Thomas Matthew Crooks (20 September 2003-13 July 2024) was an American man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania who, on 13 July 2024, attempted to assassinate former President of the United States Donald Trump as he gave a campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was killed by a US Secret Service rifleman after killing one rallygoer and injuring three, including Trump.
Biography
Thomas Matthew Crooks was born in 2003, and he was raised in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. His father was a registered Libertarian and his mother a Democrat, while he became a Republican voter in September 2021; that January, he had donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project in response to an email about "tuning into" Joe Biden's inauguration. He was bullied at school, but he received recognition for his intelligence and his math and science abilities. He worked as a kitchen worker in a local nursing home before, during the 2024 presidential election, deciding to kill Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024. Equipped with an AR-15 rifle, he positioned himself on the roof of a manufacturing site shed 200-400 feet north of where Trump was giving his speech. He fired several shots at Trump, grazing the upper part of his right ear; one rally-goer, Corey Comperatore, was struck in the head and killed instantly, while two (including the nephew of Republican congressman Ronny Jackson) were critically injured. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service Counter Assault Team sniper soon after the shooting, and Trump was sent to the hospital in stable condition. Crooks' shooting of Trump was the first time a former or current American president or presidential candidate was injured in an attempted assassination since President-elect Ronald Reagan in 1981.