FBI to interview Donald Trump following attempted assassination | US News
Donald Trump will be interviewed as part of the FBI investigation into his own assassination attempt, as confirmed by the FBI.
This revelation comes after reports that law enforcement noticed the gunman, Thomas Crooks, over an hour before he carried out the shooting and even took a photo of him to share with other officers.
The former president was shot in the ear by Crooks during a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump in the aftermath of the shooting. Pic: AP
“We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” stated Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, on Monday.
The interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI’s standard procedure to speak with victims of federal crimes during their investigations.
Through approximately 450 interviews, the FBI has developed a profile of the gunman.
Crooks, aged 20, was described as a “highly intelligent” yet reclusive individual with few social connections.
The FBI named Thomas Matthew Crooks around seven hours after the alleged assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Gunman was identified and spotted by SWAT team
Mr Rojek added: “The shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person.”
He said a local officer took a photo of Crooks and sent it to other law enforcement officials at the scene of the rally.
Later, SWAT team operators saw Crooks using a rangefinder and browsing news sites, as mentioned by Mr Rojek.
At approximately 5:56pm local time, Crooks was observed carrying a backpack, less than 20 minutes before the shooting occurred.
By 6:08pm, he was captured on a police dashboard camera walking on the roof from where he eventually carried out the shooting, according to Mr Rojek.
After firing at the rally, snipers ultimately neutralized Crooks, injuring Mr Trump and killing Corey Comperatore, 50, an onlooker.
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Assassination attempt was extensively planned
Crooks also searched online for details on mass shootings, power plants, and improvised explosive devices, as stated by the FBI.
The motive behind the attack remains unclear, but investigators suspect the shooting was meticulously planned.
This planning included the recent purchase of chemical precursors that investigators believe were used in creating explosive devices found in Crooks’s car.
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On the day he registered to attend the Trump rally, Crooks searched online: “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin who shot President John F. Kennedy from a sniper position in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Crooks’s parents have been “extremely cooperative,” according to Mr Rojek, who added that they were unaware of their son’s intentions.
