The investigation continued Monday into the Donald Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania with still no greater understanding as to why the 20-year-old shooter opened fire on the former president during his campaign rally Saturday.
The FBI searched the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who lived in Bethel Park, PA, and are examining his cellphone for leads as to a possible motive. Federal agents said Sunday they were investigating the incident as a possible act of domestic terror, but believe Crooks acted alone.
Security, meanwhile, remains stepped up outside Trump Tower, where on Sunday New Yorkers spoke out against political violence and vitriolic rhetoric. Mayor Eric Adams and a bipartisan group of leaders, including Reverend Al Sharpton and Republican City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, also spoke at City Hall to condemn political violence and call for unity.
Who was the shooter?
Investigators said Crooks, while armed with an AR-style assault weapon bought by his father, opened fire on Trump and other spectators from the rooftop of a building between 200 and 300 yards away from where the former president addressed rallygoers in Butler County, PA on July 13. One of the shots grazed Trump in the right ear, but he was otherwise fine; one rallygoer, however, died, and two others were listed in critical condition.
Politically, Crooks was a registered Republican but donated $15 to a progressive group on Jan. 20, 2021. Former classmates, in an ABC News report, described Crooks as being “lonely” and “quiet” in elementary and high school.
Secret Service snipers shot Crooks dead. It is unclear how Crooks was able to get onto the rooftop in the first place. On Sunday, President Joe Biden ordered an independent review into the Secret Service detail for the ill-fated Trump rally.
‘Cool it down’
During a prime-time address to the nation, Biden again reiterated his condemnation of political violence in America, both past and present, and urged Americans in this election year and beyond to “cool it down.”
“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” Biden said. “But politics must never be a literal battlefield — God forbid a killing field. I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate.”
With so many questions about the assassination attempt still unanswered, Biden also wants Americans to avoid jumping to conclusions or embracing conspiracy theories about the incident.
“I urge everyone — everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about [the shooter’s] motives or his affiliations,” Biden said. “Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job. I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift.”
‘A chance to bring the country together’
As for Trump, campaign advisers said on Sunday he was in “great spirits” after his brush with death. He arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday for the Republican National Convention, where he will accept the party’s nomination for president with an address Thursday night.
The tone of the convention in the wake of the assassination attempt was not immediately clear as of Monday morning. While some Republican leaders, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, have also called for a lowering of the rhetoric, AP reported, other Republicans have blamed the media and the left for branding Trump and his supporters as fascists and threats to democracy.
Trump, too, has a history of using inflammatory, sometimes violent rhetoric against his political opponents — but in an interview with the Washington Examiner, he said that he is rewriting his convention speech to focus on uniting the country.
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together,” Trump told the Examiner. “The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago.”
This story will be updated as events develop.
