Donald Trump‘s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks spent months planning an attack at a mass gathering and saw the Butler rally on July 13 as a ‘target of opportunity’, the FBI said on Wednesday.
FBI officials released new photos of the AR rifle he used to shoot the former president in the ear and the homemade bombs he had in the trunk of the car.
The release also included photos of the air conditioning units outside the building that he climbed up on to get on the roof where he conducted the attack.
The bureau revealed the 20-year-old had a fixation on political figures and also looked for the dates of the Republican and Democratic party conventions.
He searched more than 60 times for information about the Republican presidential candidate and his then-rival, Democratic President Joe Biden, before registering for the Trump rally.
But the bureau insisted they are still not able to fully determine his motive, and said their investigation found he wasn’t right or left wing.
More than 1,000 interviews have been conducted in the last six weeks.
The FBI said there wasn’t a second a shooter and no evidence that he was backed by a foreign entity, throwing doubt on theories that he had help.
His parents face questions from the bureau over how much they knew before their son opened fire on the former president.
The development comes as one family member shared with DailyMail.com that the FBI, ‘still very much has questions’ regarding how much the killer’s parents knew – while revealing that his father Matthew Crooks, 53, is a gun enthusiast who has sold firearms to relatives in the past.
The FBI revealed that the rifle was an semi-automatic A-15 rifle manufactured by DPMS Panther Arms that used a 5.56x45mm/.223 caliber bullet. The rifle also had a AEMS ‘Red Dot’ optics attached to a precision attachment rail as well as a Magpul extendible rear stock.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the family member who asked not to be named said, ‘The FBI still very much has questions about how much they knew and how he [Thomas] slipped through the net.’
The idea that someone may have assisted Thomas Crooks was given new credence on Thursday by Florida US Rep. Mike Waltz. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com he questioned whether Crooks acted alone.
The parents’ choice of law firm suggests that they are bracing for possible criminal charges as well as potential civil action from the families of their son’s other victims.
Quinn Logue, the Pittsburgh-based law firm that Matthew Crooks and his wife Mary, 53, have retained, describe themselves as trial attorneys who specialize in both criminal defense and civil suits including wrongful death and personal injury