Trump agrees to FBI interview for assassination attempt probe

The agency says they want the ex-US president’s ‘perspective on what he observed’ during July 13 rally shooting

Former US President and Republican Party 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would sit for an interview with the FBI, as part of an investigation into this month’s attempt on his life, the agency announced on Monday.

Trump narrowly avoided death at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, when he was shot in the ear. One person in the audience was killed, and two more were wounded.

The FBI wants to “get his perspective on what he observed, just like any other witness to the crime,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office Kevin Rojek told reporters in a conference call. He explained that this kind of interview is standard practice for a victim of a crime.

More than two weeks following the attempt on Trump, the FBI investigation has yet to establish the shooter’s motive.

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The gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots at the Republican presidential nominee as he was mid-speech at an open-air campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, grazing Trump’s ear.

“While the FBI investigation may not yet have determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities,” Rojek said. The agency believes his actions illustrate “careful planning ahead of the campaign rally,” the FBI official added. He noted Crooks had a small social circle, which “appears to be limited to his immediate family,” and had “few friends and acquaintances throughout his life.”

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The would-be assassin had used aliases to make purchases related to firearms and explosives, Rojek explained. Earlier this year, Crooks bought “six chemical precursor-related purchases online of materials used to create the explosive devices recovered in the subject’s vehicle and home,” he said.

The failed assassination has spurred widespread criticism and questions about what security measures were put in place before the event.

Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency will leave “no stone unturned” as it looks into what happened. A day earlier, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned admitting her agency had failed to properly guard the Republican frontrunner.