BUTLER, PA – The FBI announced Sunday it is investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump as a potential act of terrorism.
In a press conference just one day after the attempt on the former president’s life, Robert Wells, the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at the FBI, announced that the agency is using “every resource that we have at our disposal.”
“We have a 24/7 command post in Pittsburgh as well as here at FBI headquarters and we are dedicating every resource that we have at our disposal,” he said.
“Our number one goal here is to identify the motive of the subject and determine whether he had any other associates or anyone else that was involved at this point,” Wells said.
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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
An Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad car drives towards the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former US President Donald Trump, as the FBI carries out an investigation, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Wells said that the federal agency, which identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, believes that the 20-year-old was a “lone actor.”
“It appears that he was a lone actor, but we still have more investigation to go,” he said. “We are investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking at it as a potential domestic terrorism act.”
“Our counterterrorism division and our criminal division are working jointly to determine the motive,” he said.
A Secret Service member and members of the crowd are seen at Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Division, said that there are no active public safety concerns.
“At this time, the information that we have indicates that the shooter acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns at present,” Rojek said. “We have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation.”
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“We are working hard to determine the sequence of events related to the subject and his movements, and the hours and days and weeks prior to the shooting, and we are following all investigative leads,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by security personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
The shooting began shortly after Trump took the stage at about 6 p.m. Saturday.
Several loud pops could be heard and a bloodied Trump was whisked from the stage, but not before pumping his fist toward the crowd.
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Following the shooting, the Trump campaign confirmed that the president was “fine.”
On Saturday evening, Trump was released from the hospital after being examined. He is expected at the Republican National Committee in Milwaukee this week, where he will receive the Republican Party’s formal nomination for president.
