The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump had been investigating a member of the Royal Family while planning targets for his assassination, the FBI has revealed.
Thomas Crooks was killed by US Secret Service snipers seconds after opening fire on the former president during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Armed with a rifle, the 20-year-old hit Trump, 78, in the ear and killed another male bystander.
FBI investigators told members of Congress that Crooks had accessed the Internet to “research” a number of high-profile potential assassination targets, including an unnamed member of the Royal Family.
The revelation came after federal agents downloaded the contents of two of Crooks’ cellphones.
Donald Trump (pictured) was nearly killed by a gunman on Saturday during a rally. He was hit in the ear
Gunman Thomas Crooks (pictured) had investigated a member of the royal family while planning his murder, the FBI has revealed
The 20-year-old was shot by US Secret Service snipers moments after opening fire on Trump.
The would-be assassin also sought out Christopher Wray, the FBI director, and Merrick Garland, the US attorney general.
Investigators also revealed that Crooks’ devices contained images of President Joe Biden and Trump, as well as dates for Trump’s rallies and the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Chicago next month.
News of the FBI’s discovery came as it was revealed that Crooks had written an ominous warning on a gaming platform before attempting to assassinate Trump.
DailyMail.com confirmed that US senators were told the 20-year-old hitman posted on Steam: ‘July 13th will be my debut, watch how it plays out.’
On July 13, he opened fire on Republican candidate Trump from a rooftop just 150 yards from the rally stage in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Following the assassination attempt, the US Secret Service was accused of incompetence for failing to protect Trump.
The agency was alerted to a “suspicious person” near the stage an hour before the attack occurred, and Crooks was ejected from the venue after setting off a metal detector.
Senators also learned that Crooks was spotted by Secret Service agents 10 minutes before Trump walked on stage — 20 minutes before he was shot.
Sources involved in the call told DailyMail.com that it took more than an hour from the time the shooter was seen until he fired the first shot. What is even more worrying is that Secret Service snipers spotted Crooks on the roof 20 minutes before he shot the former president.
Would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks wrote an ominous warning on a gaming platform before shooting the former president
Donald Trump was seen with blood on his face on Saturday after being shot
Trump was shot in the ear about 10 minutes after taking the stage.
At 17:52 hours, the “suspected” shooter was spotted on the roof by snipers.
Trump came on stage at 6:02 p.m.
Then, at around 6:12 p.m., Crooks’ first shots were heard.
“It’s an incredible amount of time they let pass before they shoot,” the source said.
Mike Lee, the Republican senator from Utah, confirmed this in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.
“They had identified the shooter as a ‘suspect’ 19 minutes before the shooting,” he posted.
Crooks was shot seconds after attempting to assassinate the former president, and his body was found on a roof just 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking.
The FBI also discovered he had two cell phones, the second of which was found at home with only 27 contacts.
Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle has since come under fire for the botched protection operation.
She has been under increasing pressure since it emerged that her agents were repeatedly warned about potential assassin Thomas Crooks as he prepared to shoot the president at Saturday’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
And as outrage grows over the attempted assassination of Trump, Cheatle was dramatically shielded by her own officers after angry US senators mobbed her in a hallway, demanding she explain how a gunman could clearly have shot Trump.
Cheatle was at the Milwaukee convention hall to oversee security arrangements Wednesday night, just hours after calling on senators to cover their butts over the shooting in Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee led the charge, complaining that they had not had a chance to ask Cheatle questions during the call.
Barrasso, frustrated, then issued an ultimatum to the head of security.
“You brought him to the brink of death,” Barrasso shouted at Cheatle. “So resignation or full explanation.”
Instead of placing his snipers on the roof of the American Glass Research Building in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Crooks fired from, he made the decision to secure the building from the inside.
“That particular building has a sloped roof at its highest point,” the Secret Service chief said.
‘And then, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there and that is that we wouldn’t want to put someone on a sloped roof.
“And then, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from the inside,” he added.
Thanks to Cheatle’s decisiveness, Crooks managed to evade police and the Secret Service three times, even though he had been considered a “suspicious” and could have been on the roof for up to 30 minutes before pulling the trigger.
Witnesses also pleaded with law enforcement to act when they saw him climbing onto the roof with his AR-style rifle, but the lack of security meant he was able to carry out his attempt to take the life of the 45th president.
Four sources close to President Biden’s family, including people who interacted with Cheatle during the Obama-Biden administration, told the New York Post that she was well-liked by the future first lady and her top aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal.