U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle sat down with ABC News in her first network interview since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Via ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — In her first network interview since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said that the Pennsylvania rally shooting was “unacceptable.”
“It was unacceptable,” she said in an interview Monday with ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas. “And it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
The violent incident on Saturday, which left one rallygoer dead, marked the first time a current or former president has been wounded in an attempted assassination since Ronald Reagan in 1981.
When she first learned of the shooting, Cheatle said she was shocked and concerned — both for Trump and for the Secret Service agents who responded to the incident.
“It was obviously a situation that as a Secret Service agent, no one ever wants to occur in their career,” she said.
‘Buck stops with me’
As the head of the agency, Cheatle said it’s her responsibility to investigate what went wrong and make sure nothing like it can happen again.
“The buck stops with me,” she said. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Cheatle responded to reports that the suspect was seen and identified as potentially suspicious before he opened fire, saying that “a very short period of time” passed between then and the shooting.
“I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” she said. “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”
She is expected to testify before the GOP-led House Oversight Committee next Monday, July 22.
Director says to have confidence in Secret Service
Still, she said, the American people should have confidence in the Secret Service’s ability to protect the president and former president.
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, she “immediately” started looking at the protective details of those under Secret Service protection.
She said she reached out to the former president’s staff and attempted to contact him but hasn’t gotten through.
Cheatle also pushed back on the misinformation that is out there regarding the assassination attempt.
“Secret Service is not political,” she said. “Security is not political. People’s safety is not political. And that’s what we’re focused on as an agency.”
And she reiterated, as other officials have said, that there is “no truth” to the rumors the former president’s detail asked for more resources.
The decision to take out the shooter, she said, was a “split second decision” the agent made while perched on the roof.
“They have the ability to make that decision on their own. If they see that it’s a threat and they did that in that instance,” she said.
“And I applaud the fact that they made that decision and didn’t have to check with anybody and thankfully neutralized the threat.”
Michael and Amber DiFrischia said they were standing outside the security perimeter of a Donald Trump rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, when they saw a would-be assassin shimmying up a nearby rooftop and opening fire on the former president. Via ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — As federal investigators continue to probe how a gunman managed to climb atop a roof and fire a barrage of shots at former President Donald Trump in an apparent assassination attempt on Saturday, multiple witnesses said they tried to point out the suspect to police and Secret Service agents before gunfire erupted.
Roughly eight minutes after Trump took the stage at a campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, witnesses said they saw the alleged gunman shimmying up the sloping roof of the American Glass Research building outside the security perimeter of the rally.
The building is within 400 feet of the rally podium where Trump was speaking and was being used by local police as a staging area when the gunman got on the roof, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
Witness Ryan Knight, who was working at the rally selling pizza slices and bottled water with his boss, said he was standing outside the security perimeter at a fence line when someone standing next to him said “This guy’s got a gun” and pointed.
“I look over at the AGR building and there was a guy prone, laying down on the AGR roof,” Knight told ABC News. “At that point, I look over and the guy starts taking shots at the president. I am losing my mind. I’m thinking, ‘Get down on the ground.'”
According to a timeline of events pieced together by the ABC News video verification team, Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m. local time to loud applause and at 6:05 p.m. began speaking: “This is a big crowd. This is a big, big beautiful crowd.”
Knight, who says he is a registered Republican and a supporter of the former president, explained that once Trump took the stage, he and his boss walked over to the fence line about 50 feet from the AGR building to listen to the speech.
Knight said the rally was initially joyful, with attendees yelling their support for Trump.
“We were just having a great time. I mean, everybody was in happy spirits,” Knight said.
But at 6:09 p.m., bystander video taken outside the security perimeter near the fence line and reviewed by ABC News picked up someone yelling, “He’s got a gun!”
At 6:10 p.m., another bystander video reviewed by ABC News showed a police officer walking around the AGR building investigating reports of a suspicious person reported to be in the area.
Around that same time, Trump turned his head to the right to look at a Jumbotron flashing immigration statistics, according to video footage. About a minute later, the staccato of gunshots rang out and the GOP presidential nominee suddenly clutched his right ear and went to the ground after apparently noticing blood on his hand, according to the video.
A New York Times photographer took a photo that appeared to capture the path of a bullet whizzing by Trump’s head. Three rallygoers were shot in the incident, including 50-year-old volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed shielding his family from the gunshots, officials said. The two other rallygoers were listed in stable condition.
Secret Service agents rushed to Trump and covered him with their bodies as chaos erupted.
Mike and Amber DiFrischia of Adamsville, Pennsylvania, told ABC News that they arrived at the rally around 5:53 p.m. and decided to sit in the shade outside the security perimeter until Trump began to speak. The couple said they moved up to the fence line to listen to Trump. Amber DiFrischia said it was the first time she had attended a Trump rally.
“We were only at the fence for maybe five minutes, Trump came on, and then shortly after he started speaking, my wife said, ‘Michael what is going on behind us?'” Mike DiFrischia said. “We turned around and we saw people pointing and running and that’s when we walked away from the fence and noticed that he [the gunman] was shimmying up the roof.”
At first, he said thought it was someone just trying to get a better view of Trump.
“Then the guy behind me said, ‘The guy’s got a gun.’ And as soon as he said ‘gun,’ everybody started running and screaming,” Mike DiFrischia said.
He said he and others could see the gunman “perfectly” on the roof because they were a short distance away, but police couldn’t see him immediately due to being at the base of the building.
“The law enforcement was running around. It was pretty hectic. They could not see him, the police officers. They were too close to the building,” Mike DiFrischia said.
He said police officers were yelling, “Where is he at?”
“And we were trying to explain to them, he’s right there,” Mike DiFrischia said.
Amber DiFrischia added, “How could this happen so quickly?”
Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Slupe said law enforcement officials told him that a Butler Township police officer was vaulted onto the roof and confronted by the gunman who pointed his weapon at the officer.
“He dropped down because the gentleman was turning with the firearm,” Slupe told ABC News, adding that the officer immediately radioed in about the gunman.
According to the ABC News video verification team’s timeline, gunfire erupted around 6:11 p.m. Investigators believe the gunman immediately opened fire after being interrupted by the Butler Township police officer.
“I got on the ground and I’m watching him shoot,” Knight told ABC News of the gunman. “I could see the smoke coming out of the barrel of his gun.”
Video of the mayhem showed a Secret Service counter-sniper firing at the gunman from a rooftop behind the stage where Trump was giving his speech.
“I was scared for my life,” said Knight, explaining that he and other spectators were standing in what was an open field with nowhere to take cover.
He said he heard a shot that sounded louder than the initial gunfire and saw the gunmen’s head kick back as he was shot.
“My main thought is why the Secret Service was not on top of that building,” Knight said. “There should have been people on top of it. I don’t know how or why that got missed.”
Cheatle, the Secret Service director, told ABC News chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas on Monday that local authorities were tasked with securing the building where the alleged shooter fired the shots and confirmed that local police were present inside the building while the shooter was on the roof.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
President Joe Biden said Sunday that he has ordered an independent investigation of the security provided at Saturday’s rally.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, told George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” on Monday that the 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, should never have been able to get a clear line of sight on the former president.
“George, a direct line of sight like that to the former president of the United States should not occur,” Mayorkas said.
Cheatle told ABC News in the interview on Monday that the Pennsylvania rally shooting was “unacceptable.”
“I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” she said about the shooter being seen by witnesses before he opened fire. “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”
(NEW YORK) — The record heat that baked the West Coast for much of last week is arriving on the East Coast early this week and health departments are already preparing for heat-related emergencies.
More than 100 million people in 33 states were under heat alerts Monday morning.
In Philadelphia, where the heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity — is forecast to reach 104 degrees on Monday, the city health department has issued a heat health emergency.
“We’ll have over 150 cooling centers open for our residents who need them,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement. “Please call 311 to find a cooling center near you. Check on your older neighbors. Make sure they’re safe. If we care for one another, we’ll get through this heat wave together.”
In addition to Philadelphia, major cities such as Washington, D.C., and Baltimore are under an excessive heat warning — the highest such alert for heat — on Monday.
New York City and Boston are under a heat advisory through Tuesday.
Record daily highs are possible in several cities Monday, including Raleigh, North Carolina (projected 101, record 99); Washington, D.C. (projected 100, record 100); Baltimore (projected 101, record 102); Reading, Pennsylvania (projected 100, record 100); Worcester, Massachusetts (projected 91, record 92); and Manchester, New Hampshire (projected 96, record 96).
The record heat will concentrate on the East Coast on Tuesday and could last into Wednesday.
Finally, a cold front will bring an end to the record heat in the East by Wednesday night into Thursday.
(WASHINGTON) — Monday’s surprise ruling by federal Judge Aileen Cannon dismissing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case appears unlikely to impact other cases involving Trump — or other cases brought by special counsels.
Cannon ruled Monday that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel overseeing Trump’s documents case was unconstitutional because Smith was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress, leading her to dismiss the entire case.
“The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers,” Cannon wrote in a lengthy order. “That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.” she wrote.
The ruling, on its face, seems to undermine the core of the special counsel statute — that an independent arbiter is necessary to investigate and possibly prosecute politically fraught matters.
But the ruling doesn’t put all special counsels under the microscope; Cannon’s order draws a distinction between other special counsels and Smith, who was never confirmed to any post by Congress.
Special counsels — like David Weiss, who is investigating President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden — have typically served previously as U.S. attorneys, who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Smith, in contrast, was previously the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and was working for the International Criminal Court at the Hague prosecuting war crimes when he was tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead both the classified documents probe and the federal election interference investigation.
Accordingly, Smith never went through a congressional confirmation process.
“In the end, there does appear to be a ‘tradition’ of appointing special-attorney-like figures in moments of political scandal throughout the country’s history. But very few, if any, of these figures actually resemble the position of Special Counsel Smith,” Cannon wrote in Monday’s decision. “Mr. Smith is a private citizen exercising the full power of a United States Attorney, and with very little oversight or supervision.”
Attorneys for Hunter Biden last year filed a motion to dismiss his gun prosecution citing the same Appropriations Clause at the heart of Cannon’s ruling. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika swiftly rejected Biden’s bid.
In the classified documents case, Smith could appeal Cannon’s the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. The former president has denied all charges.
Judge Cannon noted that her ruling does not apply to other jurisdictions, meaning the order may not apply to Smith’s Jan. 6 election interference case, in which Trump last August pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
That case is currently delayed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the former president is entitled to presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion in the Supreme Court ruling, took the position that Smith had been named special counsel without a proper legal basis, leading to speculation about what role that might play in Judge Cannon’s decision-making.
Although Judge Thomas did not name Cannon in his opinion, he said that lower courts should look at the question of how Smith was appointed.
Cannon’s ruling should also have no effect on the Georgia election interference case, which is currently paused while Trump appeals the court ruling that allowed Fulton County DA Fani Willis to stay on the case.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Trump has denied all charges.
Trump is also awaiting a decision by New York Judge Juan Merchan on whether the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling will impact Trump’s hush money conviction, which Trump’s attorneys argue was “tainted” by evidence and testimony that the Supreme Court’s ruling now makes off-limits.
The former president was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
(WASHINGTON) — The gunman who fired on former President Donald Trump on Saturday should never have been able to get a “direct line” of sight, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
“A direct line of sight like that to the former president should not occur,” Mayorkas told ABC News’ on Good Morning America on Monday. “That’s why president Biden directed an independent review of the incident.”
Members of the U.S. Secret Service, an agency that sits under Mayorkas’ Homeland Security, shot and killed a 20-year-old gunman who allegedly took aim at former President Donald Trump on Saturday in Pennsylvania, officials said. Secret Service agents surrounded the former president, collectively wrapping themselves around him and hustling him to a waiting vehicle.
But in the days since the shooting, the service has come under scrutiny for how the alleged gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, could have come so close in his attempt to assassinate Trump.
“We have to learn everything about the assailant who, of course, the secret service so bravely neutralized,” Mayorkas said on Monday.
He added, “We are going to really study the event independently and make recommendations to the Secret Service and to me, so that we can assure the safety and security of our protectees, which is one of our most vital missions in the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and across the government.”
Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle briefed President Joe Biden late Saturday, following the assassination attempt, according to the secretary.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today,” he said on social media late Saturday.
He added, “We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
The FBI has taken the lead in the investigation into the assassination attempt. Under Mayorkas, Homeland Security and the Secret Service are “are working with law enforcement partners to respond to and investigate the shooting,” the secretary said.
The Secret Service on Saturday formally notified the FBI of the incident, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
President Joe Biden announced an independent review of the agency’s actions, a review that Cheatle said on Monday the agency would welcome.
(BUTLER, Pa.) — Much about the man who allegedly took aim at a former president on Saturday remained a mystery on Monday, as teams of FBI investigators scoured the 20-year-old’s gunman’s background, building a timeline of his actions and sifting through his digital history in search of a motive.
The attempted assassination was being investigated as a potential act of domestic terrorism, the FBI said in a statement late Sunday.
“The FBI has not identified a motive for the shooter’s actions, but we are working to determine the sequence of events and the shooter’s movements prior to the shooting, collecting and reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and following up on all leads,” the bureau said in the statement.
Trump was shot in an assassination attempt at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, the FBI said. Secret Service agents swarmed the former president before leading him off the stage to a waiting vehicle. Trump is “fine,” a spokesperson later said.
The alleged shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed at the scene, the Secret Service said. One spectator was killed and two were hurt, officials said.
Investigators have begun retracing the suspect’s steps, an attempt to figure out how Crooks could have made it up onto the roof, which had been swept prior to the event, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
He was perched on the building outside the security perimeter, where the crowd passing through was checked for weapons, but was fewer than 400 feet from the podium where Trump was speaking, officials said.
FBI investigators, led by the Pittsburgh Field Office, have searched Crook’s home in Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh. They’ve also searched his vehicle, which was at the scene of the shooting in Butler, the FBI said.
“Suspicious devices found at both locations have been rendered safe by bomb technicians and are being evaluated at the FBI Laboratory,” the FBI said.
The AR-15 style rifle allegedly used by Crooks had been legally purchased by the suspect’s father, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The family is cooperating with the investigation.
The bureau said it has also began combing through the shooter’s phone.
“At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject,” Kevin Rojeck, a special agent, said. “But I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation.”
Investigators confirmed to ABC News they believe this screenshot shows suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks receiving his diploma and is part of their probe. — Acquired by ABC News
(BUTLER, Pa.) — A 20-year-old Pennsylvania man is suspected to be the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday, firing several shots and killing at least one spectator, federal and local law enforcement agencies said.
The FBI early on Sunday identified the suspect, who was killed at the scene, as Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park. Firefighter Corey Comperatore, a dad who was attending the rally was killed and two other bystanders injured.
The FBI did not “currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said. The highest priority is being placed on determining motive because the bureau is also looking at the shooting as a “potential domestic terrorism act,” said Robert Wells, the FBI’s assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division.
In a later call, Rojek indicated officials believed that Crooks “acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns.”
“At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation,” he added.
Officials feared that the assassination attempt would inspire others.
The assassination attempt against President Donald Trump “will likely be amplified in extremist messaging and heavily exploited by malicious actors as well as adversarial nation-states in mis/dis/mal-information aimed at fomenting division,” according to an NYPD intelligence product obtained by ABC News.
“In the immediate hours after the shooting took place, multiple users on numerous online messaging platforms responded to the incident with support for the attack, overt calls for civil war, hostile rhetoric against FPOTUS Trump, threats against elected officials, and generalized calls for retaliatory violence,” according to the bulletin which was dated July 14, 2024.
Portrait emerges
Crooks had been registered as a Republican voter, according to state records. A $15 donation to a progressive group was also recorded under “Thomas Crooks” in January 2021, according to FEC records.
He graduated from high school in Pennsylvania in 2022, district officials said. The suspect had no military affiliation, according to the Pentagon.
He was working as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, according to administrator Marcie Grimm. Thomas Matthew Crooks “performed his job without concern” and passed a background check, according to Grimm. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,” Grimm said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials at this time.”
The firearm recovered at the scene was legally purchased by the suspect’s father, an urgent trace conducted by ATF found, according to multiple law enforcement sources. A source who has been briefed said the gun was an AR-15 style rifle that was purchased in 2013.
Crooks allegedly fired as many as eight rounds from a rooftop 200-300 yards away, other sources said.
According to Rojek, from the FBI, there was a suspicious device found in the suspect’s car and agents were trying to determine what it is. Another was found in his home, Rojek said, and both were described as rudimentary.
Crooks had no known history of mental illness, per the FBI. His family is cooperating with investigators.
“We’re looking into his background, his day-to-day activities, any writings, and social media posts that might help us identify what led to this shooting. And we have not seen anything threatening,” Rojek added.
The social media platform Discord told ABC News on Sunday that it’s cooperating with law enforcement and has identified a “rarely used” account that appears to have been linked to the alleged shooter. The company said it “found no evidence” that the account was used in the planning of the attack.
In a statement to ABC News, a Discord spokesperson said the account linked to the alleged shooter also did not “promote violence” or “discuss his political views.”
Investigators are looking at what sources describe as misinformation that the suspected gunman appears to have been recently consuming and whether it played any role in the incident, according to law enforcement sources.
So far, investigators have not uncovered any ties to extremist organizations or individuals, though they continue to scour information from the suspect’s phone and other digital devices, according to the sources. Increasingly, the shooting was looking like a lone wolf attack, sources said.
‘Lonely’ and ‘quiet’
Former classmates of the suspected shooter described him to ABC News as a student who was “quiet” and did not have many friends,.
“He was somebody who came across as lonely a lot,” said Jameson Myers, who said he attended both elementary and high school with the suspect.
Myers said that Crooks “tended to be more of an interesting one” and described him as “more socially reserved” and someone who “didn’t have a ton of friends.” But he said he never heard Crooks discuss politics or, specifically, Donald Trump.
“I was friends with him- he never acted, like, by any means a political revolutionary,” Myers said, noting he was a fan of “Star Wars” and “was a very nice, even sweet guy from what I knew.”
Myers and another student said that Crooks tried to join the high school’s rifle team but was rejected and asked not to return after a “preseason” session.
“He didn’t just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous,” said Myers.
Another member of the team, who asked not to be named, told ABC News that there was a view that Crooks “wasn’t really fit for the rifle team.”
“He also shot terrible,” the team member added.
The coach of the team at the time declined to comment and referred questions to the school district. In a statement, school district said that Crooks “never appeared on a roster” and that there is “no record” of him having tried out.
Crooks, however, did belong to a local shooting club, counsel for the club confirms to ABC News, Clairton Sportsmen’s Club.
“I can confirm that Mr. Crooks was a member of Clairton Sportsmen’s Club. Beyond that, the Club is unable to make any additional commentary in relation to this matter in light of pending law enforcement investigations,” said Robert S. Bootay III, attorney for the club. “Obviously, the Club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred yesterday. The Club also offers its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former President.”
Other classmates of Crooks, who described him as “quiet” and “very smart.”
“One thing I did know for sure was he was very smart,” said another student, who told ABC News he sat behind Crooks in their AP statistics class. “I always remember hearing his test grades when we would all compare and he always did very well and math and sciences.”
The student continued that Crooks was “never anything but kind.”
“I would not say that he ever appeared as a threatening person,” he continued.
Another classmate, Zoe Materkowski, said he was “just a quiet kid.” A classmate who graduated a year before Crooks similarly described him as a quiet student.
“He was a loner,” said Jason Kohler. “He would sit alone at lunch.”
Another classmate who rode the same bus as Crooks and shared multiple classes with him described the suspected shooter as quiet but friendly.
“I honestly can’t think of a better word to describe him than normal,” said the classmate. “He just kind of stuck to himself.”
The classmate added that Crooks was interested in building computers and never discussed politics.
“It’s just crazy, because he didn’t really seem like he would be the type to think to do that,” he said about his response to learning that Crooks was the suspected shooter.
‘Chaotic’ scene
Shots rang out a few moments after Trump stepped onto an outdoor stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, at about 6 p.m. on Saturday, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said. The suspect was firing from the roof of a building outside the security perimeter, taking aim from hundreds of feet away from the stage, law enforcement said.
One of the bullets struck Trump in his right ear, the former president said. The U.S. Secret Service said Trump was “safe.”
A Secret Service counter-sniper opened fire and killed the suspect, the agency said. The scene was “chaotic” and “everything unfolded very quickly,” Bevins said.
Law enforcement officials took several hours to publicly identify Crooks as their suspect, saying at a press conference late Saturday that they believed they knew who carried out the shooting, but were refraining from naming the individual.
Officials had said during that press conference that they were using the suspect’s DNA to confirm his identity, because the suspect had not been carrying anything that would have identified him.
“It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations,” Rojek said. “So, there was no identification on the individual, for example, so we’re looking at photographs right now and we’re trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation.”
Determining if he acted alone
It was too early in the investigation to say whether the suspect had been acting alone, Bivens said. Investigators were determining if anyone else had been involved, he said.
The FBI did not “currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” Rojek said.
The suspect graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High, according to the Bethel Park School District. The district said it was limited in what it could disclose publicly, adding that it would “cooperate fully” with the investigation.
“The school district wishes to express its sincere wishes for a speedy and full recovery for Mr. Trump and for those in attendance at the Saturday event who may have been physically harmed or emotionally impacted by these tragic events,” the district said, in part, in a statement.
The district added, “We offer special condolences to the family of at least one attendee who was killed. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.”
As the FBI issued a statement early Sunday naming the suspect, a bureau spokesperson said the investigation remains “active and ongoing.” The FBI urged anyone with photos, videos or information to come forward.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey, Isabella Murray, Mark Osborne, Charlotte Slovin, Sasha Pezenik, Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(BUTLER, Pa.) — As the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump intensified Sunday, the U.S. Secret Service was coming under scrutiny as questions mounted on how the alleged gunman managed to fire a barrage of shots from a rooftop with a vantage point of the outdoor Pennsylvania rally stage Trump was speaking from.
The FBI identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, whom officials said was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and fired up to eight shots before a Secret Service sharpshooter shot and killed him, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The suspect appeared to be wearing a T-shirt and tan camouflage shorts that blended into the colors of the building he was perched atop.
The firearm recovered at the scene of the assassination attempt was legally purchased in 2013 by the suspect’s father, an urgent trace conducted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) found, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Two sources told ABC News there were what “appeared” to be explosives in the suspect’s found car parked outside the Trump rally. One source said the items looked like grenades. But the sources said they were awaiting forensic results as to whether the items were explosives.
Bomb technicians and other experts were called to investigate. Officials are awaiting confirmation on whether the items contained explosives.
Federal investigators said they have found no links between the suspect and any international terrorist group. Investigators said they’re still looking into whether the suspect had any ties to domestic terrorist groups. Increasingly, the shooting is looking like the action of a lone wolf, sources said.
The suspect had no U.S. military affiliation, according to the Pentagon.
Investigators are also combing through the suspect’s social media footprint for clues, officials said.
Investigators are looking at what sources describe as misinformation the suspected gunman appeared to have been recently consuming and whether it played any role in the incident, according to law enforcement sources. So far, investigators have not uncovered any ties to extremist organizations or individuals, though they continue to scour information from the suspect’s phone and other digital devices, the sources said.
Trump posted on his Truth Social site that he suffered a bullet wound to his right ear in the attack.
Biden tells nation ‘let the FBI do their job’
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the investigation Sunday by FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle.
Following the briefing, Briden spoke from the White House Situation Room, saying, “We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are.”
The president said investigators have not determined a motive for the shooting and he requested that Americans not make assumptions on the suspect’s motives or affiliations.
“Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job,” Biden said. “I’ve instructed that the investigation be thorough and swift and the investigators will have every resource they need to get this done.”
Biden said he has “been consistent in my direction of the Secret Service to provide him [Trump] with every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to insure his continued safety.”
He said he has also directed the Secret Service to “review all security measures for the Republican National Convention” scheduled to begin on Monday in Milwaukee. He said he has also ordered an independent investigation of the security provided at Saturday’s rally.
Biden said he had a “short but good conversation” with Trump late Saturday night, adding, “I’m sincerely grateful that he is doing well and recovering.”
The president said he plans to address the nation from the White House Sunday night.
Gun shots rang out as Trump began his speech
Trump was less than 10 minutes into his campaign speech and had turned his head to look at a jumbotron when the gunfire began, according to witnesses and video of the moment. Video captured the former president reaching for his ear and going to the ground as multiple shots could be heard.
A man who was attending the rally was fatally shot and two other rallygoers were shot and wounded, federal officials said. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the deceased victim as Corey Comperatore, 50. The Pennsylvania State Police on Sunday identified the wounded bystanders as 57-year-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania; and 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Both are listed in stable condition, according to the state police.
Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro said Comperatore, a firefighter and the father of two daughters, died while protecting his family. Shapiro said Comperatore’s wife asked him to share that “Corey died a hero, that Corey dove on his family to protect them at this rally.”
The FBI is leading the investigation. Overnight, investigators said they executed a warrant at Crooks’ home in Bethel Park, about 53 miles south of Butler, Pennsylvania, where the shooting at the Trump rally occurred.
The roof where the suspect fired from had been surveyed during security preparations for the event, a law enforcement source told ABC News.
The roof was empty during those security preparations, the source said.
It remains under investigation why the Secret Service or local law enforcement didn’t post someone at the building to prevent anyone from accessing the roof.
Secret Service denies report it rebuffed Trump team request for beefed-up security
The former president, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, was seen in a video clutching his right ear and going to the ground as several Secret Service agents rushed to cover him with their bodies and people in the crowd also ducked for cover.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, posted a statement on X on Sunday disputing media reports that the Secret Service rejected a request from Trump’s campaign team to supply additional security resources.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” Guglielmi wrote.
Some senators call for investigation of Secret Service
“I call on you to launch a full, public and comprehensive committee investigation into this assassination attempt and failures to adequately protect the president,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in a letter released Sunday formalizing a call for the Senate Homeland Security Committee to investigate the attack on Trump.
The House Homeland Security Committee also asked the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, to testify soon.
Xochitl Hinojosa, spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said in a statement Sunday that Attorney General Merrick Garland has canceled plans to travel to Nevada, Utah and Kansas this week to meet with local law enforcement and speak at the National Bar Association. Hinojosa said Garland will stay in Washington, D.C., to closely monitor the investigation of the attempt on Trump’s life.
“The Attorney General continues to receive regular briefings regarding the attack at former President Trump’s rally,” Hinojosa said. “This morning he met with Department personnel and partners from across government.”
ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(BUTLER, P.A.) — As the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump intensified Sunday, the U.S. Secret Service was coming under scrutiny as questions mounted on how the alleged gunman managed to fire a barrage of shots from the rooftop with a vantage point of the outdoor Pennsylvania rally stage Trump was speaking from.
The FBI identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel, Pennsylvania, whom officials said was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and fired up to eight shots before a Secret Service sharpshooter shot and killed him, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The suspect appeared to be wearing a T-shirt and tan camouflage shorts that blended into the colors of the building he was perched atop.
Watch the ABC News special, “Trump Assassination Attempt Minute by Minute,” Sunday at 8 p.m. ET
The firearm recovered at the scene of the assassination attempt was legally purchased by the suspect’s father, an urgent trace conducted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) found, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Federal investigators said they have found no links between the suspect and any international terrorist group. Investigators said they’re still looking into whether the suspect had any ties to domestic terrorist groups.
The suspect had no U.S. military affiliation, according to the Pentagon.
Investigators are also combing through the suspect’s social media footprint for clues, officials said.
Investigators are looking at what sources describe as misinformation the suspected gunman appeared to have been recently consuming and whether it played any role in the incident, according to law enforcement sources. So far, investigators have not uncovered any ties to extremist organizations or individuals, though they continue to scour information from the suspect’s phone and other digital devices, the sources said.
Trump posted on his Truth Social site that he suffered a bullet wound to his right ear in the attack.
Trump was less than 10 minutes into his campaign speech and had turned his head to look at a jumbotron when the gunfire began, according to witnesses and video of the moment. Video captured the former president reaching for his ear and going to the ground as multiple shots could be heard.
A man who was attending the rally was fatally shot and two other rallygoers were shot and wounded, federal officials said. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the deceased victim as Corey Comperatore. The other names were not immediately released.
Authorities found items of concern inside the shooter’s vehicle parked outside the Trump rally, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Bomb technicians and other experts were called to investigate but there is no immediate word on what the suspicious items were or whether they were potentially harmful. Officials are awaiting information as to what the items were and whether they contained explosives.
The FBI is leading the investigation. Overnight, investigators said they executed a warrant at Crooks’ home.
The roof where the suspect fired from had been surveyed during security preparations for the event, a law enforcement source told ABC News.
The roof was empty during those security preparations, the source said.
It remains under investigation why the Secret Service or local law enforcement didn’t post someone at the building to prevent anyone from accessing the roof.
Secret Service denies report it rebuffed Trump team request for beefed-up security
The former president, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, was seen in a video clutching his right ear and going to the ground as several Secret Service agents rushed to cover him with their bodies and people in the crowd also ducked for cover.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, posted a statement on X on Sunday disputing media reports that the Secret Service rejected a request from Trump’s campaign team to supply additional security resources.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” Guglielmi wrote.
Some senators call for investigation of Secret Service
“I call on you to launch a full, public and comprehensive committee investigation into this assassination attempt and failures to adequately protect the president,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in a letter released Sunday formalizing a call for the Senate Homeland Security Committee to investigate the attack on Trump.
The House Homeland Security Committee also asked the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, to testify soon.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
