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It’s been more than two days since a shooter climbed onto the roof of an industrial machinery building and fired a semi-automatic rifle at Donald Trump on a rally stage about 400 feet away, grazing the former president’s ear and shocking the nation. But the investigation into how such a security breach could have occurred and the shooter’s motive is still in its early stages.
Immediately after Trump was protected by Secret Service agents and evacuated from the scene, FBI special agents arrived at the scene to collect evidence and respond to the incident, which is also being investigated as a possible act of domestic terrorism. On Saturday, FBI Director Chris Wray He said that “all the force” The FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office and National Headquarters have been engaged in the investigation, which will include tactical support, national security resources and the FBI’s operational technology division.
On Tuesday, members of Congress stepped up their public pressure for information about the events that occurred at the rally, with several representatives receiving security briefings. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, in a statement called on the FBI to “publicly share as much information as possible without compromising its investigation.”
Here’s what we know — and what we don’t know — about the FBI’s investigation into Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin of the former president of 20 years who killed one rally-goer and wounded two others.
How the shooter got the gun
So far, the FBI has made some progress on the shooter’s background and history. He was not carrying any identification at the time of the shooting, FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek previously said, but he was identified Sunday as the gunman after investigators tested his DNA for biometric confirmation.
The weapon Crooks used in the shooting was a legally purchased AR-style rifle, the The FBI said on Monday In an update to his investigation, on the day of the shooting, Crooks purchased 50 rounds of ammunition at a gun store in Bethel Park, about 53 miles south.
According to Rojek, Crooks’ rifle was loaded with a 5.56 mm cartridge. Authorities said they believe the gunman’s weapon was purchased legally by his father, but Rojek has said investigators do not yet know whether Crooks took the gun without his father’s permission.
Phone records and suspicious devices
On Monday, The FBI announced The FBI said it had obtained Crooks’ phone and sent it to its labs in Quantico, Virginia. There, technicians had access to Crooks’ phone and are continuing to analyze his electronic devices, the FBI said. The results of the analysis are still unclear.
After the shooting, authorities discovered one improvised explosive device in his home and two in his car. All of the suspected devices were found safe by bomb disposal experts and are continuing to be evaluated at FBI laboratories.
An analysis of Crooks’ shipping history has also raised some questions. In recent months, some packages delivered to Crooks were marked as possible containers of hazardous material, according to an FBI bulletin obtained by POLITICO.
Suspicious packages were identified around the shooting scene shortly after the shooting, Rojek said Saturday, and law enforcement’s response to “several suspicious events” will also be part of the investigation, he said.
The surprising unknowns about Crooks
But much of what may have motivated Crooks remains unclear.
Crooks was not known to the FBI before the incident, the FBI said, and he acted alone, according to the FBI. FBI investigation So far, however, the FBI is still investigating whether Crooks worked with other conspirators to organize the attack.
And any clues about Crooks’ motivation have proven difficult to pinpoint. Authorities have not identified a political ideology as a motive for the attack, but were investigating “the sequence of events and the shooter’s movements leading up to the shooting, collecting and reviewing evidence, conducting interviews and following up on all leads.”
The FBI is continuing to gather evidence and said Monday it had interviewed nearly 100 law enforcement officials, rally attendees and other witnesses, in addition to “hundreds” of tips received online.
Rojek said at the news conference that the fact that the gunman was able to fire multiple shots was “amazing.” He did not respond to additional questions about the circumstances of the shooting itself or the FBI investigation.
Crooks lived with his parents 50 miles south of the Trump rally site in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, according to the school, and then attended the Community College of Allegheny County, according to a college spokesperson. He planned to enroll at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh this fall. All three schools expressed condolences to Trump and the victims of the shooting.
“We have been in contact with law enforcement and are prepared to assist in their investigation,” an RMU spokesperson wrote in a statement to POLITICO.
Regardless of the Trump rally shooter’s motive, the agencies warned in a bulletin Monday that violent extremists or others “may attempt subsequent or retaliatory acts of violence” in response to the attempted assassination of Trump.
What the Secret Service says
The remarkable sequence of events that allowed a gunman to climb unimpeded onto a rooftop with a clear view of a Secret Service protectee has prompted a wave of scrutiny of the federal agency charged with protecting political leaders and their families. While Secret Service personnel immediately protected Trump and killed the shooter in the moments after the attack, criticism has focused on possible lapses in security before the first shots rang out.
“It was unacceptable,” Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told ABC News in an interview Monday. “And it’s something that should never happen again.”
Cheatle, who is in Milwaukee this week to coordinate security for the Republican National Convention, He said he felt “shock” and then “concern” about the shooting.reiterating the Secret Service’s responsibility to protect Trump and other presidential candidates. He added that the Secret Service planned to step up SWAT support for Trump.
Cheatle has also quickly become a target of Congress, which is seeking to conduct its own investigations into what happened on July 13. Cheatle is set to testify before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Monday.
“The Secret Service is not political,” Cheatle told ABC News. “Security is not political. People’s safety is not political. And that’s what we focus on as an agency.”
Cheatle and other senior administration officials have also pledged to cooperate fully Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a news conference Monday that it has not yet been determined who will lead the independent review.
“A direct line of sight like that to the former president of the United States should not occur,” Mayorkas said in an interview with “Good Morning America” on Monday, adding that the independent review would make recommendations to both the Secret Service and DHS to improve the security of those protected.
