FBI releases photos of gun used in Trump assassination attempt

CNN
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The FBI has released new photos of the gun used to kill Donald Trump at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. It also released photos of the backpack and explosives the shooter had in his car at the rally.

The photos were released Wednesday after FBI officials released new details about the internet searches Thomas Matthew Crooks conducted in the days before the shooting and how investigators are using those searches to piece together his thoughts that day.

The photos show the firearm’s collapsible stock, which investigators believe may have been used to conceal the weapon at the site.

The FBI on Wednesday detailed how Trump’s would-be assassin had been investigating campaign events for the former president and President Joe Biden but then became “hyper-focused” on the rally in Pennsylvania, just 40 minutes from the shooter’s home.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, detailed how the shooter saw the Trump rally as a “target of opportunity.” Officials have not yet identified a motive and said Crooks expressed “no definitive ideology.”

“We saw through our analysis of all of his — particularly his online searches — a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, meaning he was looking at any number of events or targets,” Rojek said. “And when this event was announced, the Trump rally was announced, in early July, he became hyper-focused on that particular event and saw it as a target of opportunity.”

According to Rojek, those searches also show the detailed searches Crooks conducted regarding the location of the meeting, including the building where Crooks was when he shot Trump.

On July 6, nearly a week before the rally, Crooks searched online for “where will Trump speak at the Butler Farm Show,” as well as “Butler Farm Show stage” and “Butler Farm Show photos,” Rojek said.

Two days later, Crooks searched for “AGR International,” the company that owned the buildings Crooks climbed before opening fire. On July 9, Crooks searched for “ballistic calculator,” and the next day he searched for “weather” and “Butler.”

According to the FBI, Crooks had been researching explosives for years. The FBI said that from September 2019 through this summer, the shooter searched for terms such as “how to make a fertilizer bomb,” “detonating cord,” “ignition mechanism” and “how do remote detonators work.”

FBI officials also strongly rejected conspiracy theories about the attack, stating flatly, for example, that there was no second shooter targeting the former president that day.

“I can confirm that there was no second shooter,” Rojek told reporters.

Regarding Crooks’ motive, Bobby Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, said investigators have a “clearer idea of ​​the thinking” but that “the FBI has not identified a motive at this time, nor any accomplices or associates of Crooks with advanced knowledge of the attack.”

Wells also stressed that “we have seen no evidence that Crooks was directed by any foreign entity.”

When asked about previous online posts that appeared political in nature and came from accounts associated with Crooks, Rojek said the FBI “continued to see a mixture of ideologies” from Crooks in our analyses.

“I would say that we don’t see a definitive ideology related to our topic, neither left nor right,” Rojek said.

This story has been updated with additional information.