It has been nearly a year since Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Since then, questions about the would-be assassin have swirled on the airwaves and interwebs. The fact that there has not been much information released about the killer, who took the life of one of the rally’s attendees, has added to the speculation.
The lack of information has prompted numerous conspiracy theories and demands for answers. The New York Times published a comprehensive piece that attempts to put some of the pieces together — but there is still much that is unknown about the 20-year-old who tried to kill Trump.
Assassination attempt on Donald Trump!
— BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) July 14, 2024
Several gun shots were fired at him in a rally at Butler, Pennsylvania
Bullet grazed his upper part of ear
Suspected Shooter Dead.
An innocent bystander was hit dead.
Congratulations "President" Trump!
Reason why PM .@narendramodi Ji… pic.twitter.com/aY5WG40Oxj
The article describes Crook as a quiet, high-achieving engineering student who was on a promising path before showing signs of serious mental illness. Crooks did not have many friends and seemed to be an introvert. However, he seems to have been close to his family. Just two years before the incident, the introverted Crooks recorded a class video about cooking holiday meals with his family, saying, “I don’t think there’s any better way to spend time with family than cooking meals together.”
His teachers described him as “a really intelligent kid,” and his academic record was impeccable. However, at some point, his mental health began to unravel. His father told the authorities that he began “dancing around his bedroom” late at night and “talking to himself with his hands waving around.”
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His father noticed his mental health declining in the year before the shooting, and particularly in the months after graduation. He later told investigators that he had seen his son talking to himself and dancing around his bedroom late at night, and that his family had a history of mental health and addiction issues, according to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, parts of which were shared with The Times. The younger Mr. Crooks was also making the depression-related queries online, investigators found.
The report examined the last years of Crooks’ life, noting that he underwent a gradual and hidden transformation. He went from being a shy engineering student who complained about political polarization to a focused killer who was building bombs and making frequent trips to the shooting range.
Crooks operated in secret, using aliases and encrypted networks to purchase bomb-making materials in 2024. He purchased over two gallons of nitromethane. He conducted dozens of online searches about Trump, former President Joe Biden, and firearms. Just one week before carrying out the shooting, he searched, “How far was Oswald from Kennedy?”
Meanwhile, Crooks maintained a normal outward appearance. He held a steady job and was preparing to transfer to a four-year university. “What I heard from people in his department is that there was no clear indications of changes in his behavior or routine,” said Reggie Brown, a former HR manager his workplace.
On July 13, Crooks told his parents that he was going to the gun range. He never returned. “I should have known better,” said Matthew Crooks, Thomas’ father.
His political leanings are difficult to discern based on public information. His father described his son’s views as ambiguous, saying he would “go back and forth and kind of argue both sides.” Crooks also discussed Trump and Biden, but never indicated whether he favored one over the other.
He donated $15 to Democrats in 2021, but later registered as a Republican when he turned 18. One classmate stated that “on the rare occasions when the conversation turned to politics, he seemed to be in the middle of the road,” according to The New York Times.
His family’s political views were pretty diverse.
On President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inauguration day in January 2021, Mr. Crooks donated $15 to a committee backing Democrats. But when he turned 18 that fall, he registered as a Republican. His family’s political affiliations were as diverse as the swing state they lived in: His older sister, Katherine, and his father were registered as Libertarians, and his mother was a Democrat.
In 2023, Crooks expressed frustration with politics. He wrote an essay arguing in favor of ranked-choice voting, citing the “divisive and incendiary campaigns which are pulling the country apart.”
He further argued that “We need an election system that promotes kindness and cooperation instead of division and anger.”
I’m not sure we will ever know the truth about Crooks. Was he politically motivated? Or perhaps he viewed Trump as one of several related to the “incendiary” nature of American politics. It’s also possible that there is no political rationale and that his mental illness drove him to commit a high-profile murder.
Moreover, it is highly possible that the government knows more about the assassination attempt than it is letting on. It would not be the first — or last — time the state concealed information of this nature. If we ever do find out the full truth, it will likely be years — maybe even decades from now.
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