BETHEL PARK, Pa. – A criminal profiler said Thomas Matthew Crooks’ assassination attempt on former President Trump in western Pennsylvania last week was likely not politically motivated and not a random act of violence.
Keith Howard, the chief deputy of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and a criminal profiler, shared with Fox News Digital the behavioral science behind Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempted assassination.
Howard said the shooting of Trump points to an “organized thinker” and not a random act of violence.
“As much chaos as these events may bring to what we observed, they really are organized thinkers,” he said. “Think of it not as an impulsive act. They don’t typically just wake up in the morning and go, ‘There’s going to be a presidential candidate in my county, in my district, so I’m just going to go over and try to kill him.’
“Regardless of how, if you look at this type of individual and go, ‘Well, he may have been a loner or didn’t have many friends or weren’t close, it doesn’t mean he can’t think,” he said.
Howard said the FBI’s investigation may reveal this is a crime of opportunity.
“And if we do this behavioral analysis, if he’s searching for something to be infamous, then when he’s searching for the Trump rallies and the Democratic National Convention, and he sees that one is going to be in his backyard, now all his actions have come into place.
“I would imagine that some of these things are being assessed as they [FBI] gather this information.”
Howard also said it would be no surprise if the FBI eventually revealed Crooks was not politically motivated.
“Let’s look at what history has told us about the event we’re looking at, and what does the research tell us about that?” Howard said.
Citing a 1980s research study done by the U.S. Secret Service, Howard said there is no profile of an assassin or attempted assassin.
“You can go from 16-year-old to 60 years old,” he said. “And there is rarely mental illness a part of that as well.”
Howard said the FBI’s behavioral science unit is likely to conduct an indirect personality assessment, which would include interviewing as many people who knew Crooks with a list of standardized questions.
The questions, the expert said, would be focused on Crooks’ prior characteristics and traits before he acted out against Trump.
“The methodology there is that you want to make sure that you’re asking the same question to the same people so you’re getting back the totality of the answers that come together,” he said. “They’re going to also compare that to the crime scene information that they have and begin a behavioral construction.
“They’re going to start to piece together what they think behaviorally about the offender,” he added. “Once they get what they believe is the most information they can get, then they start to move into the motivational typology of what they believe motivated this type of individual.”
According to the FBI, investigators have gained access to Crooks’ cellphone and laptop. Howard said that access to Crooks’ phone and computer will be “tremendous” as the investigation unfolds.
“The phone is a closer link to his mind,” he said. “If there are pictures, if there are plans, it will be tremendous when it comes to understanding offender behavior.
“There is also geofencing that they are able to track,” he said. “I know this is a top priority for the federal government.”
Crooks was shot dead by snipers after firing a volley of shots at Trump’s rally July 13 at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler.
Classmates of Crooks, who graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, revealed that the 20-year-old was “quiet” with just a few friends, and he was described as a “loner.”
One peer at Bethel Park High School said Crooks was an avid gamer who enjoyed building computers.
While Crooks was a registered Republican, his father was a registered Libertarian and his mother was a Democrat, according to records.
Investigators have yet to pinpoint a motive for the assassination attempt.
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