Who is Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected Trump rally shooter

July 14, BETHEL PARK, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – The FBI has named Bethel Park, Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, as a suspect in the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump during a campaign event.
Shortly after the suspect allegedly fired shots toward a stage where Trump was giving a speech on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service shot and killed him.
The FBI declared that it was investigating the attack’s motivation. Two other rally attendees suffered serious injuries, and one rally participant passed away. Trump sustained an ear shot.

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State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican. The upcoming Nov. 5 election in which Trump is challenging President Joe Biden would have been the first time Crooks had been old enough to vote in a presidential race.

When Crooks was 17, he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote. The groups did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN that he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before speaking about his son.

In Bethel Park, about an hour away from where the shooting occurred, the streets surrounding the Crooks’s home were blocked off by law enforcement authorities.

Mary and Stanley Priselac were standing on the porch of their nearby brick ranch-style home, trying to process the events of the last day and the spotlight now on their typically quiet residential neighborhood.

“Nothing happens on the street, everybody kind of minds their own business,” said Stanley Priselac, 72. “Everybody is kind of shocked, surprised, some dismay.”