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Two people die in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. One of them is the assassin, who is identified using DNA. Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks?
Butler, Pennsylvania – Donald Trump was apparently very lucky. The former US President was outwardly unscathed except for a bloody wound on his right ear after being hit by a bullet during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. fired several shots in his direction The death of the 78-year-old was presumably the aim of the attacker, who was killed along with a man in the audience.
The background to the bloody crime was initially completely unclearthe FBI has taken over the investigation. A few hours after the attack, the federal agency identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks. He is said to have been shot by a sniper. Images are circulating on the Internet showing a body lying on a flat roof. In some cases, heavily armed men – soldiers and police officers – are standing next to it. The person is wearing short camouflage pants and a gray T-shirt, and blood is running down his face.
Assassination attempt on Donald Trump: Details on the perpetrator – shooter (20) is said to have lived nearby
What is known about the alleged assassin so far? Crooks is said to have been 20 years old, with his date of birth given as September 20, 2003. This is evident from the voter registration, which, among other things, the New York Post Crooks lived in Bethel Park, about 65 kilometers south of the crime scene.
He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. As the Bethel Park Journal Crooks, like 19 other graduates, was awarded the National Math & Science Initiative Star Award, which comes with a cash prize of $500.
Attack on Donald Trump: Thomas Matthew Crooks registered as Republican
He was registered as a Republican. According to Prem Thakker of the news website The Intercept According to election records, Crooks donated exactly once. On January 20, 2021, the day of the inauguration of Trump’s successor Joe Bidenhe bequeathed to the charity organization ActBlue of the Democrats 15 US dollars.
At the time of the donation, Crooks was only 17 years old. According to various media, it is not known when he registered as a Republican. New York Post writes that in September of the same year, when he turned 18, he became a member of the Grand Old Party Registered.
The attacker had no ID with him, as CBS citing investigators. Therefore, he had to be identified through DNA samples. He is said to have been armed with a rapid-fire rifle and to have positioned himself on a roof outside the security corridor. Information varies regarding the distance to the stage on which Trump spoke. post writes about 120 meters, NBC even of 135 meters, at CBS is spoken of as 60 to 90 meters.
Eyewitness to Trump shooting: “Guy was crawling around on the roof 15 meters away with a gun”
In the BBC An eyewitness named Greg Smith said he saw the attacker climbing onto the roof with the rifle. This was about five minutes after Trump’s speech began, and he alerted the police to the man.
“We noticed the guy crawling around on the roof of the building next to us, 15 meters away,” said Smith, who was listening outside the venue himself. “He had a gun, we could clearly see a gun.”
Shots fired at Trump: Father of alleged assassin wants to speak to authorities
How long Crooks had been in possession of the weapon will now also be the subject of the investigation. The news agency Associated Press (AP) writes that from a distance of 150 meters, an ordinary shooter can reasonably hit a human-sized target. This is the distance from which US Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette in order to qualify for the M-16 rifle. The AR-15 that the assassin is said to have used is therefore the semi-automatic civilian version of this military rifle.
ABC reported that the authorities are currently assuming that Crooks is a lone perpetrator. However, it cannot yet be ruled out that there are accomplices or backers. CNN spoke to the father, Matthew Crooks, late Saturday evening. He simply said that he had to find out “what the hell was going on” but did not want to talk about his son until he had “spoken to law enforcement.” (mg)
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