As the FBI investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump unfolds, a picture of the shooter has emerged: a young loner with a penchant for guns, no apparent political motives, and who may have suffered from mental illness.
After investigators briefed the senators on July 17, The New York Times reported that the FBI searched the cellphone, laptop and other belongings of the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, but “a clear motive for the attack has not yet emerged.” A senator at the briefing, who spoke to USA Today on condition of anonymity, said investigators had interviewed at least 220 people but that a motive for the assassination attempt has not yet been determined.
“There are as many reasons why people become violent as there are grains of sand on a beach,” Katherine Schweit, a former FBI special agent who wrote a study to help respond to mass shootings, told USA Today.
“This kind of targeted violence sometimes comes from a desire to become somebody, to take control of their world again,” Schweitt said. “And it might be as simple as, ‘Who is the closest person I can kill to get my name in history?'”
According to the briefing report, Crooks’ web browsing history showed he had searched for information about President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Convention, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and members of the British royal family.
This contradicts the immediate reaction of some prominent Republicans to the Trump shooting, who argued that the shooter was motivated by Democrats’ condemnation of Trump.
Just hours after the bullet came within an inch of Trump’s head, Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio said the assassination attempt was directly prompted by the Biden campaign’s assertion that Trump was “an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.” Trump subsequently chose Vance as his running mate.
But so far, Vance’s analysis has not been supported by evidence, and his office did not respond to requests for comment.
Conflicting explanations for violence
Vance was not the only one to blame political opponents in the wake of the deadly assassination attempt.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) wrote on X that Biden should be immediately indicted “for soliciting assassination.” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote on X that Crooks is “a madman inspired by far-left rhetoric.”
Some Trump supporters have accused a mysterious “they,” including former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, of carrying out the attack at the Republican National Convention on July 18, but investigators say the evidence so far shows Crooks acted alone.
Politics is not the only potential motive for violence, including against presidential candidates.
Authorities told lawmakers last week that Crooks had searched for information about severe depression and was investigating high school shooter Ethan Crumbly, according to CNN and The Washington Post.
Colin Clark, a terrorism and security researcher at consultancy The Soufan Group, told USA Today that the evidence so far suggests Crooks suffered from a mental illness and may have wanted to end his life in a high-profile way.
“I think he wanted to die in a spectacular way, and it just so happened that Trump turned up 40 minutes away from his house, so that was as opportune as any,” Clark said.
Past assassins of presidents haven’t always been politically motivated: John Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, said he wanted to impress Jodie Foster, who was starring in “Taxi Driver,” the 1976 film about a planned assassination of a presidential candidate.
Crooks’ political stance remains unclear
The evidence for Mr. Crooks’ political views is a puzzling mess: In January 2021, the day after Mr. Biden’s inauguration, Mr. Crooks donated $15 to ActBlue, a pro-Democratic political action committee, but after he turned 18 later that year, he registered as a Republican.
A high school classmate told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Crooks, the Sportsman’s Club shooter, was “definitely a conservative.”
Regarding classroom debates, the student said, “The majority of the class was liberal, but Tom always took the conservative position no matter what.”
Another former classmate told CNN that his friend group was conservative and some wore Trump hats, but she and others described Trump as quiet and reserved, and no one there knew his political views.
A friend of Crookes’s in his math book club recalled the same thing, telling The Wall Street Journal that Crookes was animated when the group was discussing logical concepts, but had little to say when it came to politics.
“This is what we looked like just before the January 6th riots.”
John Hogan, a psychology professor at Georgia State University who studies violent extremism, said while it may be natural to assume a political opponent is behind an attack on a beloved candidate, leaders should avoid making such claims before there is evidence because they could incite retaliatory violence.
“This language is creating a very dangerous situation,” Hogan said. “What I’m seeing in right-wing forums, what some on the far right are saying about the need to mobilize, the need to prepare for battle… this is a stark reminder of the situation immediately prior to the January 6th insurrection.”
Experts said the unfounded claim that Democrats were to blame for the assassination attempt could increase the risk of political violence by Trump’s supporters if he loses the November election and again falsely claims the election was stolen.Another bitter point for Trump stems from his troubling criminal case, which includes his conviction in May on 34 separate charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his 2016 electoral chances.
“It’s a cumulative effect of what their supporters are saying: ‘They tried to jail us, then they tried to kill us, and now they’re stealing the election,’ right?” Clark said.
