Twenty years old, from Pennsylvania: that's who Thomas Matthew Crooks is, the man who tried to kill Trump

The FBI has identified the perpetrator of the attack on former President Donald Trump as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Pennsylvania, according to several US media reports. "The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the individual involved in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on 13 July in Butler, Pennsylvania," the FBI said in a statement cited by NBC and CBS, among others.

Thomas Matthew Crooks in un frame tratto da un video che fu pubblicato sul profilo X di Mia Cathell. Si chiama Thomas Matthew Crooks, di Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, il giovane di venti anni che ha sparato a Donald Trump con il suo Ar 45, un fucile d'assalto semiautomatico, prima di essere freddato dai cecchini del Secret Service. Lo ha identificato l'Fbi che ha avviato l'inchiesta. Secondo il Washington Post il ragazzo era un elettore repubblicano, iscritto nei registri del partito della Pennsylvania. X MIA CATHELL

Crooks is listed in public records as a Republican voter. At the same time, however, he had made a $15 donation to a progressive group affiliated with the Democrats, CNN explains. Crooks lived in Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022.

Il certificato elettorale

Il documento nei registri pubblici che attesta Crooks come elettore repubblicano

The investigation is still ongoing and it is unclear whether the 20-year-old acted as a ''lone wolf'' or had accomplices. The FBI has since denied that Donald Trump's team had requested heightened security measures for the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The FBI stated that Crooks fired several shots from an 'elevated position' outside Trump's rally, before Secret Service personnel 'neutralised' the shooter.

Investigations will have to clarify how an attacker armed with an automatic rifle could have approached within 150 metres of the former president and fired from above. A witness told the BBC that he tried to warn local law enforcement of the sniper's presence moments before he opened fire.

Thomas Matthew Crooks in un frame tratto da un video che fu pubblicato sul profilo X di Mia Cathell. Si chiama Thomas Matthew Crooks, di Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, il giovane di venti anni che ha sparato a Donald Trump con il suo Ar 45, un fucile d'assalto semiautomatico, prima di essere freddato dai cecchini del Secret Service. Lo ha identificato l'Fbi che ha avviato l'inchiesta. Secondo il Washington Post il ragazzo era un elettore repubblicano, iscritto nei registri del partito della Pennsylvania. X MIA CATHEL

"My name is Thomas Matthew Crooks. I hate Republicans, I hate Donald Trump." Thus the man who made an attempt on the life of the former president of the United States, had appeared with a video message on social media.