Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Rally Gunman Searched Online About Kennedy Assassination, FBI Director Says
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 9 months ago on
July 24, 2024

FBI Director Christopher Wray reveals new details about the Trump rally gunman's online searches and drone use before the shooting. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Wednesday that a laptop tied to the Trump rally gunman included a Google search of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?”

That is a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, the shooter who killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

The Google search, apparently by rally gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, was done on July 6, a week before the shooting of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania

Wray disclosed the new details in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

Gunman Flew Drone Near Rally Stage Hours Before Shooting

WASHINGTON — Just hours before opening fire, the gunman in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump flew a drone roughly 200 yards (180 meters) from the rally stage where the Republican former president would later stand, viewing and livestreaming the footage, FBI Director Christopher Wray told congressional lawmakers on Wednesday.

The FBI recovered the drone and a controller from the car of 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crook and is analyzing it as agents investigate his background and motive.

Wray’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee represents his most detailed comments to date about the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, which has thrust the FBI into a political maelstrom, with the bureau probing the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.

The details about Crooks’ use of a drone just hours before Trump took the stage for the rally add to the questions about the security lapses preceding the event.

Wray Pledges to Leave “No Stone Unturned” in Investigation

Wray pledged to lawmakers that the FBI would “leave no stone unturned” in its investigation of a shooting that he called despicable and horrific.

“I have been saying for some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment, and tragically the Butler County assassination attempt is another example — a particularly heinous and public one — of what I’ve been talking about,” Wray said.

The hearing had been scheduled well before the July 13 shooting as part of the committee’s routine oversight of the FBI and the Justice Department, and though lawmakers may touch on a broad array of topics, questions about the shooting are expected to dominate the session.

Despite being appointed by Trump, Wray typically faces antagonistic questions from the Republican-led panel, a reflection of lingering discontent over the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 campaign.

That sentiment was made clear early in the hearing when the panel’s Republican chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, told Wray: “I’m sure you understand that a significant portion of the country has a healthy skepticism regarding the FBI’s ability to conduct a fair, honest, open and transparent investigation.”

Though the FBI has avoided the same level of scrutiny over the shooting directed at the Secret Service over security failures that preceded the shooting, culminating Tuesday in the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle, Wray is likely to be questioned by lawmakers skeptical of the bureau’s assessment that Crooks left behind no obvious ideological motive that could explain his actions.

The FBI has said it is investigating the shooting, which killed one rallygoer and seriously injured two others, as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination. Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which Trump said pierced the upper part of his right ear.

Wray and other senior officials privately briefed members of Congress last week, telling them that Crooks had photos on his phone of Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden and other officials and had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Convention as well as Trump’s appearances.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press last week that Crooks had also flown a drone above the rally site before the event in an apparent effort to scope out the scene in advance.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

22 Miles on Foot, 10 Minutes on a Tram: An ‘Extraordinary’ Day Hike

DON'T MISS

Bakersfield to Host Sanders and AOC in ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Event

DON'T MISS

Jaguar and Land Rover Maker Pauses Shipments to US as It Develops Post-Tariff Plans

DON'T MISS

China Hit Brakes on TikTok Deal After Trump Announced Wide-Ranging Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Shohei Ohtani Throws Second Bullpen Since Resuming Mound Ramp Up

DON'T MISS

Visalia Traffic Stop Nets $30K in Xanax, Marijuana

DON'T MISS

Fresno Joins Global Protest Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk

DON'T MISS

2 US Border Inspectors Charged With Taking Bribes to Wave in People Without Documents

DON'T MISS

The Latest: Trump’s Tariffs Unleash Trade War and Calls for Negotiations

DON'T MISS

Phone Footage Appears to Contradict Israel’s Account in Troops’ Killing of 15 Palestinian Medics

UP NEXT

Bakersfield to Host Sanders and AOC in ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Event

UP NEXT

Jaguar and Land Rover Maker Pauses Shipments to US as It Develops Post-Tariff Plans

UP NEXT

China Hit Brakes on TikTok Deal After Trump Announced Wide-Ranging Tariffs

UP NEXT

Shohei Ohtani Throws Second Bullpen Since Resuming Mound Ramp Up

UP NEXT

Visalia Traffic Stop Nets $30K in Xanax, Marijuana

UP NEXT

Fresno Joins Global Protest Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk

UP NEXT

2 US Border Inspectors Charged With Taking Bribes to Wave in People Without Documents

UP NEXT

The Latest: Trump’s Tariffs Unleash Trade War and Calls for Negotiations

UP NEXT

Phone Footage Appears to Contradict Israel’s Account in Troops’ Killing of 15 Palestinian Medics

UP NEXT

Trump and Netanyahu to Discuss Gaza Crisis and Tariffs at Upcoming Meeting

China Hit Brakes on TikTok Deal After Trump Announced Wide-Ranging Tariffs

18 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Throws Second Bullpen Since Resuming Mound Ramp Up

18 hours ago

Visalia Traffic Stop Nets $30K in Xanax, Marijuana

19 hours ago

Fresno Joins Global Protest Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk

19 hours ago

2 US Border Inspectors Charged With Taking Bribes to Wave in People Without Documents

21 hours ago

The Latest: Trump’s Tariffs Unleash Trade War and Calls for Negotiations

22 hours ago

Phone Footage Appears to Contradict Israel’s Account in Troops’ Killing of 15 Palestinian Medics

22 hours ago

Trump and Netanyahu to Discuss Gaza Crisis and Tariffs at Upcoming Meeting

23 hours ago

Trump Doubles Down That Tariffs Will Pay Off for Americans

23 hours ago

Senate GOP Approves Trump’s Tax Breaks and Spending Cuts After Late-Night Session

23 hours ago

22 Miles on Foot, 10 Minutes on a Tram: An ‘Extraordinary’ Day Hike

The steep trail near the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was covered in inches of spongy fallen needles and peppered with ankle-twist...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

22 Miles on Foot, 10 Minutes on a Tram: An ‘Extraordinary’ Day Hike

18 hours ago

Bakersfield to Host Sanders and AOC in ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Event

18 hours ago

Jaguar and Land Rover Maker Pauses Shipments to US as It Develops Post-Tariff Plans

18 hours ago

China Hit Brakes on TikTok Deal After Trump Announced Wide-Ranging Tariffs

18 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Throws Second Bullpen Since Resuming Mound Ramp Up

A Visalia traffic stop on Friday, April 4, 2025, for tinted windows led to the arrest of a 22-year-old man after police found $30,000 worth of Xanax pills and a pound of marijuana in his vehicle. (Visalia PD)
19 hours ago

Visalia Traffic Stop Nets $30K in Xanax, Marijuana

19 hours ago

Fresno Joins Global Protest Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk

21 hours ago

2 US Border Inspectors Charged With Taking Bribes to Wave in People Without Documents

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend