Thomas Matthew Crooks was a young man, but he doesn’t fit the profile of a one-off mass shooter seeking revenge or notoriety, nor do I believe he was delusional like his target, Donald Trump, or that he thought success would or could make him a superhero.
There is no evidence, online or offline, that Crooks was politically attached, nor is there a history of family abuse or neglect. The one thing Crooks and the other shooter appear to have in common is the high-powered semi-automatic rifle they used in their attempt to assassinate presidential candidate Trump, unintentionally killing one person and wounding three innocent bystanders.
The FBI is still searching for the shooter’s motive after conducting more than 100 interviews, searching the suspect’s home and car, and cracking his cellphone and other devices. That’s at least in part because so far there’s no evidence in the shooter’s history that fits the forensic profile that often describes such shooters as mentally ill or ideologically motivated. It’s also because Crooks doesn’t appear to have acted alone or to have been part of any conspiracy, real or imagined, to kill the former president. A real conspiracy would have been viewed by most as rational and ideologically motivated; an imagined conspiracy would have been viewed as irrational or psychologically motivated.
Importantly, the FBI found that Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, had checked out the Republican Convention site in Milwaukee and the Democratic Convention site in Chicago, suggesting that the gunman may have targeted presidential candidates of both major parties. This also suggests that the gunman’s reasons for killing either of the two candidates may have been different, to achieve the same goal: to stop Donald Trump from winning the 2024 presidential election.
However, in addition to photos of Biden and Trump, his phone also contained photos of House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, and it is unclear whether those photos were related to his motive in Butler, Pennsylvania. In this analysis of Crooks’ motive, we have decided to ignore those other photos as they are not necessarily related to the assassination attempt on candidate Trump. We also know that Crooks had searched online for other mass shooters, including Ethan Crumbly, who suffered from various mental illnesses when he killed four classmates at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021. We also know from testimony on Wednesday that FBI Director Christopher A. Wray admitted to lawmakers that Crooks had Googled “how far away was Lee Harvey Oswald” from the nearby Texas School Book Depository when he assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
These types of searches are not uncommon, especially for highly organized serial killers and rapists, or one-hit wonders like this one. Both before and since the advent of the Internet, those involved in these and related antisocial and high-profile murders have often studied the methods and mistakes of their predecessors, standing on their shoulders, so to speak, and sometimes even paying tribute. This tradition dates back at least to the time of Jack the Ripper, who serially murdered five prostitutes in London in the late 19th century.
We also know from multiple law enforcement sources that investigators found a bulletproof vest, three loaded magazines, and two remote-controlled explosive devices in Crooks’ car. Another bulletproof vest, a remote-controlled explosive device, and a 3D printer were found in Crooks’ home. As investigators speculate, the bulletproof vest and explosives could have been used for purposes far more sinister and irrational than an assassination attempt on Trump. In any event, Crooks was not wearing a bulletproof vest or possessing any explosives at the time of the shooting.
Witnesses also said that Crooks had walked around the compound using a rangefinder to measure various heights and distances before climbing to the roof of the building where the shooting occurred and being shot dead by a sniper — distances that could have been useful to Crooks or another potential shooter. Investigators also found that on the day of the assassination attempt, Crooks had flown a drone over the compound, getting a general idea of the buildings and roofs. This information could help locate an unoccupied Secret Service building with a sloping roof 400 feet away from Trump.
We also know from Ray’s testimony that Crooks “used a rifle with a folding stock,” which may have helped him conceal his weapon before going onto the roof, where eight shell casings were found from the fired weapon.
Based on the information the FBI has received so far, it appears Crooks acted alone, but they have not ruled out the possibility that others may have been involved.
Some rally attendees on the day of the assassination also claimed to ABC News that there was an individual or second shooter on top of a nearby water tower. Of course, that individual could well have been another shooter working to protect the presidential candidate. To my knowledge, neither the FBI nor the Secret Service have publicly commented on the matter. If true, that second individual may have vanished without a trace.
One of the hardest questions to answer since the day of the shooting was whether Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet. Wray suggested in congressional testimony on Wednesday that the FBI was still not convinced that Trump was hit by shrapnel rather than a bullet, but the FBI retracted that statement on Friday and, under pressure from House Speaker Mike Johnson, concluded that a bullet or shrapnel damaged the former president’s ear. To date, Trump has not released his medical records.
Assuming that Crooks was indeed acting alone, as evidenced by the usual conspiracy and manifesto posts on social media, the FBI would ultimately conclude that the young man was not ideologically motivated. Politically It is motivated by the idea that “the political is the personal” and “the personal is the political.”
On the day of the shooting, Crooks took the day off from work as an assistant dietitian, telling his boss he had “something to do” and telling coworkers he’d see them on Sunday, knowing they’d probably never see each other again. This timeline, combined with other biographical information collected and constituting Crooks’ “work personality,” provides data to deduce the motive for the Trump assassination attempt, along with the various theories that animate an unlawful killer short of a crime of passion.
we As far as we know, Crooks’ behavioral characteristics don’t match up with someone who grew up as a victim of bullying. In television interviews with former classmates, Crooks claimed that he was “bullied” regularly, at least before he started college, although as far as I know, there is no other evidence to support this claim.
We also learn from people who knew him in his neighborhood, at work, and at university that Crookes was a quiet, unsociable person, and, like about a quarter of his post-adolescent age group, he tended to keep to himself. However, Crookes was not a “loner” in the traditional sense, as he belonged to a mathematics club as well as a gun club and interacted regularly with the same people. We also learn that Crookes was a highly intelligent person with a strong mind in both mathematics and physics.
Crooks was known to be a polite, respectful, decent person. We also know that he was raised in a pro-gun, liberal household with a Trump sign in the front yard. When he turned 18, Crooks registered as a Republican, just like his father. He also appears to have donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project on Inauguration Day 2021, suggesting that he did not approve of Trump’s attempts to steal the election or the president’s storming of the Capitol two weeks earlier.
Based on these facts, I would surmise that Crooks straddled the political divide. He was not necessarily a Democrat or Republican, nor do I believe he was an Independent. In other words, in the context of this assassination attempt, I wonder if his personal politics transcended party affiliation or identification. Rather, this was a transactional shot at a former and future president who, at the time, Trump was likely to win, as indicated not by the polls but by the more reliable odds and betting shops.
Want a daily roundup of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
In other words, given the existential threat that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and constitutional democracy, and their enhanced ability to re-establish America’s first dictatorship based on the 900+ page Project 2025, a manifesto or playbook written by the Heritage Foundation and many Trump supporters in the first administration, coupled with favorable Supreme Court and federal court decisions for Trump, such as Judge Eileen Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents lawsuit, would take America on a pilgrimage to the days of the Comstock Law of 1873, when both racism and misogyny reigned supreme.
For these and related reasons, I believe Crooks decided to intervene, if possible, to halt this trajectory into the darkest era of the American caste system.Theoretically, Crooks’s motivation for killing the former president can be understood as a classic case of “altruistic suicide,” that is, sacrificing one’s life “to serve or benefit others, for the good of a group, or to protect the traditions and honor of one’s society.”
read more
About this topic
