The FBI updated reporters on its investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a telephone press conference Wednesday. And it also sought to push back on what some media outlets had already reported.
The FBI said its investigation of the shooting, ascribed to Thomas Crooks, has focused on two questions: What was the shooter’s motive? And did he plan his attacks with anyone else?
So far the agency has not been able to determine a specific motive — although it has learned more about “his mindset” by analyzing email accounts and internet search histories, according to Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office.
“We continue to see through our analysis a mixture of ideologies,” Rojek said “So I would say that we see no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning.”
The FBI also emphasized multiple times that there is no evidence that the attack was planned with anyone else.
Officials added that the investigation is ongoing and they have not ruled anything out. But Rojek confirmed that its lab found that all eight rounds found on the roof came from the shooter’s rifle. And it found that all other rounds had been accounted for from Secret Service weapons — in addition to a round fired by one local law enforcement officer. Rojek said there was “zero reason to believe there was ever a second shooter.”
The FBI doesn’t normally comment on ongoing investigations, but is releasing information because of the substantial public interest in this case, according to Cathy Milhoan, the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs. Milhoan said the FBI is focused on facts and chastised some media outlets for spreading misinformation.
“I continue to find it extremely disappointing that those who either seek to spread lies and conspiracies or who are just outright ignorant of facts and processes continue to be afforded both ink and airtime,” she said.
The claims the FBI rebutted appeared to include criticism from Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins, published in the New York Post and elsewhere, that Crooks’ body had been turned over to his family after examination. Higgins called that “disturbing” earlier this month, but the FBI said that after completing its autopsy and examination, it was normal procedure to release the body.
The FBI said that a toxicology report showed that the shooter did not have any alcohol or drugs in his system when he was killed.
A detailed timeline
Crooks apparently began searching for information about Trump in September of 2023, according to electronic search records uncovered by the FBI.
Those searches ramped up in April of 2024 and they focused on both President Joe Biden and Trump, with some 60 searches taking place in the 30 days leading up to the attack.
But the searches narrowed after Trump announced the July 13 event in Butler on July 3.
“He looked at any number of events or targets and then when this event was announced … he became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked it at as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said.
On July 4 Crooks looked up information about Trump’s Butler rally.
On July 5 Crooks searched, “When is the DNC convention?” and “When is the RNC in 2024?”
On July 6 Crooks registered for the Trump rally and searched for, “How far was Oswald from Kennedy” and “Where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show” and “Butler Farm Show podium” and “Butler Farm show photos.”
On July 8 he searched for “AGR International”, the company which owns the buildings that Crooks climbed on top of to fire his rifle. On July 9 he searched for “Ballistic calculator,” and the next day he searched for “Butler weather.”
In addition to these searches, the FBI said the subject had begun searching for information about explosives as far back as 2019 all the way through this summer. Those searches included the phrases “detonating cord,” “blasting cap,” “how do remote detonators work” and “How to make a bomb with fertilizer.”
On the day of the shooting the FBI confirmed that Crooks flew a drone at the rally from 3:51 p.m. to 4:02 p.m. And the FBI confirmed via witnesses and video footage that Crook was near the AGR complex at around 4:26 p.m. At 6:05 p.m. he climbed onto the roof of one of the buildings by first climbing onto an air conditioning unit outside, and then climbed from one building to another until 6:08 p.m. He fired on Trump at 6:11 p.m.
“Our overall finding is the subject was only on the roof for approximately six minutes prior to the shooting,” Rojek said.
Wednesday’s telephone press conference was the FBI’s third on the assassination.
