The 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday was described by former classmates as a bullied loner with a penchant for looking outfits and video video games.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was killed by the Secret Service on Saturday night after he opened fireplace on the Butler Farm Present grounds, grazing Trump and killing one other attendee.
Crooks – who graduated from Bethel Park Excessive College in 2022 – was a loner who was “relentlessly” bullied, former classmate Jason Kohler instructed KDKA.
He was recognized for carrying “‘looking’” outfits to class, Kohler added.
The classmate additionally supplied the outlet with two pictures of Crooks that have been taken throughout his highschool years – together with one which confirmed the long run would-be murderer sitting at a desk in a Bethel Park sweatshirt.
Within the second photograph, Crooks provided a thumbs up whereas one other classmate – whose face was redacted – took a selfie on a college bus.
Crooks made a $15 donation to the liberal ActBlue political motion committee on President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day in 2021, the Intercept reported.
When he turned 18 the next September, nevertheless, he registered with the Republican Occasion, on-line state data confirmed.
“He didn’t appear to be actually bizarre or something. I might have pegged him as a Republican,” one former classmate instructed The Submit within the aftermath of the capturing on Saturday.
“He by no means outwardly spoke about his political opinions or how a lot he hated Trump or something,” one other Bethel Park Excessive graduate, Sarah D’Angelo, instructed The Wall Road Journal Sunday morning.
Crooks had “just a few associates” however “didn’t have a full good friend group,” D’Angelo remembered, including that she remembered him taking part in video video games on his laptop computer throughout homeroom interval in school.
Crooks didn’t seem within the 2022 Bethel Park Excessive College yearbook, however video confirmed him strolling throughout the stage to simply accept his diploma that spring.
He additionally obtained a $500 Nationwide Math and Science Initiative Star Award throughout his graduating yr, TribLive reported.
Crooks was wearing all grey Saturday night when he scaled the roof of a producing plant about 130 yards from the Butler rally website and opened fireplace with an AK-style rifle.
Former volunteer fireplace chief Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed, whereas Trump narrowly bought away with a badly grazed ear.
Two different rally attendees have been additionally critically wounded earlier than Crooks was shot useless by the Secret Service.
The rifle Crooks used within the tried assassination was bought by his father, in response to the Wall Road Journal.
Investigators later discovered explosive gadgets in Crooks’ automotive, which was parked not removed from the grounds the place the rally occurred.
As of Sunday afternoon, the authorities had not shared a doable motive for the assault.
Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, declined to talk to CNN on Saturday night time and mentioned he wanted to determine “what the hell is happening.”
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