Biography
Thomas Matthew Crooks Biography – According to the Collin Rugg Report, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, has been identified as the suspect in an incident at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Bethel Park is located approximately 40 miles south of the rally location. Crooks was apparently neutralized after attempting to attack the former president.
Thomas Matthew Crooks (September 20, 2003 – July 13, 2024) was an American who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, the former President of the United States and the presumptive Republican Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
On July 13, 2024, at a political rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks fired a rifle at Trump from a nearby rooftop while Trump was delivering a speech. This attack injured Trump and two attendees, and resulted in the death of another person. Crooks was immediately killed by the Secret Service Counter Assault Team. There has been a proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories about him. The FBI is currently investigating the incident, and his motivation remains unknown.
Memories of Crooks from his peers regarding his high school persona, political views, and biographical details vary significantly and are inconsistent.
Early Life and Education
Thomas Matthew Crooks was born on September 20, 2003, and grew up in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, described as a middle-class, possibly upper-middle-class neighborhood. Both his parents were licensed social workers. Accounts of Crooks from his peers during high school and other biographical details differ significantly and are often inconsistent.
He attended Bethel Park High School, where he was considered an above-average student and graduated in 2022. Classmates and school officials described him as quiet, with some classmates noting he was frequently bullied for his quiet demeanor and for wearing camouflage hunting outfits and masks to school. Crooks enjoyed playing chess and video games and was learning to code. He received a $500 “star award” in 2022 from the National Math and Science Initiative.
Some current and former Bethel Park High School students mentioned that Crooks tried out for the school’s rifle team but failed due to poor aim. However, the Bethel Park School District has no record of him trying out for the team. He briefly appeared in a 2023 advertisement for the investment firm BlackRock, which was filmed at his high school, but BlackRock withdrew the ad after the attempted assassination.
Crooks earned an associate degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County two months before the shooting. At the time of the incident, he was employed as a dietary aide at a local nursing home. He had no known criminal record, and the FBI reported no indications of mental health issues. The U.S. Department of Defense found no history of military service. A former classmate mentioned that Crooks had previously been interested in military service to access a college education. He had a membership at a local shooting club for at least a year.
Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump
On July 14, 2024, the FBI identified Crooks as the shooter in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump the previous day. Crooks had climbed atop a building used by police as a staging area and shot Trump in the upper right ear during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
He also shot three adult male audience members, killing 50-year-old Corey Comparator and critically injuring two others. Crooks used an AR-15–style rifle legally purchased by his father. He was killed by a member of the United States Secret Service Counter Assault Team after he began firing. Bomb-making materials were found in his vehicle and at his home. The FBI is investigating, and his motivation remains unknown. Misinformation and conspiracy theories about Crooks have proliferated.
Political Activities
Authorities have not determined Crooks’s political views or whether the assassination attempt was related to them. He voted only in the 2022 midterm elections.
Recollections of Crooks’s political views from teachers, classmates, and peers vary significantly and are inconsistent. Public records have not clarified his views either; his political activities appear to show diverging and internally contradictory beliefs, with no known social media posts or writings indicating his ideology.
On January 20, 2021, at age 17, he donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a liberal voter turnout group, via the Democratic Party donation platform Act Blue. This donation was made on the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office. According to the Progressive Turnout Project, he made the donation in response to an email about “tuning into” the inauguration and was unsubscribed from the group’s mailing list in 2022. He had been registered to vote since September 2021, the month he turned 18, and his party registration was Republican.
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