Trump shooter searched online for JFK assassination, FBI director says
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[July 25, 2024]
By David Morgan and Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The 20-year-old gunman who tried to kill Donald
Trump did an online search of the John F. Kennedy assassination around
the time he began to focus attention on the Republican presidential
candidate, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday.
Wray told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that suspect Thomas Crooks
visited the Trump rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, twice before he
clambered onto the roof of a nearby building on July 13 and fired off at
least eight rounds, wounding Trump in the ear, killing one rally-goer
and injuring two others.
"Analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals
that on July 6, he did a Google search for -quote - 'how far away was
Oswald from Kennedy,'" Wray said.
He was referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated former President
Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.
"That's a search that's obviously significant in terms of his state of
mind," Wray said.
"That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler
rally," he added, saying Crooks became "very focused on President Trump
and his rally" at that point after showing interest in public figures
more generally.
About two hours before the shooting, Crooks flew a drone over the area
about 200 yards (180 meters) from the stage where Trump spoke to the
crowd, and live-streamed footage for about 11 minutes.
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Law enforcement officers did not spot Crooks on the roof with his
AR-15-style rifle until "seconds" before he opened fire, said Wray,
noting that the timeline could change as the investigators'
understanding of facts evolves.
"It's all happening in seconds," Wray said. He added that the rifle had
a collapsible stock, "which could explain why it might have been less
easy for people to observe."
Crude explosive devices later recovered from Crooks' car and home were
designed to be detonated remotely. Crooks had a transmitter with him,
Wray added. But he said the FBI believes the suspect would not have been
successful had he tried to detonate the devices.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate
Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee hearing on President Biden?s proposed budget request
for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C., U.S., June 4, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jul/25/images/ads/current/guzzardos_lda_GENERIC_040524.png)
The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Wray said many people
have described Crooks as a loner and the list of contacts in his
phone was short.
The hearing also focused on the increasingly tense political
atmosphere surrounding the presidential campaign.
"I have been saying for some time now that we are living in an
elevated-threat environment. And tragically, the ... assassination
attempt is another example, particularly heinous," Wray testified.
A day before Wray's testimony, Kimberly Cheatle resigned as director
of the U.S. Secret Service after bipartisan demands to quit over the
failure to prevent the attempted assassination.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan welcomed Wray's willingness
to share details about the FBI investigation into the assassination
attempt.
But he also cited skepticism toward the FBI that exists among some
Republicans, who are angry about the arrest of Trump supporters who
stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress certified
President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
"I'm sure you understand that a significant portion of the country
has a healthy skepticism regarding the FBI's ability to conduct a
fair, honest, open and transparent investigation," Jordan said.
Representative Jerrold Nadler, the panel's top Democrat, condemned
the Trump shooting "unequivocally and unabashedly" but pointed to
years of political threats and violence, and violent rhetoric from
Republicans including Trump himself.
"If you think that this one assassin's bullet was a bolt out of the
blue, and not part of a wave of violence that has threatened this
nation for years, then you have missed the point," Nadler said.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott
Malone, Alistair Bell, Nick Zieminski and Rod Nickel)
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