Pentagon Says Trump Rally Gunman Had No Military Affiliation

The Pentagon's deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh holds a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 26, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The man who fired multiple shots during a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, hitting former President Donald Trump in the ear and killing one of the attendees, was not affiliated with any branch of the U.S. military, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

Department of Defense (DOD) deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at a July 15 press conference that there was no enlistment record for the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot dead by a sniper after firing his AR-style rifle at the former president.

“We’ve confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch active or reserve component in their respective databases,” Ms. Singh said.

The spokesperson added that the Pentagon does not plan to make any changes to its military stance in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt.

“I can confirm that there have been no changes to our force posture,” she said, adding that around 1,700 National Guard troops and a small number of active duty personnel are providing security support to civil authorities for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Besides wounding former President Trump, the gunman killed a father of two and left two other men injured.

Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief, was struck by a bullet and died. David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, were wounded but were listed as stable on Sunday.

“As Secretary Austin said on Saturday, this type of violence has absolutely no place in our democracy,” Ms. Singh said. “This is not the way we resolve our differences in America, period.”

What Else Is Known About the Gunman?

The shooter left few clues, with the FBI treating the incident as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

Records indicate that Mr. Crooks was a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania. However, campaign finance reports show he donated $15 to ActBlue, a progressive political action committee, on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

During an FBI search of Mr. Crooks’ home and vehicle, bomb technicians rendered suspicious devices safe, which are now being evaluated at the FBI Laboratory, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times on July 14.

The firearm used in the attack, described as an AR-style rifle, was purchased legally. Mr. Crooks was not previously known to law enforcement, and the FBI believes he acted alone.

Federal agents are working to reconstruct the sequence of events and the gunman’s movements before the shooting. They are collecting evidence, conducting interviews, and examining Mr. Crooks’ phone and other electronic devices.

This image taken from video provided by the Bethel Park School District shows student Thomas Matthew Crooks in the 2022 Bethel Park High School Commencement in Bethel Park, Pa., on June 3, 2022. (Bethel Park School District via AP)

The FBI is also reviewing tips submitted after the shooting, including photographs and videos from the scene, some of which show Mr. Crooks wearing a T-shirt with “Demolition Ranch,” a popular gun-related YouTube channel.

Mr. Crooks’ neighbors and family have been unresponsive to media inquiries.

The Crooks family is cooperating with the FBI investigation, according to Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Crooks, who graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide.

Several students who went to the same high school as Mr. Crooks, including one who spoke with an Epoch Times reporter on Sunday, said that Mr. Crooks was routinely bullied at school.

Jack Phillips and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.