Former US President Donald Trump has consented to meet with the FBI for a “victim interview” about this month’s assassination attempt, FBI authorities announced Monday.
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials provided an update on the state of the investigation into the July 13 shooting, saying they have yet to uncover a motivation for the attack by the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
They said Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service sniper after firing eight bullets during Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, looked to be a “loner” and that no co-conspirators had been uncovered.
“We have learnt the subject was highly intelligent, attended college and maintained steady employment,” Rojek told reporters. “His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances.”
According to FBI investigators, Crooks’ parents have stated that they were unaware of their son’s plot. “We do find that to be credible at this stage,” Rojek told the audience.
According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified before a congressional committee last week, Crooks searched online for information regarding Lee Harvey Oswald’s November 1963 shooting of US President John F. Kennedy.
“On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?'” Wray told the press.
According to Rojek, the inquiry indicated that Crooks “also made searches related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister earlier this year.”