Newly disclosed FBI records show that Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate then-candidate Donald Trump at a July 13, 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, used the name “Bob Dole” to order ammunition and rifle parts online, having the packages shipped to his parents’ home in Bethel Park.
The records were obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as part of his ongoing investigation into the security failures that allowed Crooks to climb onto a rooftop near the Butler Farm Show Grounds and open fire on Trump from less than 500 feet away. Crooks grazed Trump’s ear, killed volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, and wounded two other rallygoers before a Secret Service counter-sniper shot and killed him.
According to a review of the documents, the additional gun parts Crooks purchased under the pseudonym included “tools and items to increase the capacity of his rifle,” the same weapon his father had handed him on the morning of the rally.
An FBI Interview With the Shooter’s Father
The records include an FBI interview with Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, conducted just two days after the shooting. He told investigators his son believed that ordering items under a false name, combined with a virtual private network, would keep hackers from tracing purchases back to the family’s accounts after a bank account had previously been hacked. Matthew Crooks said he told his son that even purchases made under a pseudonym are still billed to the real account holder’s finances, but Thomas continued using aliases anyway.
It remains unclear why Crooks chose the name of the late Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, since his parents told investigators he did not show much interest in politics.
Separately, FBI officials have previously testified to Grassley’s committee that Crooks maintained at least 35 digital accounts, including several tied to foreign email services in Germany and Belgium. The bureau said it was able to access those accounts and that neither the officials nor FBI Director Kash Patel found evidence of foreign influence or coordination in the attack.
A Father’s Account of a Distant Relationship
Matthew Crooks told investigators that he and his son “never really had a father-son bond” and that Thomas rarely expressed strong emotions. He described his son as quiet, emotionally difficult to read, and sometimes destructive when bored. As Crooks got older, his interest in firearms grew, and he once asked his father whether he would need a background check to buy a Glock — a question his father called “odd” at the time.
Matthew Crooks said the family never saw warning signs suggesting his son was capable of the attack. He also said he could not identify a motive, noting that his son held conflicting political views, was registered Republican largely because his family was, and had at times criticized both Trump and Biden.
An unidentified interviewee from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives described Crooks as a
Add comment