Trump Rally Shooter Searched for Photos of Trump, Biden on Cellphone
The gunman also reportedly looked up dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention
While the motive behind the gunman’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump remains unclear, key details have begun to emerge in the investigation into the attack.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that F.B.I. officials told members of Congress that the shooter had looked up images of both Trump and President Joe Biden, in addition to several other public figures, on his cellphone. Per the Times, the gunman, who the the F.B.I. identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks, also searched dates of Trump appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
According to the F.B.I, which has been combing through Crooks’ house in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, there is a notable absence of “any political or ideological information” among his possessions and so far no indication that he was working with co-conspirators at the time.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that local police alerted the Secret Service prior to Trump taking the stage at Saturday’s rally that they did not have the resources needed to station a patrol car outside the building that the shooter later positioned himself and shot at the former president.
The tragedy at the rally injured Trump and two others, and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was fatally shot during the attempted assassination of the former president.
