July 24 (UPI) — The 20-year-old would-be assassin of Donald Trump had conducted Internet research into Lee Harvey Oswald’s 1963 killing of President John F. Kennedy, the FBI director told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday.
FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared on Capitol Hill to provide lawmakers testimony and reveal new details at a congressional hearing on the recent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump in western Pennsylvania.
“The attempted assassination of the former president was an attack on our democracy and our democratic process and we will not and do not tolerate political violence of any kind, especially a despicable account of this magnitude,” Wray said in his opening remarks.
Trump was shot at by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, at least eight times with an AR15-style semi-automatic rifle, Wray confirmed at Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing. He also told the panel it was a weapon with a collapsible stock, which he added “could explain why it might’ve been less easy for people to observe.”
Wray’s comments come the day after Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her post amid bipartisan calls to do so after a Monday congressional hearing left many lawmakers unsatisfied with her answers about the security failure.
On Tuesday, Cheatle stepped down the same day a bipartisan House Task Force was announced to seek answers regarding the attempted assassination of the now-Republican presidential nominee. Several investigations are underway by Congress, law enforcement and federal agencies into Trump’s attempted July 13 assassination at a campaign event in Butler, Penn., by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks was identified as “suspicious” earlier the day of the shooting when he was on the property and although he never attempted to get into the secured perimeter of the rally. Eventually, he was spotted with a rangefinder, according to a state police official in Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris told the House Homeland Security Committee that Butler County Emergency Services Unit officers had spotted Crooks from a second-story window, leaving their post to search for the shooter.
Meanwhile, the FBI director said Wednesday that Crooks became “very focused” on Trump and the Butler rally sometime around July 6.
It was revealed by Wray the would-be presidential assassin on July 6 conducted a Google search for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” alluding to the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, the same day Crooks registered for Trump’s Butler rally.
“That’s a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind,” Wray remarked.
However, the FBI is still in the “legal process” of getting access to Crooks’ other digital accounts but so far why he shot at Trump is still not clear. The shooter, Wray says, appeared to have performed Internet searches of public figures “in general.”
“We do not yet have a clear picture of his motive,” Wray told lawmakers, adding that Crooks has so far left no trace of a “manifesto” or other documents outlining his reasoning like multiple shooters typically have.
And the bureau has not found any accomplices “at this time,” he said, noting the investigation is ongoing.
“We’re going to leave no stone unturned,” said Wray. “The shooter may be deceased but the FBI’s investigation is very much ongoing.”
Wray says the description of Crooks as a loner “fit[s] with what we’re seeing” on his devices. He lived with his parents in Bethel Park, Penn., and the family has cooperated with the investigation.
“There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of interactions between him, face-to-face or digital, with a lot of people,” the director said, adding that “that doesn’t mean there’s not any.”
According to Wary, the FBI recovered 8 cartridges from roof where a Secret Service sniper killed Crooks. He said 14 guns were found in the Crooks home, which Wray stated had been bought legally through the father.
Wray told Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that the FBI “did not have any information about the shooter” and that Crooks “was not in our holdings before the shooting.”
A drone and remote controller were found in his car, along with explosives also being discovered at the family home. One of the three explosives was found at his home; the other two in the car.
Crooks had a transmitter on him, according to Wray, adding it appears the remote detonation “would not have worked.” He was flying the drone in the area roughy 200 yards from the stage where Trump was standing at about 4 p.m. EDT the day of the July 13 shooting.
The FBI is in the middle of analyzing the drone. Wray said “we think” the drone was producing a live-stream footage for a total of 11 minutes.
“At a moment, it looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked, but that doesn’t mean the explosives weren’t dangerous,” Wray said.
