New documents regarding Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate US President Donald Trump at his election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, were made public.
According to the New York Post, the documents were obtained as part of the investigation conducted by US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley into the attack. The files also included interviews conducted by the FBI with Crooks' father, Matthew Crooks.
During the attack, Crooks targeted Trump with a bullet that narrowly missed his head, causing the death of one person attending the rally and serious injury of two people. The 20-year-old attacker was killed by Secret Service snipers a short time later.
In his statement to the FBI, Matthew Crooks said that his son was a very quiet child from the moment he was born.
Father Crooks explained that he never had a strong "father-son bond" with his son, that Thomas rarely expressed his emotions and that it was often difficult to understand what he was thinking.
The father stated that his son sometimes caused trouble at school to attract attention during his childhood, and that Thomas became increasingly withdrawn in the following years.
Explaining that he started to have difficulty talking to his teachers when he reached high school, Matthew Crooks stated that the academic pressure on his son also increased.
According to his father, Crooks was seriously worried about the possibility of not being accepted to college and was therefore studying intensively in college preparatory classes.
It was stated that Crooks, who received 1400 points in his first SAT exam, increased his score to approximately 1500 in his next attempt.
It was stated that Crooks did not have a clear plan about what he wanted to do in the future. It was reported that he thought about serving in the army for a while, but this idea never turned into a serious career plan.
According to FBI documents, Crooks' interest in guns began to become evident during his teenage years.
It was stated that Crooks, who started going to a shooting club during the pandemic period, was unsuccessful in shooting at first, but improved his skills by practicing regularly over the years.
His father said that over time his son began to learn more about long-range shooting and gun equipment.
It was noted that Crooks purchased various parts and equipment related to weapons over the internet, and was also interested in producing technological devices and dealing with electronic systems.
The documents stated that Crooks also paid attention to online privacy.
It was reported that he sometimes used a pseudonym in online shopping, used various privacy tools and encrypted e-mail services.
According to his father, Crooks was noticeably cautious, if not obsessive, about preventing his accounts or personal information from being compromised.
It was also stated that Crooks, who is stated to be interested in technology, assembled his own computer and developed security camera-like systems using Raspberry Pi.
One of the striking parts of the new documents was the statements regarding Crooks' political views.
One of the people interviewed by the FBI described Crooks as someone who was interested in history and politics but generally discussed the topics in a calm and reserved manner.
His father said that his son was not clearly affiliated with a single political party.
It was stated that Crooks sometimes described himself as a Republican, but did not embrace all the views of the party. It was noted that he was against social state policies and some approaches that he described as "woke", but generally displayed an attitude of mocking politicians and discussing different views.
It had previously been revealed that Crooks was a registered Republican but donated a small amount to a political formation close to Democrats in 2021.
His father explained that his son did not believe the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and was surprised by the Congress raid on January 6, 2021.
It was stated that Crooks was interested in computer games, especially military strategy and first-person shooter games, during his high school years. It was reported that he also followed war and action themed movies.
But his family said they did not consider any of these interests to be a red flag before the attack.
Matthew Crooks stated in the FBI interview that, as a family, they were trying to understand why his son attempted to assassinate Trump.
Crooks, the father, told his son he did not show any unusual behavior to his family before the attack and gave no discernible signs of impending violence.
