Federal Documents Reveal Thomas Crooks’ Growing Obsession With Guns Before Trump Assassination Attempt
Newly disclosed federal documents reveal that Thomas Matthew Crooks developed an increasingly intense interest in firearms and long-distance shooting in the years before he attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The records were provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley as part of the continuing congressional investigation into the July 13, 2024 attack. They include an FBI interview with Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, conducted one day after the shooting.
According to his father, Crooks became interested in firearms around the COVID-19 pandemic and initially struggled with shooting. After several years of practice, however, he became considerably more experienced and increasingly interested in long-range shooting and firearms equipment.
His father told investigators that conversations with his son were typically brief and frequently centered on firearms. Crooks also expressed interest in eventually owning guns belonging to his father and grandfather and once asked whether he would need to undergo a background check to purchase his father’s Glock pistol.
The documents describe additional behavior that concerned his father. Matthew Crooks said he frequently changed the combination to his gun safe after noticing his son attempting to watch him enter the code. Shortly before the assassination attempt, he also recalled seeing Crooks pacing in the garage while cleaning a firearm and behaving unusually.
Investigators also learned that Crooks purchased firearm parts and tools online, including equipment intended to increase his rifle’s capabilities. Some packages were delivered to his family’s home under the name “Bob Dole,” an alias referencing the late Republican senator and presidential candidate.
On the morning of the Butler rally, Crooks’ father gave him access to the DPMS AR-15-style rifle later used in the attack, believing his son was going to a shooting range. Earlier FBI testimony said the firearm had originally been legally purchased by Crooks’ father and was subsequently legally transferred to his son.
Crooks later climbed onto a rooftop overlooking the rally and fired eight shots toward Trump. Trump was struck in the ear, firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed, and two other rally attendees were seriously wounded before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks.
Investigators previously found that Crooks had searched online for information about the distance between Lee Harvey Oswald and President John F. Kennedy during Kennedy’s assassination. His search history also included information about explosives, mass shootings and other political figures. The FBI said Crooks made significant efforts to conceal some of his activities and used encrypted accounts to purchase firearm and explosive components.
Despite the extensive investigation and the additional information now becoming public, authorities have not established a definitive motive for the attack. Investigations have found that Crooks acted alone, and no evidence has emerged establishing that a political organization or outside group directed the assassination attempt.