The FBI has released new details about former President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, 20, along with additional information for the public.
During a press conference call with reporters on Monday, Kevin Rojak, special agent in charge at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, described Crooks as a “loner, as far as his association or any other activities related to his mental state.”
“His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family, as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life,” Rojak added, according to Fox News.
Jason Kohler, who attended the same high school as Crooks, described the shooter to Fox News as an “outcast” who was always alone and was “bullied every day.” In addition, he told reporters that Crooks used to sit alone at lunchtime and was ridiculed for his clothing, which often included “hunting outfits.”
In retrospect, some classmates noted warning signs that Crooks might have had the capacity to orchestrate the violent attack that resulted in one man’s death, critically injured two people and harmed a former president of the United States.
“The signs were there, and somebody definitely had to have known,” Vincent Taormina, another former classmate of Crooks, previously told Fox News.
In the weeks since the attack, reports have suggested a number of failings ahead of Crooks opening fire at the Butler, Pa., rally. For instance, the lead sharpshooter for a local SWAT team revealed a shocking detail that will cause concern among many Americans.
In an interview with ABC News reporter Aaron Katersky, the local Beaver County, Pa., team said it had “no communication” whatsoever with the U.S. Secret Service before the shooting attempt and did not make contact until afterward.
On the day of the rally, the SWAT team was positioned on the second floor of the building that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, later used to shoot that day. The lead sharpshooter noted that the SWAT team was supposed to receive a “face-to-face briefing” with the Secret Service agents when they arrived on site; however, it never happened.
“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service snipers whenever they arrived, and that never happened. So I think that that was probably a pivotal point where I started thinking things were wrong because that never happened, and we had no communication with the Secret Service,” the lead SWAT sharpshooter said.
Katersky again pressed the team’s top sharpshooter, asking if he had received any communication from the Secret Service “at all on that Saturday.” The SWAT leader clarified that there was no communication from the agency “until after the shooting.”
“And by then —” Katersky interjected before the SWAT sharpshooter responded, “It was too late.”
Katersky continued to explain that the local SWAT team had deemed Crooks “suspicious” before the shooting, and had sent texts with a description and pictures of the 20-year-old. However, none of this information was passed on to Secret Service leaders because of a lack of communication between the two groups.
The SWAT team was assigned to the second floor of Building 6 at the American Glass Research facility by the Secret Service. From there, they could only see into the crowd at the Trump rally. Katersky pointed out that the team reported their inability to see Crooks was not due to a sloped roof or hot weather, but was actually due to the placement chosen by the Secret Service.
There’s more. Local law enforcement provided radios to the U.S. Secret Service for cross-agency coordination during the July 13 rally. However, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on July 28 that the Secret Service never used the radios, as reported by The Blaze.