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Agence France-Presse

Former US president Donald Trump has agreed to meet the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a “victim interview” about this month’s assassination attempt, bureau officials said Monday.
Providing an update on the status of the investigation into the July 13 shooting, FBI officials said they have still not determined a motive for the attack by the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
They said Crooks, who was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper after firing eight shots during Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, appeared to be a “loner” and they have not identified any co-conspirators.
FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said the interview with Trump will be “a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime under any other circumstances.

“We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” Rojek said.
FBI officials said they have interviewed dozens of people who knew or interacted with Crooks, including family members, colleagues, former teachers, classmates and others.
“We have learned the subject was highly intelligent, attended college and maintained steady employment,” Rojek said.
“His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances.”
The FBI officials said Crooks’ parents have said they had no advance knowledge of their son’s plot. “We do find that to be credible at this stage,” Rojek said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before a congressional committee last week, said Crooks had searched online for details about the November 1963 shooting of US president John F Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald.
“On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’” Wray said.
Rojek said the investigation has revealed that Crooks “also made searches related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister earlier this year”.


Crooks was perched on the roof of a nearby building and opened fire on Trump with an AR-style assault rifle shortly after 6pm, as the Republican White House candidate was addressing the rally in Butler.
Trump was wounded in the ear, two rally attendees were seriously injured and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter was shot dead.
Rojek said Crooks was identified as a “suspicious person” by police about an hour before the shooting.
“A local officer took a photo of the subject and sent it to other SWAT operators on scene, as well as local command personnel,” he said.
SWAT operators observed Crooks about 30 minutes later, shortly after 5.30pm, using a rangefinder and browsing news websites on his phone, he said.
At around 6.08pm police dashcam video observed Crooks traversing the roof of the building from where he ultimately fired his shots, Rojek said.
“At approximately 6.11pm a local police officer was boosted onto the roof by another officer where he encountered the subject,” he said.
Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer, who “immediately dropped to the ground”, he said. “Approximately 25 to 30 seconds after this encounter, the subject fired eight rounds before being successfully neutralised.”
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after acknowledging the agency had failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt.


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Donald Trump moments after the shooting on July 13. Photo: TNS

Thomas Matthew Crooks. File photo: Bethel Park School District via AP

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The FBI said former President Donald Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet during an assassination attempt on July 13, as the agency moved to clarify what happened after nearly two weeks of confusion and conflicting accounts. Photo: AFP

FBI Director Christopher Wray previously said he was unsure if former President Donald Trump was actually struck in the ear by a bullet during an assassination attempt. Photo: AP

US Republican candidate Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on July 13. Photo: AFP

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Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents as he is helped off the stage at a campaign rally on July 13. Photo: AP

Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secret Service, is sworn-in during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing in Washington on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of Trump. Photo: Handout/AFP

Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Mark E Green speaks to reporters after leading a bipartisan visit to the site of the July 13 Trump shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania on Monday. Photo: AP

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Former US President Donald Trump was seen without a bandage on his ear for the first time since an assassination attempt on July 13. Photo: AFP

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Gunman who shot Trump googled JFK assassination before rally attack, FBI director says

A demonstrator holds a sign with a photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17. Photo: AFP

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a US House committee in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: AP

US congressman Kweisi Mfume gestures to a photograph of the building from which Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on former US president Donald Trump, during a hearing in Washington on Monday. Photo: AFP 

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Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18. Photo: AFP

A combination image shows Republican National Convention attendees wearing bandages over their ears in tribute to Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump (centre) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photos: Reuters

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FBI officials said they have still not determined a motive for the July 13 attack by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks


FBI officials said they have still not determined a motive for the July 13 attack by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks.


Donald Trump

Gun violence in the US

Crime

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