FBI concludes Trump’s would-be assassin acted alone during rally shooting

The FBI this week concluded its probe into the first assassination attempt against President Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year, finding that the deceased suspect acted alone and without motive.

FBI Director Kash Patel, in an interview with Fox News, said Trump was informed of the FBI’s conclusion to its investigation “as a victim of this case” and said the president was “satisfied with the results and where we left it.” The probe was a “Day One priority” for the agency, Patel added.

“We have reviewed this case over and over — looked into every nugget,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News Digital. “We have spoken to the families, the president — there is no cover-up here. There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.”

Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the suspect after Secret Service agents shot and killed the 20-year-old after the suspect opened fire from the roof of a building at the Butler, Pa., event in July 2024. One rallygoer died from a gunshot wound and a bullet grazed the president’s ear.

Patel on Friday criticized former FBI Director Christopher Wray over the Biden administration’s handling of the case, and for not knowing “if it was a bullet that hit President Trump in the head.”

“The whole world knew it was a bullet,” he said. “For the number one law enforcement officer to say that — it causes a massive disbelief in the institution that Dan and I are now running. But that is the difference between then and now.”

While the findings suggest Crooks acted alone, a senior FBI official who spoke with Fox News said if a credible lead is brought forth, “we’ll continue to investigate.”

The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) also came under scrutiny following the shooting. Helen Comperatore, the wife of Corey Comperatore, the Trump supporter killed at the rally, cast blame for her husband’s death on the agency.

“We were all sitting ducks that day,” she told Fox News in July. “Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life.”

USSS agents grabbed the then-candidate and pulled him off the stage, blood strewn across the right side of his face. Trump stopped, raised his fist and yelled, “Fight, fight, fight,” before leaving the stage.

When reflecting on the incident, the president later said his ear was “bleeding like a b—-,” according to the book “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.”

In the year that followed, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal watchdog found that the Secret Service countersniper team was chronically understaffed.

The shooting became a turning point for Republicans, bringing new energy to their base and galvanized the Trump campaign ahead of the 2024 election. His words “Fight, fight, fight” became a slogan used on the campaign trail and since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Crooks himself became a subject of scrutiny from critics of the intelligence community. Pundit Tucker Carlson clashed with the FBI online over the suspect’s digital footprint, which the conservative claimed the agency said was nonexistent.

Carlson accused the FBI of lying.

“This FBI has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever,” the FBI’s “rapid response” X account shot back in response..