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A police officer stands near the stage at a campaign rally for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
CNN
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Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI, which is investigating an assassination attempt that occurred this month, an FBI official said on Monday.
Victim interviews are a routine part of criminal investigations, but they are voluntary.
“Any interviews with the former president will be consistent with the interviews we conduct with other victims,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters on a conference call Monday, saying the FBI “want to hear his version of events that he witnessed, just as we would any witness to a crime.”
“This is the same standard victim interview that we would do with a crime victim in any other situation,” Rojek said.
FBI agents remain focused on determining the motive of the attempted assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Rojek said Crooks was “very intelligent” and had a growing interest in the shooting. Authorities have already said Crooks had looked up “how far Oswald was from Kennedy” before the shooting, but Rojek said Monday he had also conducted searches related to “power plants, mass shootings, information about improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovak prime minister earlier this year.”
“His social circle appears to have been limited primarily to close family and he appears to have had few friends or acquaintances throughout his life,” Rojek said.
“While the FBI investigation may not yet have determined a motive, we believe the suspect went to great lengths to conceal his actions,” Rojek said. “Furthermore, we believe his actions indicate careful planning in advance of the campaign rally.”
Using false names to buy guns or chemicals or send encrypted emails
The criminals used false names to purchase firearms-related items online.
“Beginning in the spring of 2023, the suspect used false names to make over 25 firearm-related purchases from online firearms dealers,” Rojek said.
According to Rojek, in the first half of 2024, Crooks made “six online purchases related to chemical precursor materials used to manufacture the explosive devices that were recovered in the suspect’s vehicle and home.”
“Fake names were used to make these purchases,” Rojek added.
Investigators said Monday that the criminals were using encrypted email accounts based overseas to buy firearms parts, chemicals and other explosive components.
02:39 – Source: CNN
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The FBI initially had difficulty accessing the account because it was encrypted, said Bobby Wells, deputy director of the counterterrorism division at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. But once they gained access to it, agents determined that the shooter had primarily used the email for online shopping.
“We also identified several additional accounts and identifying information, including aliases he used on encrypted platforms,” Wells said.
Crooks had explosive components in his home and had previously purchased chemical precursors, but investigators said there was no apparent reason for Crooks’ parents to report their son before the shooting.
“In terms of the chemicals and explosives-related materials in the house, we heard from the parents and others that the perpetrator had a long-standing interest in science and other things and had been conducting experiments over a long period of time,” Rojek said.
As a result, he added, the parents “were not concerned” that the material may have been “focused on offending or harming others of this nature.”
“He was not stockpiling ammunition” and did not engage in any behavior that would clearly alarm his parents, Rojek said, adding that they had been “very cooperative” with the FBI.
Rojek described Crooks as isolated from others, noting that he had no friends, either online or in person.
“Even in his gaming chat rooms, I see very little interaction with other people,” Rojek said, adding that the lack of activity there is unusual. “So far, I haven’t found anyone that I’m really close with in any kind of social circle.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
