FBI reveals assassin studied JFK shooter before targeting Trump
FBI Director Chris Wray presented information in Congress on Wednesday that Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, had previously conducted online searches regarding the methods used by Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John Kennedy.
What was the assassin checking?
According to the FBI director, the assassin was interested in, among other things, the distance from which Oswald fired the fatal shot. It is known that he checked this information on July 6. During Trump's campaign rally, just a few hours before the attempted attack, Crooks used a drone to observe the surroundings of the stage, positioning himself about 200 yards away. The drone controller was later found in the assassin's vehicle.
This event was also commented on by the Associated Press, emphasizing that even though it was Donald Trump who appointed Wray as the director of the FBI, Republicans involved in the congressional investigation into the assassination attempt are treating him with some disdain.
Mistrust towards the FBI among Trump supporters has persisted since the bureau investigated possible links between Trump's associates and Russia, as well as its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In the context of these events, a day before Wray disclosed the information regarding the attempted assassination, Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her position as the chief of the Secret Service. President Joe Biden announced that a new director of the Secret Service, responsible for protecting current and former presidents of the United States, will be announced soon.
On July 13, during a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania, Donald Trump became the target of a failed assassination attempt. Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a shot at the former president from a distance of 150 yards but fortunately did not cause any harm.
