FBI Documents Reveal New Details on Trump Would-Be Assassin Thomas Crooks
Newly released FBI files detail the isolated upbringing, psychological profile, and bizarre habits of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the young man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump in July 2024 in Pennsylvania, was born without making a sound. Newly revealed FBI investigative documents, obtained exclusively by the New York Post and submitted to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, shed light on the troubled upbringing and isolated psychology of the shooter.
A Distant Father-Son Relationship
According to the files, the shooter's father, Matthew Crooks, told investigators that a "real father-son bond" was never truly established between them. Described as profoundly withdrawn, Crooks barely expressed strong emotions, rarely laughed, and remained extraordinarily difficult to decode throughout his life. The father recounted an incident where frustration over fish-tank maintenance boiled over, leading him to push Thomas to tears simply to provoke any emotional reaction whatsoever.
Despite severe social isolation, Crooks was academically gifted, scoring an impressive 1500 on the SAT, and held a fixation on the comic book character Iron Man. Investigators uncovered bizarre purchasing habits as his obsession with firearms grew. He ordered rifle parts and tools on Amazon under the pseudonym "Bob Dole," naively believing the alias would safeguard his bank accounts from cyber attacks. He even manufactured a plastic and carbon-fiber Glock 19, though his father forbade him from using it out of fear it would explode.
Political Ambiguity and Final Conclusions
"He never showed signs that anything was wrong," the father concluded in his testimony, noting that the family still struggles to comprehend what drove his son to target Donald Trump, kill one attendee, and injure two others.
Politically, Crooks presented a complex profile. Registered as a Republican, he opposed "woke" ideology yet rejected claims that the 2020 election was rigged, even making a small donation to a progressive organizing group. Despite extensive disclosures, federal authorities continue piecing together the precise catalysts behind the unprecedented security breach.
