The FBI said a ’suspicious device’ was found in the assailant’s car which was later diffused.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials said on July 14 that they believe the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump acted alone.
The agency is investigating the attack as both an attempted assassination and an act of domestic terrorism, officials told reporters in a press call.
Authorities have identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel, Pennsylvania. At a Trump rally in Butler on July 13, the assailant fired several shots from an elevated position near the venue. Witnesses saw a man with a rifle at a rooftop on a nearby building.
The FBI has not yet identified a motive. Mr. Crook’s family is cooperating in the investigation, officials said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland called the assassination attempt on the former president “an attack on our democracy itself.”
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The Justice Department has “no tolerance for such violence and as Americans we must have no tolerance for it,” Mr. Garland told reporters. “This must stop.”
The agency said a “suspicious device” was located during a sweep of Mr. Crook’s car. It was later diffused by bomb technicians.
FBI Director Chris Wray vowed that the agency would “leave no stone unturned” in their investigation of the attack.
“An attempt to assassinate a presidential candidate can only be described as absolutely despicable and will not be tolerated in this country,” Mr. Wray told reporters.
Prior to the attack, officials said, the perpetrator wasn’t on the FBI’s radar as a potential threat.
The FBI’s screening of the shooter’s social media has so far revealed no ideology or political beliefs that could have been his basis for the attack, officials said.
They say the FBI has received over 2,000 tips so far.
Officials believe the rifle used in the attack was a semi-automatic rifle similar to an AR-15.
Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office, told reporters the weapon belonged to the shooter’s father, who purchased it legally. It’s still unclear how Mr. Crooks got his hands on the rifle, or if his father was aware that he had taken it.
“These are facts that we’ll flesh out as we conduct interviews,” Mr. Rojek said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is developing and will be updated.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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