November 22, 2024
Motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks' Trump rally shooting remains a mystery, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray, which didn't inspire confidence among lawmakers.
Motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks’ Trump rally shooting remains a mystery, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray, which didn’t inspire confidence among lawmakers.



BUTLER, Pa. — The FBI conducted 200 interviews and combed through 14,000 images but said they still don’t have a clear motive behind the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally Saturday in western Pennsylvania.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who’s on the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital that he thinks it’s “bulls—” that federal investigators don’t have a motive yet. 

“I’m not buying that they have nothing,” Burchett said Wednesday. “I don’t have faith in this administration. If they (the Secret Service) don’t want conspiracy theories, they have to move quickly and answer tough questions.”


Burchett said they subpoenaed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who agreed to comply, according to the Oversight Committee’s post on X. A hearing is scheduled for July 22. 

FOLLOW LIVE UP-TO-MINUTE DETAILS OF ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION

“Americans demand and deserve answers from Director Cheatle about the attempted assassination of President Trump and the Secret Service’s egregious failures,” the Oversight Committee said in its X post shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday. 

Attached to the post was the full subpoena. 

Wray told Congress that Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, used his cellphone to search for images of President Biden and Trump as well as symptoms of depressive disorder before the shooting, according to CBS News

TRUMP SHOOTER’S CLASSMATES GIVES FOX NEWS DIGITAL SURPRISING INSIGHT 

Crooks also visited the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, at least one time before Saturday’s shooting, CBS reported. 

The FBI declined to comment on potential motive theories or if they’ve crossed any motives off their list or respond to lawmakers’ comments. 

See also  Donald Trump Jr. praises father’s survival after assassination attempt: ‘Trump tough’

A 50-year-old father of two, former fire chief Corey Comperatore, was killed while shielding his wife and daughters during Saturday’s shooting.

David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously wounded and are now recovering in an area hospital. 

LAST WORDS OF ‘HERO’ FIREFIGHTER WHO DIED AT TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING REVEALED 

Secret Service snipers “neutralized” Crooks, who set up on a roof overlooking the rally less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking.

How Crooks entered the building and fired off multiple shots remains under investigation and has led to finger-pointing between the Secret Service and local police.

A search by Fox News Digital revealed that Crooks would have turned 21 years old in September. He had no reported criminal record or traffic citations.

Crooks was a registered Republican, according to voting records, but he only participated in the Nov. 8, 2022, state election due to his age.

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