FBI to ask for Trump’s ‘perspective’ in shooting probe witness interview

Originally Published: 29 JUL 24 10:46 ET

Updated: 29 JUL 24 11:34 ET

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Donald Trump has agreed to sit for a victim interview with the FBI, which is investigating this month’s attempted assassination, an agency official said Monday.

Victim interviews are a routine part of criminal investigations, but are voluntary.

“The interview of the former president will be consistent with any other victim interview that we do,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, told reporters on a conference call Monday. The FBI wants to “get his perspective on what he observed, just like any other witness to the crime.”

“It is a standard victim interview, like we would do for any other victim of crime under any other circumstances,” Rojek said.

FBI investigators continue to focus their efforts on uncovering the motive of the 20-year-old would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Crooks was “highly intelligent” and had a growing interest in shooting, Rojek said. While officials had already revealed that he searched “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy” before the shooting, Rojek said Monday that he also made searches related to “power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister earlier this year.”

His primary social circle “appears to be limited to his immediate family, as we believe, he had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life,” Rojek said.

“While the FBI investigation may not yet have determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities,” Rojek said. “Additionally, we believe his actions also show careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.”

Used alias to buy guns and chemicals and encrypted emails

Crooks also used aliases to make firearms-related purchases online.

“Starting in the spring of 2023, the subject made more than 25 different firearms related purchases from online firearms vendor using an alias,” Rojek said.

In the first half of 2024, Crooks also made “six chemical precursor-related purchases online of materials used to create the explosive devices recovered in the subject’s vehicle and home,” Rojek said.

“For those purchases he used aliases,” Rojek added.

Crooks used foreign-based encrypted email accounts to purchase firearm components, chemicals and other explosive components, investigators said Monday.

Bobby Wells, assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, said that the bureau had trouble initially gaining access to the accounts because of their encryptions. But since they accessed the accounts, investigators found that the shooter was using the emails primarily to make online purchases.

“We also identified some additional accounts and identifying information, including aliases he was using on these encrypted platforms,” Wells said.

Parents weren’t alarmed by Crooks having explosive-related materials because of his interest in science, FBI says

While Crooks had explosive components in his home and purchased chemical precursors previously, investigators said his parents didn’t have clear reasons to report on their son prior to the shooting.

“As far as what was in the home, the chemicals and explosive-related materials,” Rojek said, “it’s our understanding from the parents and others that the shooter had a long interest in science and things like this, doing experiments and things like this over a period of time.”

He added that because of that, his parents “weren’t concerned” that the materials could have been “focused on committing an attack of this nature or harming other people.”

“He wasn’t hoarding ammunition” or doing things that would raise clear red flags for his parents, Rojek said, adding that they have been “extremely cooperative” with the FBI.

Describing Crooks’ isolation from others, Rojek highlighted his lack of friends both online and in person.

“Even in his gaming chatrooms, we see very little interaction” with others, Rojek said, adding that it was unusual to see such a lack of activity there. “To date, we have not found anyone that is really close in any type of social circle.” 

This story has been updated with additional details.

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