FBI files: Trump's would-be assassin practiced 100-yard shots the day before Butler rally

The day before Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto a rooftop outside a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally and fired eight shots at Donald Trump, he was at the Clairton Sportsmen's Club — practicing. A witness at the club told federal investigators he remembered Crooks working on a 100-yard shot on July 12, 2024, the same day a co-worker last spotted him at his nursing home job, where he had already arranged the next day off.

Those details are among the findings in roughly 600 pages of newly unclassified FBI documents released through the office of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. The files — drawn from interviews with Crooks' relatives, neighbors, teachers, classmates, law enforcement officers, and gun range employees — offer the most detailed account yet of how a 20-year-old engineering student spent years quietly building toward the July 13, 2024 attack that killed one person, wounded two others, and grazed Trump's ear.

The rifle Crooks used — a Panther Arms A-15 semi-automatic — was handed to him that morning by his own father. Matthew Crooks told investigators he took the weapon from his locked gun safe and gave it to his son, believing Thomas was heading to a shooting range. Matthew had changed the safe's combination frequently after noticing his son would look over his shoulder to watch him enter the code, according to the New York Post, which reviewed the documents.

He could not hit the paper [target].— Summary of Matthew Crooks' FBI interview, describing his son's early shooting ability

That was years before the attack. Matthew Crooks told investigators his son first became interested in guns during the Covid pandemic and spent roughly four or five years practicing before he could reliably hit a paper target. By the time of the rally, Crooks had become, in his father's words, 'very knowledgeable' about how to measure and zero in a prism sight — a piece of equipment that allowed him to shoot at greater distances. He regularly returned from the range showing his father shot groupings on targets more than 100 yards out. When Matthew asked why he was shooting so far, Thomas said he simply wanted to see how far he could go with basic sights.

Crooks visited the Clairton Sportsmen's Club roughly once a week on average, according to federal documents. He also enrolled in basic and intermediate handgun courses at Keystone Shooting Center outside Pittsburgh, and ordered gun parts online using the pseudonym Bob Dole — purchases his father said may have included the prism sight. An employee at Keystone described Crooks as 'an odd duck' and 'not someone they would want their daughter to spend time with,' according to investigators' notes.

The documents also capture a disturbing scene from July 7, 2024 — less than a week before the attack. Matthew Crooks watched his son on a home surveillance camera pacing in the family garage, 'arms going up and down … frantically talking and not making any sense' while cleaning one of his guns, according to the Post.

Crooks' father told investigators that conversations with his son were usually brief and centered on firearms, but that he did not view their shared interest in guns as a form of father-son bonding. He said he believed Thomas had 'ulterior motives' that became clear 'the minute he pulled that trigger.' Crooks also used a 3D printer to manufacture a Glock-19-style handgun, which he showed his father. Matthew said he fired one round from it, feared the frame would explode, and barred his son from taking it to the range.

Beyond the guns, the documents sketch a young man who was intellectually sharp but socially isolated. Professors at the Community College of Allegheny County described him as a sharp student and 'a delight in class.' He had earned his associate degree and was planning to study engineering at Robert Morris University. Former classmates said he was a history buff who could name all U.S. presidents and enjoyed discussing the New Deal. Investigators noted that what drove Crooks was 'his enjoyment in being the smartest person in the room.'

At Bethel Park High School, Crooks had no close friends and was occasionally bullied — though investigators noted the bullying 'was never considered excessive, a chronic issue, or outside of normal High School behaviors.' He would 'shut down' around large groups or authority figures. Despite being a registered Republican, he was critical of both parties and donated $15 to the Democratic-run Progressive Turnout Project in 2021. Classmates said he was shocked when Trump won the presidency in 2016 but otherwise discussed politics without strong feeling.

On the day of the rally, Crooks waited six minutes into Trump's speech before firing. Secret Service snipers identified his position on a rooftop outside the Butler Farm Show grounds and killed him. Despite the volume of material now released, a central question remains unanswered.

We don't know anything about the motivation [of] why [Crooks] wanted to kill Trump.— Sen. Chuck Grassley, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman

Why it matters — The documents provide the most detailed public account yet of how Crooks prepared for the attack — but the 600 pages still leave unanswered the question of why he targeted Trump.

Reported by nbcnews.com, nypost.com