms from an online seller. He also utilized aliases for acquiring “chemical precursor-related purchases” online to construct the explosives discovered in his car and residence post the shooting.
According to authorities, in an examination of Crooks’ gaming websites, messaging apps, social media, and online search history, the FBI found that the shooter had searched for power plants, mass shooting incidents, information on IEDs, and the tried assassination of the Slovakian prime minister earlier this year.
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The FBI stated that Crooks meticulously planned before the campaign rally. He scouted the area near the rally venue a week prior to the shooting and visited a shooting range the day before the assault to train with the same weapon used in the attack.
Authorities mentioned that the AR-15-style firearm was legally passed down to him by his father last year. The shooter’s father legally purchased the weapon in 2013, according to the FBI. The shooter’s parents asserted they were unaware of their son’s intentions.
Officials depicted the shooter as someone with minimal social media presence, labeling him as a gamer who seldom engaged with other players online on the gaming platforms he frequented. They described him as a “loner” whose primary social circle consisted of his immediate family.
The FBI confirmed that it has requested a standard interview with Trump, to which the former president has consented. The FBI clarified that the impending interview is “consistent with any other victim interview that we do.”
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