FBI to Interview Donald Trump After Assassination Attempt

The FBI has confirmed that Donald Trump would be interrogated as part of the investigation into his own attempted assassination.

This comes as it was revealed that police saw gunman Thomas Crooks more than an hour before he opened fire, and even took a photo of him to share with other officers.

Crooks shot the former president Donald Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

“We want to hear his thoughts on what he saw,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said on Monday.

The scheduled interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI’s usual practice for speaking with victims of federal crimes while conducting investigations.

The FBI has developed a portrait of the gunman based on around 450 interviews.

Crooks, 20, was described as a “highly intelligent” yet introverted young guy who had few friends and acquaintances.

Mr. Rojek went further: “The shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person.”

The FBI named Thomas Matthew Crooks around seven hours after the alleged assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania

He said a local cop photographed Crooks and relayed it to other law enforcement authorities at the gathering.

Then, about 30 minutes later, SWAT squad members observed Crooks using a rangefinder and surfing news websites, according to Mr Rojek.

Crooks was spotted carrying a rucksack around 5.56pm local time, less than 20 minutes before the incident.

At 6.08pm, he was observed on a police dashboard camera stepping on the roof, from whence he fired the rounds, Mr Rojek said.

Snipers killed Crooks after he opened fire at the rally, wounding Donald Trump and killing bystander Corey Comperatore (50).

According to the FBI, crooks looked up information about mass shootings, power plants, and improvised explosive devices online.

It is unclear what Crooks’ motivations were for the attack, but authorities believe the shooting was meticulously planned.

This includes purchasing chemical precursors in recent months, which authorities suspect were used to manufacture the explosive devices discovered in his car.

On the day Crooks registered to attend the Donald Trump event, he searched the internet for “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” in reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, the shooter who assassinated President John F. Kennedy from a sniper’s perch on November 22, 1963.

Mr Rojek stated that Crooks’ parents were “extremely cooperative” and had no knowledge of their son’s plans.