Trump gunman Thomas Crooks searched ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’ before assassination attempt
Trump gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks searched for details about Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination of President John F. Kennedy before he opened fire on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, the FBI director revealed Wednesday.
“We’ve just in the last couple of days found that from our review … analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals that on July 6, he did a Google search for ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’” Christopher Wray told a congressional hearing.
The chilling detail is the latest hint at why Crooks tried to kill Trump during his appearance on stage in Butler, Pennsylvania. So far, investigators have not been able to find conclusive clues about his motive.
“That’s a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind,” Wray said. “That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.”
Oswald’s fatal shots at Kennedy’s motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963, were made from about 88 yards. Crooks was even farther away, about 130 yards — though still a shot that most practiced marksmen could make.
As a Marine veteran, Oswald was a trained marksman and fired three shots, the last of which killed Kennedy.
He was also a known entity to both the FBI and CIA before the assassination.
Crooks “was a fairly avid shooting hobbyist,” Wray told lawmakers, and got off eight rounds — but was not on the bureau’s radar.
“We did not have any information about the shooter,” the FBI director disclosed. “He was not in our holdings before the shooting.”
“So far, we have not found any evidence of any accomplices or co-conspirators, foreign or domestic,” he added at another point. “A lot of people describe him as a loner. … His list of [cell phone] contacts, for example, is very short.”
Other images recovered from the Crooks’ laptop search history, according to Wray, did not point to an immediate motive for targeting Trump.
“There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason so far,” he said. “They cover both parties, they cover both US people and even some foreign public officials.”
Earlier, Wray told members of the House Judiciary Committee that Crooks operated the drone roughly 200 yards from the main stage between 3:50 and 4 p.m. July 13, roughly two hours before Trump began his speech to supporters at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
“He was livestreaming the footage,” the FBI director confirmed during a line of questioning from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), adding that the drone was up in the air for an “about 11-minute” window.
Crooks visited the rally site three times, Wray added, once a week before and twice on the day of the shooting, in the morning and afternoon.
Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
- The gunman grazed Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old retired fire chief, and injured two other rally-goers.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he looked for the dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
- Crooks’ search history also revealed a broad interest in high-profile people and celebrities, regardless of their political affiliation, FBI officials reportedly said.
- Trump exclusively recounted surviving the “surreal” assassination attempt with The Post at the rally, remarking, “I’m supposed to be dead.”
- High-profile politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it “a heinous, horrible and cowardly act.”
He purchased a ladder that would have been able to ease his access to the roof of the AGR International Inc. building — but never used it at the scene.
Wray also revealed that three “relatively crude” explosive devices, two of which were later seized from Crooks’ car and another from his residence that were capable of had remote detonation capabilities via a transmitter found on his body after he was shot dead by Secret Service counter-snipers.
However, the “on/off” switch on the receiver held by Crooks did not appear to be working.
“If he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” Wray noted. “But that doesn’t mean the explosives weren’t dangerous.”
The top G-man also said he was “not aware of any threat information related to protectees that wasn’t passed in a timely way” to field agents, but cautioned about ongoing terror threats — including an Iranian assassination plot against Trump.
“We need to recognize the brazenness of the Iranian regime — including right here in the United States — and I expect that we’re going to see more of it,” Wray warned.
The Judiciary panel hearing comes one day after the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, whose disastrous testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday led to bipartisan calls for her to step down.
