FBI officials sat down with former President Trump last week to reveal an increasingly complex portrait of the Republican nominee for president’s shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
On Aug. 1, federal agents shared new information with Trump that they had uncovered about his would-be assassin since the July 13 shooting at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, sources told ABC News.
The FBI said in the meeting it believes Crooks was “strikingly intelligent” but likely had an undiagnosed disorder.
The 20-year-old scored higher than 1500 on his SAT pre-college exam. The average score in the U.S. is 1050, according to the College Board.
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An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Handout via AFP)
Citing loved ones and ex-classmates, the FBI revealed Crooks “would routinely sway back and forth while standing at the bus stop.”
The agency said that despite his, at times, odd behavior, Crooks was never diagnosed with any disorder.
Thomas Matthew Crooks graduating from Bethel Park High School in 2022. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The FBI reportedly told Trump that Crooks’ motive was still unknown as of last week.
Crooks worked at an assisted-living center and lived with his parents at the time of the attack.
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In the weeks leading up to Crooks’ premeditated attack, he searched online for both Democratic and Republican politicians, along with the upcoming Democratic National Convention and “depressive disorder.”
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention July 31, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Sources said that in the nearly 90-minute interview between Trump and a top official from the FBI field office in Pittsburgh, the former president asked the majority of the questions.
The FBI described the sit-down meeting with Trump as a “standard victim interview.”
Beyond questions about Crooks and how he managed to travel undetected to the top of a nearby building with an AR-15-style rifle, Trump reportedly wanted to know whether authorities had uncovered any foreign connection to Crooks’s attack.
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Sources told the outlet they were able to access three foreign email accounts used by Crooks because his passwords were stored on his computer, but they found no indications that anyone else was involved in the attack.
The information gleaned from the foreign email accounts shared information about Crooks’ weapon and ammunition purchases but failed to shed light on what drove Crooks’ to attempt to assassinate the former president.
A map detailing the locations of interest related to the investigation of Thomas Crooks’ attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (Provided by Sen. Chuck Grassley )
The newly released information continues to paint a complex picture of Crooks as lead investigators still cannot definitively determine what motivated the 20-year-old to open fire on Trump during the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.
Former peers who have spoken out since he was shot dead by Secret Service agents have characterized the Pennsylvania resident as a quiet loner.
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Jason Kohler, who attended the same high school as Crooks, described him to Fox News as an “outcast” who was always alone and “bullied every day.”
Julianna Grooms, who graduated one year after Crooks, said he dressed in camouflage or hunting attire and interacted awkwardly.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
