Newly disclosed FBI documents describe years of increasingly strange behavior by Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump before he was killed by Secret Service fire.
The records, provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as part of his ongoing inquiry into the July 2024 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, include FBI interviews with Crooks’ father, Matthew, and were reviewed by the New York Post.
Matthew Crooks told investigators his son “did not scream” when born in 2003 and stayed emotionally distant throughout his life, rarely laughing or showing strong feelings. He said he “never really had a father/son bond” with Thomas.
Thomas developed an obsession with firearms and long-distance shooting beginning during the pandemic, and his father said he was a “terrible” shot at first.
“He could not hit the paper [target],” Matthew Crooks told FBI agents the day after the Butler rally shooting.
It took four to five years of practice before he improved, the father said, but he was eventually able to shoot targets more than 100 yards out using a prism sight he learned to “zero in” with precision.
Thomas bought rifle parts on Amazon using the pseudonym “Bob Dole,” a habit his father said stemmed from misplaced fears about being hacked after a bank account breach. He also used VPN and encrypted email services, and once built a Glock 19-style handgun with a 3D printer, firing it only once before his father intervened, fearing the frame would explode.
Days before the shooting, on July 7, 2024, Matthew watched his son on a surveillance camera pacing in the garage, arms moving erratically while “talking and not making any sense” as he cleaned a gun.
Matthew also recalled Thomas asking, oddly, whether he’d need a background check to buy his father’s Glock.
The elder Crooks handed over the Panther Arms A-15 semi-automatic rifle his son used to shoot at Trump the morning of the assassination attempt, saying he took the weapon out of his locked gun safe and gave it to Thomas, believing he was going to a shooting range.
He told investigators he changed the combination often after noticing his son look over his shoulder to watch him enter the code.
After the attack, Matthew said he did not view their shared interest in guns as bonding, telling investigators he believed his son “had ulterior motives” that became clear “the minute he pulled that trigger.”
The documents also describe Thomas as a strong student who scored a 1500 on a retake of the SAT, briefly considered the military, and once donated $15 to a Democratic-aligned group despite registering as a Republican.
He idolized the Marvel character Iron Man, enjoyed war films like “Saving Private Ryan,” and would sometimes dance alone in his room.
Despite the years of odd behavior, Matthew said his son “never showed any signs indicating something was wrong,” leaving the family “racking their brains” for an explanation.
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