President Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, developed an obsession with firearms and long-distance shooting in the years leading up to his deadly rampage at the July 2024 Butler, Pa., campaign rally, according to federal records reviewed by The Post.
The details of Crooks’ interest in guns and target practice were included in a trove of documents provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), as part of his ongoing inquiry into the first Trump assassination attempt.
The gunman’s father, Matthew Crooks, told federal investigators that his son’s conversations with him were usually brief and related to firearms.
However, he did not liken their shared interest in guns and shooting to a form of father-son bonding, telling investigators he believed Thomas “had ulterior motives” that became clear “the minute he pulled that trigger,” in a possible reference to the Trump assassination attempt.
The Panther Arms A-15 semi-automatic rifle used by Thomas to carry out the assassination attempt was given to him by his father the morning of the shooting.
Matthew explained that he took the rifle out of his locked gun safe — for which he changed the combination frequently after noticing his son would look over his shoulder to see the code he was entering – and gave it to Thomas, thinking he was heading to a shooting range on July 13, 2024.
Thomas first took an interest in guns and shooting during the pandemic.
He was a “terrible” shot at first, his father explained.
“He could not hit the paper [target],” read a summary of Matthew’s interview with the FBI the day after the Butler rally shooting.
It took Thomas about four or five years of practice before he could actually hit the paper target, according to his father.
Thomas was interested in eventually owning his father’s and grandfather’s guns.
In one interaction Matthew described as “odd,” his son asked him if “he would have to do a background check” to buy his Glock pistol.
In another strange incident, Matthew watched Thomas via a surveillance camera pacing in the family’s garage, with his “arms going up and down … frantically talking and not making any sense” as the 20-year-old cleaned one of his guns.
The bizarre scene played out on July 7, 2024, just days before the Trump assassination attempt.
At the gun range, Thomas was able to shoot further distances after purchasing a prism sight, and he became “very knowledgeable” about how to measure and zero in his sight, according to his father.
The sight may have been among the numerous “parts, tools and items to increase the capacity of his rifle” that Thomas purchased on Amazon using the pseudonym “Bob Dole.”
Thomas would often come back from the shooting range showing his father his shot grouping on targets that were 100-plus yards out.
When Matthew questioned Thomas — who was not a hunter — why he was “going out so far,” he told his father he just wanted to see how far he could shoot with rudimentary sights.
On at least one occasion, Thomas even attempted to manufacture a weapon on his own.
Using his 3D printer, Thomas made a Glock-19-style handgun and showed it to his father.
Matthew told investigators he discharged only one round from the 3D-printed weapon, and, fearing the frame would explode, barred Thomas from taking it to the range.
