Would-Be Trump Assassin Not Politically Motivated, FBI Says, but Was Looking for ‘Widespread Attention’

The young man who attempted to take Donald Trump’s life at a rally in Bulter, Pennsylvania, was not politically motivated when he was planning the shooting, the FBI said on a call with reporters Wednesday. Instead, he had the markings of a mass shooter, namely that he was seeking attention through violence.

The intensive investigation into Thomas Crooks’s life showed an online history that was more indicative of someone looking for a high-profile target or a high-casualty count but settled on Trump when the former president announced a rally in a nearby city.

While Mr. Crooks’s motive remains opaque, his online searches reveal someone who was looking for an opportunity to pull off a spectacular attack that would garner widespread attention, by either inflicting mass casualties or killing someone famous. Thus far, that profile more closely resembles that of a mass shooter than a politically motivated assassin.

Starting as a teenager in 2019 through this year, Mr. Crooks progressed from searching “detonating cord,” “blasting cap” and “how to make a bomb from fertilizer” to seeking detailed information about the activities and whereabouts of politicians in both parties. By late 2023, his search history included queries related to Mr. Trump, President Biden and both parties’ conventions, the officials said.

Kevin P. Rojek, who is the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said “We saw through our analysis of his online searches a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets.”

The assassination attempt has been a focus of officials in Washington D.C., who saw several faults with the Secret Service’s handling of security for Trump, as well as the overall response and subsequent cover-up. The agency’s actions since the assassination attempt have been less than inspiring.

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