Current:Home > FinanceTrump agrees to be interviewed as part of an investigation into his assassination attempt, FBI says -ProfitQuest Academy
Trump agrees to be interviewed as part of an investigation into his assassination attempt, FBI says
View
Date:2025-04-11 20:12:45
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination in Pennsylvania earlier this month, a special agent said on Monday in disclosing how the gunman prior to the shooting had researched mass attacks and explosive devices.
The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak with victims during the course of their criminal investigations. The FBI said on Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” said Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office. “It is a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime, under any other circumstances.”
Through roughly 450 interviews, the FBI has fleshed out a portrait of the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, that reveals him to be a “highly intelligent” but reclusive 20-year-old whose primary social circle was his family and who maintained few friends and acquaintances throughout his life, Rojek said.
The FBI has not uncovered a motive as to why he chose to target Trump, but investigators believe the shooting was the result of extensive planning, including the purchase in recent months of chemical precursors that investigators believe were used to create the explosive devices found in his car and his home and the use of a drone about 200 yards (180 meters) from the rally site in the hours before the event.
In addition, Rojek said, Crooks looked online for information about mass shootings, improvised explosive devices, power plants and the attempted assassination in May of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The FBI has said that on July 6, the day Crooks registered to attend the Trump rally, he googled: “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” That’s a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, the shooter who killed President John F. Kennedy from a sniper’s perch in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
Crooks’ parents have been “extremely cooperative” with investigators, Rojek said, and the extensive planning that preceded the shooting was done online. The parents have said they had no knowledge of Crooks’ plans, and investigators have no reason to doubt that, the FBI said.
veryGood! (74445)
Related
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Shapiro says unfinished business includes vouchers, more school funding and higher minimum wage
- Steven Van Zandt remembers 'Sopranos' boss James Gandolfini, talks Bruce Springsteen
- Americans say money can buy happiness. Here's their price tag.
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- Israel reveals signs of Hamas activity at Shifa, but a promised command center remains elusive
- Affordable housing and homelessness are top issues in Salt Lake City’s ranked-choice mayoral race
- Florida's new high-speed rail linking Miami and Orlando could be blueprint for future travel in U.S.
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Takeaways on fine water, a growing trend for the privileged in a world that’s increasingly thirsty
Ranking
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- Kelce Bowl: Chiefs’ Travis, Eagles’ Jason the center of attention in a Super Bowl rematch
- Boat crammed with Rohingya refugees, including women and children, sent back to sea in Indonesia
- NBA power rankings: Sacramento Kings rolling with six straight wins, climbing in West
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Zach Edey, Braden Smith lead Purdue men's basketball to Maui Invitational win over Gonzaga
- Why Taylor Swift Is Missing the Chiefs vs. Eagles Game
- Remains found in Arizona desert in 1992 identified as missing girl; police investigate possible link to serial killer
Recommendation
As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
Alert level downgraded for Papua New Guinea’s tallest volcano
Boat crammed with Rohingya refugees, including women and children, sent back to sea in Indonesia
Shipwreck called the worst maritime disaster in Seattle history located over a century later, explorers say
Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
At least 17 people hospitalized with salmonella in outbreak linked to cantaloupe recall
Gisele Bündchen Reflects on Importance of Kindness Amid Silent Struggles
Rosalynn Carter’s advocacy for mental health was rooted in compassion and perseverance