Trump assailant's motive remains mystery as investigation continues
20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly fired several shots from the roof of a building neighbouring the site of a Donald Trump rally, aiming at the former president. Why did he do it? FBI agents admit they do not yet know the motive that drove this young man.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, identified as the assailant, lived in Bethel Park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This town is about an hour's drive from the site of Donald Trump's rally in Butler on Saturday. The 20-year-old is said to have driven there in a car in which explosives were later found.
Crooks climbed onto the roof of an industrial building located more than 100 metres from the stage. It was from there that he fired several shots a few minutes later. One of them injured the former US president in the ear.
What drove this young man? The FBI claims that they do not yet know his motive. Investigators assert that he acted alone and that there is no longer any threat to public safety.
No links found to "any specific ideology"
Investigators stated that so far they have not found any links between the shooter and any specific ideology and that they are still searching his social media and other resources for clues. They also found no evidence of mental illness. The young man had no prior legal troubles.
The shooter graduated from a local high school in 2022. From the information gathered from people who went to school with him, he was a typical average kid – very quiet, relatively intelligent – County Councillor Dan Grzybek said in an interview for WESA, NPR's news station in Pittsburgh.
American media reports that he was one of the 20 students who received a $500 award for achievements in mathematics and other sciences.
"He never said he hated Trump"
Jason Kohler, one of the former students who attended school with Crooks, admitted that the boy "did not fit in with the rest", and was the "target" of teasing. He was allegedly bullied by other students because he couldn't "fit in".
Another schoolmate, who recently worked with him at the same company, claims that "he wasn't the most popular student", but he wasn't bullied either. "He was a bit skinny, geeky, and very intelligent," he said. He added that in high school Crooks "had a good group of friends and from what I saw, he seemed happy".
"He was the nicest guy I knew," he assured.
Sarah D'Angelo, a classmate of Crooks, in a conversation with "The Wall Street Journal" stated that the boy had "a few friends" at school. She remembers that he often played on the computer before lessons.
"He never openly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anyone else," she assured.
After graduating from school, Crooks worked as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home located less than a kilometre from his family's home. Employees who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity claim that they had no complaints about him; he performed his job diligently, was calm, and had no legal conflicts.
These would have been his first presidential elections
The newspaper "The Washington Post" reported, citing the state's voter registration, that the 20-year-old was a Republican voter.
According to the Associated Press, however, campaign finance reports show that on 20 January 2021, the day Joe Biden was inaugurated as US president, Crooks donated $15 to a group mobilising Democrats to vote.
A spokesperson for Allegheny County admitted that the 20-year-old was registered as a Republican voter. In reality, however, he only voted once: in the 2022 midterm elections. Therefore, this year's presidential election would have been the first in which he could cast a vote.
