CNN
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The FBI has released new photos of the gun used to shoot Donald Trump at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as the backpack and explosives the shooter had in his car at the rally.
The photos were released Wednesday as FBI officials provided new details about Thomas Matthew Crooks’ Internet searches in the days leading up to the shooting and how investigators are using those searches to piece together his state of mind that day.
The photos show the firearm’s folding stock, which investigators believe may have been used to conceal the rifle at the site.
The FBI detailed Wednesday how Trump’s would-be assassin investigated the former president’s campaign events as well as President Joe Biden’s, but then “hyperfocused” on the Pennsylvania rally, just 40 minutes from the shooter’s home.
Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said the shooter viewed the Trump rally as a “target of opportunity.” Authorities have not yet identified a motive and said Crooks expressed “no definitive ideology.”
“We saw, through our analysis of all of his research — especially online — that he was trying to plan an attack on certain events, meaning he looked at a number of events or targets,” Rojek said. “And then when this event was announced, the Trump rally was announced, in early July, he focused excessively on that specific event and saw it as a target of opportunity.”
Those searches, Rojek said, also show Crooks’ detailed research into the rally location, including the building where Crooks was when he shot Trump.
On July 6, nearly a week before the rally, Crooks searched online for “where Will Trump would speak at the Butler Farm Show” as well as “Butler Farm Show podium” and “Butler Farm Show photos,” Rojek said.
Two days later, Crooks searched for “AGR International,” the company that owned the building Crooks had climbed into before opening fire. On July 9, Crooks searched for “ballistic calculator,” and the next day, he searched for “weather” and “Butler.”
According to the FBI, Crooks had been researching explosive devices for several years. From September 2019 through this summer, the shooter searched for terms such as “how to make a bomb out of fertilizer,” “detonation cord,” “detonator,” and “how do remote detonators work.”
FBI officials have also vigorously rejected conspiracy theories about the attack, adamantly saying, for example, that there was no second shooter targeting the former president that day.
“I can confirm that there was no second shooter,” Rojek told reporters.
Regarding Crooks’ motivations, Bobby Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI’s national security branch, said investigators have a “clearer picture of the mindset” but that “at this time, the FBI has not identified a motivation, nor any co-conspirators or associates of Crooks who had detailed knowledge of the attack.”
Wells also stressed that “we have seen no indication that Crooks was run by a foreign entity.”
Asked about past online posts that appeared political in nature from accounts associated with Crooks, Rojek said the FBI continued “to see through our analysis a mix of ideologies” on the part of Crooks.
“I would say we don’t see any definitive ideology associated with our topic, whether left or right,” Rojek said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
