Gunman had searched for images of Trump and Biden, FBI says
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Thomas Crook, the gunman who tried to kill former president Donald Trump, had used his cellphone to search for images of Trump and President Joe Biden.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - Federal Bureau of Investigation officials told members of Congress on July 17 that the gunman who tried to kill former president Donald Trump
The FBI has not found any indication that the gunman, Thomas Crooks, had strong partisan political views, based on the two phones among his possessions. The absence of “any political or ideological information” at his home in Pennsylvania was “notable” because most politically motivated would-be assassins leave a discernible trail of views, a top bureau official told lawmakers.
Less than 22 months ago, Ms Kimberly Cheatle became the director of the agency where she devoted 25 years. She rarely gives interviews but will face sharp scrutiny next week when she is scheduled to appear before two congressional committees who are examining the shooting, which threw her tenure into disarray.
After the gunman was killed, investigators found two improvised bombs in his car. The rudimentary devices were made with initiators used for fireworks shows and may have contained fertiliser. The devices were described in a report for law enforcement obtained by The New York Times.
Multiple inquiries by law enforcement, Congress and federal agencies already are grinding into gear, aiming to understand how a would-be assassin was able to injure a former president, kill one person and injure two others at a political rally.
A county official revealed that at least one local police officer had fired on the would-be assassin as shots erupted at the campaign rally. But it was uncertain whether the local officer had hit the gunman, who was killed by Secret Service snipers, the agency has said. The detail came in a Times interview with the official, Mr Richard Goldinger, district attorney of Butler County, Pennsylvania. NYTIMES
