Bethel Park, Pennsylvania: The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump has created a sensation all over the world. This attack took place when Trumpwas under the protection of the world’s most powerful security agency, the Secret Service. Now the FBI is investigating this matter. However, so far no US intelligence agency has an answer to the question why the attacker Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump. Apart from this, it is also not known how the attacker came so close to killing Trump.
The attacker used to do an entry level job
The attacker Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sharp shooter at the scene. The initial details that have emerged about Thomas Matthew Crooks state that he had an entry-level job near his hometown in Pennsylvania. The attacker graduated from high school in 2022 with a reputation as a promising but quiet classmate. His high school counselor described him as “respectful” and said she never noticed Crooks being political.
He was quiet on social media too
The FBI said Sunday that Crooks’ social media profiles did not contain threatening language, nor did they find any mental health issues. They said he acted alone and they have not identified a motive. What is unique about Crooks compared to other recent shooters who have opened fire at schools, churches, malls and parades is that he came within inches of killing the US presidential candidate, who was protected by the Secret Service.
The attacker had reached 140 meters away from Trump
On Saturday afternoon, Crooks reached a rooftop 150 yards (140 meters) from the stage where Trump was giving a speech in Butler, Pennsylvania. Authorities said he then began firing with an AR-15 type semi-automatic rifle purchased by his father. The shooting killed a 50-year-old man, seriously injured two other bystanders and injured Trump’s ear. The assassination attempt has further inflamed already bitter US political divisions. The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as “attempted assassination and possible domestic terrorism.”
Trump’s shooter was a Republican voter
Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park about an hour from the shooting scene, was a registered Republican who would have been eligible to cast his first presidential vote in the November 5 election, in which Trump is challenging President Joe Biden. Public records show his father is a registered Republican and his mother a registered Democrat, and that Crooks, 17, had donated $15 to a Democratic Party cause. Crooks was a member of a local shooting club called the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club. The club confirmed to the media on Sunday, while condemning the shooting and calling it a “senseless act of violence.”
