Thomas Matthew Crooks

(7-14-24) Thomas_Matthew Crooks has been identified as the accused assassin who shot President Trump and one rally attendee who was struck in the head and killed instantly, while two others (including the nephew of Republican congressman Ronny Jackson) were critically injured yesterday in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Crooks was eliminated by the Secret Service Counter Assault Team snipers shortly after the shooting.

The events that took place yesterday…Crooks opened fire with an AR-style rifle from 200 to 300 feet away from the rally stage, from a position on the roof of a shed outside the security perimeter.

FBI Statement—

“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.”

Pennsylvania voting records have listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican. Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022.

When Crooks was 17 he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.

A look at ActBlue –

  • ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007. In the 2005-2006 campaign, the site raised $17 million for 1500 Democratic candidates, with $15.5 million going to congressional campaigns. By August 2007, the site had raised $25.5 million.
  • 2018 midterms elections, ActBlue raised $1.6 billion for Democratic candidates.Conor Lamb, Beto O’Rourke, and Kyrsten Sinema have worked with ActBlue.
  • 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for a wide variety of campaigns. The Daily Beast notes that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million, and that “According to the organization, that total came from 3.3 million unique donors and was dispersed to almost 9,000 Democratic campaigns and organizations, with $246 million coming in the second quarter alone.”
  • 2020, several fundraising records were broken. In the week following the murder of George Floyd, on May 31, over $19 million was raised, the highest single-day total so far that year. On June 1, that yearly record was again broken with $20 million in donations. Over half of donations in the week following the killing went to charitable (non-political) causes, including one ActBlue page devoted to a bail fund which raised over $1.5 million from over 20,000 donors. In the day following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over $30 million was donated through ActBlue, again breaking the single-day fundraising record.
  • 2022, ActBlue brought in $20.6 million on the day the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Crooks donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.