Thomas Matthew Crooks stood at the center of a shocking U.S. political-violence event when he attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a July 2024 rally in Pennsylvania. As of today’s date (November 17, 2025) investigators have released increasingly detailed findings about Crooks’ background, weaponry, preparations and the implications for security at political events.
Table of Contents
Background and Profile
Thomas Matthew Crooks was born September 20, 2003, and grew up in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 with high academic marks, and then earned an associate’s degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County shortly before the incident. At the time of the rally, he was employed as a dietary aide in a nursing home in his hometown area.
Despite his academic and employment credentials, Crooks was described by classmates and neighbours as quiet, socially isolated, and in recent months showing signs of emotional decline.
The July 13, 2024 Attack
On July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally held by Donald Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed to a rooftop across from the stage and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle. He fired multiple shots; one bullet grazed Trump’s upper right ear, while several rally attendees were struck and one bystander was fatally wounded. Crooks was killed on the rooftop by a member of the United States Secret Service Counter-Sniper Team at the scene. The rifle recovered was identified as a DPMS Panther Arms DR-15 16″, calibre 5.56×45mm/.223.
Investigation and Motive: What We Know
Digital footprint & preparations
In the months leading up to the attack, Crooks conducted extensive online research about firearms, assassination attempts, high-profile public figures including Trump and others. He owned membership at a local shooting club, visited the range dozens of times (even on holidays), and purchased materials including ammunition and what investigators describe as explosive-related items.
Documents indicate that Crooks’ movements were increasingly focused and targeted: he registered for the rally, acquired a ladder, and secured vantage-position access ahead of the attack.
Motive and profiling
As of November 17, 2025, a clear ideological motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks’ action has not been publicly confirmed. Investigators publicly describe him as a lone actor and note that his political registration listed him as Republican, but his small prior donation history suggested non-standard leanings. He had no prior criminal record, and law-enforcement has not definitively classified the act as politically motivated rather than a broader violent plot.
Latest Developments & Public Reactions
- In recent weeks, conservative media figure Tucker Carlson claimed that the FBI misrepresented Crooks’ online footprint; the FBI’s official Rapid Response account responded saying it “has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever.”
- Congressional hearings have scrutinized how Crooks gained rooftop access at a high-security event, and how pre-rally intelligence and physical screening protocols failed to detect his presence in time.
- The incident continues to fuel debate in the U.S. over gun-range access, early-warning monitoring for mass-violence preparation, event-security standards, and whether current policies adequately address young individuals with intensive firearms training and isolation.
Timeline At-a-Glance
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sept 20 2003 | Thomas Matthew Crooks born in Bethel Park, PA. |
| 2022 | Graduated high school; enrolled in community college. |
| Jan 2024 | Began significant firearms and explosives-related purchases and online research. |
| July 6 2024 | Registered for Trump rally; last range visit recorded before attack. |
| July 13 2024 | Opened fire at rally near Butler; one bystander killed; Crooks killed by Secret Service sniper. |
| July 14 2024 | Investigation identifies Crooks as shooter; preliminary reports released. |
| Nov 2025 | Public controversy over Crooks’ online footprint and updates on hearing testimony. |
Why It Matters
The case of Thomas Matthew Crooks underscores multiple urgent challenges for U.S. policy and society:
- The fact that a young individual with no prior criminal history could plan and execute a targeted assault on a high-profile political figure.
- The vulnerability of major political events to violent actors using accessible weaponry and elevated vantage points.
- The role of digital research, online radicalization or preparation, and firearms training in facilitating such acts—and how law-enforcement may detect and disrupt such activity.
- The broader implications for gun-policy debates, mental-health monitoring, event-security planning, and whether current systems can reliably screen for individuals who pose imminent threat despite outwardly normal backgrounds.
What’s Still Unknown
Several key questions remain open:
- The precise motive behind the actions of Thomas Matthew Crooks—whether ideological, personal grievance, or broader sensational desire.
- Whether Crooks had any unknown support network or whether he truly acted entirely alone. Investigators describe him as acting alone, but full details are still sealed.
- How the security and intelligence lessons from this case will translate into concrete policy changes or reform for future event planning and threat detection.
Final Thoughts
With the case of Thomas Matthew Crooks now in its second year of post-attack investigation, the full implications on U.S. event security, firearm access and lone-actor threat detection continue to evolve. I invite you to share your thoughts or questions below, and stay alert for further updates as official findings emerge.
