Donald Trump’s would-be assassin had researched the Princess of Wales online before attempting to assassinate the former president, it was reported today.
Thomas Matthew Crooks had downloaded photos of the future queen, FBI analysis of his two phones and laptop shows.
US police discovered his apparent fixation with the British royal after searching Crooks’ home and seizing his electronic devices following his attack in Pennsylvania last Saturday.
The 20-year-old rifleman had images of the Princess of Wales on his phone, according to National Public RadioThis was confirmed to DailyMail.com by sources close to the investigation.
The criminals had sought information about the 42-year-old royal, as well as investigating Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray and US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
It remains unclear why Crooks was searching for Kate, the only non-American in the group of people found in his internet search history.
The Princess of Wales appeared in public again at Wimbledon last Sunday, just hours after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks investigated the Princess of Wales, sources say
Donald Trump (pictured) was nearly killed by a gunman on Saturday during a rally. He was hit in the ear when he turned his head at the last second.
The FBI declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com. Kensington Palace also declined to comment. The royal family never comments on security matters.
The Princess of Wales has only made limited public appearances this year as she undergoes cancer treatment. There is no evidence that Crooks had any plans to travel to the UK.
His last public appearance was on July 14, the day after Trump was shot. He received a standing ovation as he made his way to the royal box at Wimbledon.
The Princess of Wales announced she had cancer in March and has since been undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
But Crooks’ interest in her was revealed when the FBI searched her two cell phones and a laptop.
There they discovered that he had looked up the dates of Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he ultimately committed his assassination attempt.
Searches were also conducted for dates of the Democratic National Convention, researchers said in a private briefing with lawmakers.
They also found photos of Biden and Trump in Crooks’ material.
Crooks was a dietary assistant at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where she provided food and care to elderly and sick people who had been hospitalized.
FBI officials said at the briefing that Crooks’ search history indicated he had a strong interest in famous people, sources present on the call confirmed to DailyMail.com.
Following the attempted assassination of Mr Trump, King Charles wrote to the former president in a letter which was delivered by the British Embassy in Washington DC.
Charles survived his own assassination attempt in 1994.
At the time, the Prince of Wales was in Sydney giving a speech at an Australia Day ceremony when a gunman fired two shots at him. It later emerged that the gun was a starter’s pistol loaded with blanks.
Footage of the attack 30 years ago went viral on social media after the attack on Trump, because Charles reacted so calmly to the man storming the stage and the burst of bullets.
The US Secret Service faced serious questions last night about how a gunman managed to get close enough to shoot the former president.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has been subpoenaed to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on July 22. She faces calls for her to resign or be fired.
A man believed to be Crooks was reportedly seen by local police acting suspiciously near the metal detectors at the security cordon last night, according to a senior police official.
Gunman Thomas Crooks (pictured) had investigated a member of the royal family while planning his murder, the FBI has revealed
Donald Trump was seen with blood on his face on Saturday after being shot
The 20-year-old was shot by US Secret Service snipers moments after opening fire on Trump, but questions remain about how he was not detected sooner.
A radio alert was issued telling officers to keep an eye on him and the information was relayed to the Secret Service, sources told CNN.
About five minutes after Donald Trump began speaking, bystanders also tried to alert police to a figure crawling across a nearby rooftop with a rifle in hand. “We saw a guy crawling like an army, like a bear, across the roof of the building next to us, 15 metres away,” Greg Smith told the BBC. “We could clearly see a rifle.
“We were aiming at him, the police were down there running around on the ground, and we were like, ‘Hey, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’… and the police didn’t know what was going on.”
Mr Smith said he tried to alert authorities but thought they could not see the gunman because of the slope of the roof.
“I was like, ‘Why is Trump still talking? Why hasn’t he been removed from the stage? ’… And all of a sudden, five shots rang out,” she said.
Another witness, Ben Macer, said he saw “the guy moving from rooftop to rooftop. I told an officer that (the alleged shooter) was on the roof.”
Protesters were required to pass through metal detectors to ensure they were not carrying weapons. But the shooter remained outside the security cordon, hiding on a rooftop 130 metres from the stage, raising questions about the size of the perimeter and efforts to search the surrounding area.
Former FBI Director Andrew McCabe told CNN: ‘One of the most basic elements of site security is eliminating sight lines into this space where the protectee will be speaking.
“When you look at that map, the buildings that are within that map are clearly marked, clearly within firing range.”
The building from which the gunman fired was outside the rally’s perimeter, so it was protected by local law enforcement, not Secret Service agents, said agency spokesman Anthony Gugliemi. There were four sniper teams covering the rally, two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement agencies, he added.
Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said: “I think it’s very frustrating because we believe that our presidents and former presidents or presidential candidates have the highest degree of protection.”
Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz told X: “I have very reliable sources telling me there have been repeated requests for increased Secret Service protection for President Trump.”
But Guglielmi said: “There is a false claim that a member of the former president’s team requested additional security resources and that these were refused. That is absolutely false.”
“In fact, we added resources, technology and protective capabilities as part of the increased pace of the campaign,” added Kevin Rojek, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office. “There was no additional security request that the FBI ever denied.”
In a campaign memo, Trump officials last night told staff to stay away from their offices in Washington and Florida while they assessed security.