Canadian Rail Shutdowns: Historical Parallels and Persistent Issues
The FBI has released new photos of the gun used to shoot Donald Trump during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The release also includes images of the backpack and explosives found in the shooter’s car at the event.
The photos, made public on Wednesday, came as FBI officials provided new insights into Thomas Matthew Crooks’ internet activity leading up to the shooting. These searches are being analyzed to understand his mindset on the day of the attack.
The images reveal the firearm’s collapsible stock, which investigators believe was used to conceal the rifle at the rally site.
During the briefing, Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, outlined how the would-be assassin had researched campaign events for both Donald Trump and President Joe Biden before becoming “hyper-focused” on the Pennsylvania rally, which was only 40 minutes from his home.
Rojek explained that the Trump rally was viewed by Crooks as a “target of opportunity.” However, officials have not yet identified a specific motive, noting that Crooks expressed “no definitive ideology.”
“Our analysis of his online searches revealed a sustained and detailed effort to plan an attack on various events,” Rojek stated. “When the Trump rally was announced in early July, Crooks became hyper-focused on that particular event and identified it as his target.”
These searches included detailed inquiries about the rally location and the building from which Crooks fired at Trump. On July 6, nearly a week before the event, Crooks searched for terms such as “where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show” and “Butler Farm Show podium.” He also looked up “Butler Farm Show photos.”
In the following days, Crooks searched for information on “AGR International,” the company that owned the buildings he climbed before opening fire. On July 9, he researched “ballistic calculator,” and later searched for “weather” and “Butler.”
The FBI also revealed that Crooks had been researching explosive devices for several years, with searches dating back to September 2019. These included terms like “how to make a bomb from fertilizer,” “detonating cord,” “blasting cap,” and “how do remote detonators work.”
FBI officials strongly refuted conspiracy theories surrounding the attack, explicitly stating that there was no second shooter targeting the former president that day.
