Latest news with #MatthewCrooks
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's Latest Comments On The Anniversary Of His "Surreal" Assassination Attempt Are Going Viral
It's hard to believe it's officially been one year since July 13, 2024 — the day of President Donald Trump's attempted assassination. Related: While speaking to a crowd of supporters on a campaign trail stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was reportedly grazed by a bullet from an AR-style rifle, sustaining an injury to his right ear. The shooter, who Secret Service agents killed at the scene, was identified as 20-year-old Matthew Crooks. Recently, while visiting Texas flood victims, Trump was asked about the upcoming anniversary of his "narrow escape with death." "We're approaching one year from you having a very narrow escape from death. Do you think all of this in any way gives you a unique perspective on what's happening here, and what people are experiencing here in Texas?" the reporter asked. Related: "Well, I went through a lot. It was a crazy time. Surreal actually, if you want to know the truth. I've got this massive crowd of people and all of a sudden, you hear, and you feel something that's very unusual." Related: "It's hard to believe a year is up, and here we are. A lot of things have happened since then, including the presidency. I have an obligation to do a good job, I feel, because I was really saved by somebody very special," Trump said, pointing upwards, seemingly referencing God. "People that are shooters, I'm not so much of a shooter, but people that are shooters say it's almost impossible that that was a miss." Related: "I mean, it was a hit, but it was a miss," Trump said pointing to his right ear. "I do get that throbbing feeling every once in a little bit," Trump said, chuckling. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Midnight food runs and blackout blinds - Life a year later for reclusive parents of Trump's would-be assassin
The parents of Matthew Crooks have remained stubbornly silent and hunkered down a year on from their son's attempted assassination of Donald Trump last July. Matthew and Mary Crooks refuse to speak about their son's actions on July 13, 2024, when knocked on their door this week. Blackout blinds line every window of their modest brick home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and cameras cover every angle to spot intruders. Crooks was 20 when he fired on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, striking the president's ear and killing retired firefighter Corey Comperatore before being shot dead by a law enforcement sniper. Since then his family are barely seen by neighbors, with many assuming they had moved from the leafy area. His sister Katherine, 24, a janitor, has been spotted leaving her apartment less than a mile from her parents' home. But her parents have essentially become recluses, the only sign that the home is still lived in is the vehicle on the driveway moving, though neighbors can't recall the last time this happened. Crooks's father even resorted to buying groceries at 3am in a bid to avoid prying eyes, not keeping to a regular routine. Both he and his wife, who is visually impaired, had previously worked as social workers since 2002. But can reveal that their son's high profile assassination attempt has resulted in neither renewing their licenses, which expired in February of this year. One neighbor told they assumed the family had moved, adding: 'We haven't seen anyone coming or going for quite a while. 'Most of us thought they had moved on or are still keeping to themselves.' His family's silence is just one of the puzzle pieces surrounding the attack, with the FBI still unable to point to a solid motive for why the mild-mannered student targeted Trump that day. Federal profilers have speculated he may simply have wanted to commit a mass shooting and found a convenient target for his dark fantasy in the timing and proximity of Trump's rally, held just 40 miles from where he lived with his parents. In April, Crooks searched websites for information on major depressive disorder and depressive crisis treatment. He left no manifesto or explanation for the shooting. According to CNN, Crooks's parents had attempted to reach their son when they could not find him earlier that day, but he did not respond. They then called law enforcement to tell them that their son was missing. It is not known whether they were aware that he was armed. Since the attack investigators have focused on Crooks's online activity in the months and days leading up to it in a bid to gain some sense of his state of mind. Intriguingly it has emerged that he searched online for information on Michigan mass-shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents. Crooks left home on the day of the rally armed with an AR-15 style rifle that was bought legally by his father in 2013 and transferred to him in 2023. He was an enthusiastic member of Clairton Sportsmen's Club, which he visited the day before the incident to practice. It offers high powered rifle benches with targets up to 187 yards - roughly the distance crooks was from Trump when he shot him. Immediately after the attack the FBI removed 14 firearms from the small family home as well as explosives, a second cellphone, a laptop and a hard drive. In addition to the arsenal recovered from his home investigators recovered rudimentary explosive devices from Crooks's car, a bulletproof vest, additional magazines – bought both online and the previous day from Allegheny Arms & Gun Works – and a drone. Another mystery is why the FBI allowed his body to be released so swiftly after the shooting. While Crooks body was cremated just 10 days after the shooting, it is unclear exactly what the family have done with his remains. There is no plaque or obvious burial spot at the family's plot of land in Mount Royal Cemetery, Glenshaw, which is home to three generations of Crooks. His great grandfather, great grandmother, grandparents and uncle are all buried in the same area, along with other members of the family dating back to 1929. Crooks was 'neutralized' by a Secret Service sniper 26 seconds after he first shot. By then he had already fired eight bullets. He hit Trump, 78, in a grazing shot to his right ear, and struck retired fire chief Comperatore, 50, in the head, killing him. He grievously wounded audience members James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, who suffered 'life altering' injuries as a result of the attack. It comes as the Secret Service suspended six agents over failures during the attack, nearly a year later. Myosoty Perez was one of six agents suspended for between 10 and 42 days. She was sent to the location of the rally ahead of time and was specifically tasked with helping to secure the surroundings, the New York Post revealed. Another agent who helped to coordinate security for the rally was also reportedly suspended, along with four people from the Pittsburgh field office. The final suspension was reportedly an agent on the counter-sniper team. A U.S. Secret Service report released just days before the 2024 election confirmed that 'multiple operational and communications gaps preceded the July 13 attempted assassination.' The Secret Service also described some of the gaps as 'deficiency of established command and control, lapses in communication, and a lack of diligence by agency personnel,' while also noting that 'the accountability process [was] underway.' Dan Bongino - who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent - said last year that Butler was an 'apocalyptic security failure' and called for a full house-cleaning of the upper leadership ranks in the Secret Service D.C. headquarters. But in the aftermath, the agency was hounded with questions about security failures and Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign. Now it has emerged that six agents have since been suspended for their actions that day, ABC News confirmed. They range from supervisors to line agents. 'We are laser focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,' Matt Quinn, the Secret Service deputy director, told CBS. All of the agents have now been suspended according to federally-mandated procedures, Quinn said. He also noted that the Secret Service has introduced a new fleet of military-grade drones and set up new mobile command posts that allow agents to communicate over radio directly with local law enforcement - which was widely seen as one of the major issues with the Secret Service's response to the shooting. Witnesses have explained that having multiple command stations during the July event led to confusion and a scattered response. Scathing: Dan Bongino (pictured with Trump) - who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent - said last year that Butler was an 'apocalyptic security failure' A damning 180-page report released by a House of Representatives task force in December even concluded that the shooting was 'preventable and should not have happened.' It noted that Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe testified that the agency had been operating under the assumption that local law enforcement was going to secure the AGR complex, from where Crooks fired eight shots. The report also included a firsthand account from a Butler cop who spotted Crooks and yelled out that he has a gun - though there is no evidence to suggest the message reached the Secret Service security detail surrounding Trump before Crooks began firing. It concluded that federal, state and local law enforcement officers 'could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments as his behavior became increasingly suspicious.'
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Secret lives of Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks' parents
Behind the blackout blinds lining every window and cameras covering all angles of the modest brick home in Bethel Park, Pa., live the couple who may hold the answer to why Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at President Trump at the Butler campaign rally, striking his ear and killing Corey Comperatore on July 13, 2024. But his parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks, have remained stubbornly silent and hunkered down since the shooting one year ago, and still refuse to speak about their son and his horrific act when Daily Mail knocked on their door this week. Since Crooks' assassination attempt, his family are barely seen by neighbors, with many assuming they had moved from the leafy area. His sister Katherine, 24, a janitor, has been spotted leaving her apartment less than a mile from her parents' home. But her parents have essentially become recluses, the only sign that the home is still lived in is the vehicle on the driveway moving, though neighbors can't recall the last time this happened. Crooks' father even resorted to buying groceries at 3 a.m. in a bid to avoid prying eyes, not keeping to a regular routine. Both he and his wife, who is visually impaired, had previously worked as social workers since 2002. But Daily Mail can reveal that their son's high-profile assassination attempt has resulted in neither renewing their licenses, which expired in February of this year. One neighbor told Daily Mail they assumed the family had moved, adding: 'We haven't seen anyone coming or going for quite a while. Most of us thought they had moved on or are still keeping to themselves.' His family's silence is just one of the puzzle pieces surrounding the attack, with the FBI still unable to point to a solid motive for the seemingly mild-mannered student to shoot Trump. Federal profilers have speculated that Crooks may simply have wanted to commit a mass shooting and found a convenient target for his dark fantasy in the timing and geographical proximity of Trump's rally, which was held just 40 miles from where he lived with his parents. In April, Crooks searched websites for information on major depressive disorder and depressive crisis treatment. He left no manifesto or explanation for the shooting. According to CNN, Crooks' parents had attempted to reach their son when they could not find him earlier that day, but he did not respond. They then called law enforcement to tell them that their son was missing. It is not known whether they were aware that he was armed. Since the attack, investigators have focused on Crooks' online activity in the months and days leading up to it in a bid to gain some sense of his state of mind. Intriguingly, it has emerged that he searched online for information on Michigan mass shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents. Crooks left home on the day of the rally armed with an AR-15 style rifle that was bought legally by his father in 2013 and transferred to him in 2023. He was an enthusiastic member of Clairton Sportsmen's Club, which he visited the day before the incident to practice on the rifle range, which offers high-powered rifle benches with targets up to 187 yards — roughly the distance Crooks was from Trump when he shot him. Immediately after the attack, the FBI removed 14 firearms from the small family home, as well as explosives, a second cellphone, a laptop, and a hard drive. In addition to the arsenal recovered from his home, investigators recovered rudimentary explosive devices from Crooks' car, a bulletproof vest, additional magazines — bought both online and the previous day from Allegheny Arms & Gun Works — and a drone. Another mystery is why the FBI allowed his body to be released so swiftly after the shooting. While Crooks' body was cremated just 10 days after the shooting, it is unclear exactly what the family have done with his remains. There is no plaque or obvious burial spot at the family's plot of land in Mount Royal Cemetery, Glenshaw, which is home to three generations of Crooks. His great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandparents, and uncle are all buried in the same area, along with other members of the family dating back to 1929. Crooks was 'neutralized' by a Secret Service sniper 26 seconds after he first shot. By then he had already fired eight bullets. He hit Trump, 78, in a grazing shot to his right ear, struck retired fire chief Comperatore, 50, in the head, killing him. He grievously wounded audience members James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, who suffered 'life-altering' injuries as a result of the attack. It comes as the Secret Service suspended six agents over failures during the attack, nearly a year later. Myosoty Perez was one of six agents suspended for between 10 and 42 days following the July 13, 2024 attack in Butler. She was sent to the location of the rally ahead of time and was specifically tasked with helping to secure the surrounds, the New York Post revealed. Another agent who helped to coordinate security for the rally was also reportedly suspended, along with four people from the Pittsburgh field office. The final suspension was reportedly an agent on the counter-sniper team. A US Secret Service report released just days before the 2024 election confirmed that 'multiple operational and communications gaps preceded the July 13 attempted assassination.' The Secret Service also described some of the gaps as 'deficiency of established command and control, lapses in communication, and a lack of diligence by agency personnel,' while also noting that 'the accountability process [was] underway.' Dan Bongino — who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent — said last year that Butler was an 'apocalyptic security failure' and called for a full house-cleaning of the upper leadership ranks in the Secret Service's D.C. headquarters. But in the aftermath, the agency was hounded with questions about security failures, and Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign. Now it has emerged that six agents have since been suspended for their actions that day, ABC News confirmed. Those who were suspended ranged from supervisors to line agents, and they all had the right to appeal their suspensions, which ranged from 10 to 42 days without pay or benefits, according to CBS News. 'We are laser focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,' Matt Quinn, the Secret Service deputy director, told CBS.
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Blackout blinds and midnight grocery runs: Inside the reclusive lives of Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks' parents
Behind the blackout blinds lining every window and cameras covering all angles of the modest brick home in Bethel Park, Pa. live the couple who may hold the answer to why Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire at President Trump at the Butler campaign rally, striking his ear and killing Corey Comperatore on July 13, 2024. But his parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks, have remained stubbornly silent and hunkered down since the shooting one year ago, and still refusing to speak about their son and his horrific act when Daily Mail knocked on their door this week. Since Crooks assassination attempt, his family are barely seen by neighbors with many assuming they had moved from the leafy area. His sister Katherine, 24, a janitor, has been spotted leaving her apartment less than a mile from her parents' home. But her parents have essentially become recluses, the only sign that the home is still lived in is the vehicle on the driveway moving, though neighbors can't recall the last time this happened. Crooks father even resorted to buying groceries at 3am in a bid to avoid prying eyes, not keeping to a regular routine. Both he and his wife, who is visually impaired, had previously worked as social workers since 2002. But Daily Mail can reveal that their son's high profile assassination attempt has resulted in neither renewing their licenses, which expired in February of this year. One neighbor told Daily Mail they assumed the family had moved, adding: 'We haven't seen anyone coming or going for quite a while. 'Most of us thought they had moved on or are still keeping to themselves.' His family's silence is just one of the puzzle pieces surrounding the attack, with the FBI still unable to point to a solid motive for the seemingly mild-mannered student to shoot Trump. Federal profilers have speculated that Crooks may simply have wanted to commit a mass shooting and found a convenient target for his dark fantasy in the timing and geographical proximity of Trump's rally which was held just 40 miles from where he lived with his parents. In April, Crooks searched websites for information on major depressive disorder and depressive crisis treatment. He left no manifesto or explanation for the shooting. According to CNN, Crooks' parents had attempted to reach their son when they could not find him earlier that day, but he did not respond. They then called law enforcement to tell them that their son was missing. It is not known whether they were aware that he was armed. Since the attack investigators have focused on Crooks' online activity in the months and days leading up to it in a bid to gain some sense of his state of mind. Intriguingly it has emerged that he searched online for information on Michigan mass-shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents. Crooks left home on the day of the rally armed with an AR-15 style rifle that was bought legally by his father in 2013 and transferred to him in 2023. He was an enthusiastic member of Clairton Sportsmen's Club which he visited the day before the incident to practice on the rifle range which offers high powered rifle benches with targets up to 187 yards - roughly the distance crooks was from Trump when he shot him. Immediately after the attack the FBI removed 14 firearms from the small family home as well as explosives, a second cellphone, a laptop and a hard drive. In addition to the arsenal recovered from his home investigators recovered rudimentary explosive devices from Crooks' car, a bulletproof vest, additional magazines – bought both online and the previous day from Allegheny Arms & Gun Works – and a drone. Another mystery is why the FBI allowed his body to be released so swiftly after the shooting. While Crooks body was cremated just 10 days after the shooting, it is unclear exactly what the family have done with his remains. There is no plaque or obvious burial spot at the family's plot of land in Mount Royal Cemetery, Glenshaw, which is home to three generations of Crooks. His great grandfather, great grandmother, grandparents and uncle are all buried in the same area, along with other members of the family dating back to 1929. Crooks was 'neutralized' by a Secret Service sniper 26 seconds after he first shot. By then he had already fired eight bullets. He hit Trump, 78, in a grazing shot to his right ear, struck retired fire chief Comperatore, 50, in the head, killing him. He grievously wounded audience members James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, who suffered 'life altering' injuries as a result of the attack. It comes as the Secret Service suspended six agents over failures during the attack, nearly a year later. Myosoty Perez was one of six agents suspended for between 10 and 42 days following the July 13, 2024 attack in Butler. She was sent to the location of the rally ahead of time and was specifically tasked with helping to secure the surrounds, the New York Post revealed. Another agent who helped to coordinate security for the rally was also reportedly suspended, along with four people from the Pittsburgh field office. The final suspension was reportedly an agent on the counter-sniper team. A US Secret Service report released just days before the 2024 election confirmed that 'multiple operational and communications gaps preceded the July 13 attempted assassination.' The Secret Service also described some of the gaps as 'deficiency of established command and control, lapses in communication, and a lack of diligence by agency personnel,' while also noting that 'the accountability process [was] underway.' Dan Bongino - who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent - said last year that Butler was a 'apocalyptic security failure' and called for a full house-cleaning of the upper leadership ranks in the Secret Services D.C. headquarters. But in the aftermath, the agency was hounded with questions about security failures and Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign. Now it has emerged that six agents have since been suspended for their actions that day, ABC News confirmed. Those who were suspended ranged from supervisors to line agents, and they all had the right to appeal their suspensions, which ranged from 10 to 42 days without pay or benefits, according to CBS News. 'We are laser focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,' Matt Quinn, the Secret Service deputy director told CBS. All of the agents have now been suspended according to federally-mandated procedures, Quinn said. He also noted that the Secret Service has introduced a new fleet of military-grade drones and set up new mobile command posts that allow agents to communicate over radio directly with local law enforcement - which was widely seen as one of the major issues with the Secret Service's response to the shooting. Witnesses have explained that having multiple command stations during the July event led to confusion and a scattered response. Dan Bongino (pictured with Trump) - who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent - said last year that Butler was a 'apocalyptic security failure' A damning 180-page report released by a House of Representatives task force in December even concluded that the shooting was 'preventable and should not have happened.' It noted that Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe testified that the agency had been operating under the assumption that local law enforcement was going to secure the AGR complex, from where Crooks fired off eight shots. The report also included a firsthand account from a Butler cop who spotted Crooks and yelled out that he has a gun - though there is no evidence to suggest the message reached the Secret Service security detail surrounding Trump before Crooks began firing. It concluded that federal, state and local law enforcement officers 'could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments' as his behavior became increasingly suspicious.'
The Independent
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘I just got you': SWAT team member breaks silence on firing ‘9th shot' that slowed Trump's would-be assassin in Butler
The SWAT team leader who fired on President Donald Trump's would-be assassin at last year's campaign rally in Butler has spoken for the first time about the moment he took the 'ninth shot' that slowed the gunman. Aaron Zaliponi, an Army combat veteran turned sniper, recalled thinking: 'I just got you,' as he struck Matthew Crooks with a bullet, slowing his salvo of gunshots that struck the president and killed one person in the crowd on July 13 last year at the Pennsylvania rally. The 46-year-old, a police sergeant with the rural Adams Township who serves on the county SWAT team, is convinced that his single shot is what saved more lives that day, he told The Washington Post. He believes his bullet hit Crooks' gun or the man himself, delaying more shots, before a Secret Service sniper delivered the fatal shot on the would-be assassin. Officials, including Butler County's district attorney, the county's SWAT team commander and Congressman Clay Higgins, who investigated the assassination attempt, agree that 'the ninth shot stopped Crooks from firing again.' A bullet grazed Trump's ear as Secret Service agents bundled him to the ground after 20-year-old Crooks opened fire at the campaign rally. Two others were injured and one of his bullets killed rallygoer Corey Comperatore. Zaliponi, a father of two, recollected standing in the open field about 115 yards away from Crooks, between him and the rally stage. 'There you are,' Zaliponi recalled thinking as he spotted the gunman on the roof of a warehouse. He took out his M4 SWAT rifle, aligned the red dot of its scope with the gunman's chin and fired just once. Crooks 'jerked hard to the right and slumped over his weapon,' Zaliponi told The Post. 'It wasn't like he was ducking or flinching. Something smacked him. Whether it was my round hitting the buttstock or the buttstock exploding in his face, I know I hit him.' Crooks didn't fire again. The 6-foot-3 police sergeant revealed that he only ended up being posted in a red barn to the north of the rally stage because he lost a coin toss. His colleague won the coveted position of joining the federal counterassault team to stay close to Trump during the visit. As the crowd was restlessly waiting for the president to appear, a local officer pointed out Crooks as one of four people behaving suspiciously, Zaliponi recalled. 'Just keep an eye on him,' Zaliponi said he told the officer. 'Let me know what's going on.' About 20 minutes before Trump went onstage, an alert came over the radio about a young male 'lurking around' the warehouses belonging to local business Agr International. Police lost sight of Crooks and called in more officers to track him down, according to transcripts obtained by The Post. Zaliponi and members of the SWAT team left their positions in the barn and looked towards the Agr building, he told The Post. 'Male on the roof with a long gun,' SWAT commander Ed Lenz urgently relayed over the radio. 'Go, go, go,' Zaliponi recalled ordering members of his counterassault team to race to the complex where Crooks was. 'Technically, I should have gone with my team,' he told the outlet. 'I don't know what it was, but something told me to stay there.' Zaliponi and hisrifle's red-dot sight had no magnification, making Crooks a challenging target, when he was spotted on the roof. He aimed for Crooks's chin, quickly evaluating that it would be better to risk missing low and hit his body than miss high. 'All this went through my head in a millisecond,' Zaliponi said. Zaliponi said he was '110 percent sure' he made the shot after seeing Crooks jerk to the right and slump backward. He kept his rifle pointed on the roof's peak before a Secret Service countersniper fired the shot that killed Crooks. Despite his heroism, for weeks after the shooting, Zaliponi said he has flashbacks. He struggled with one regret. 'I wish I would have just looked up to the roof sooner,' Zaliponi told The Post. 'Maybe everyone's still here.' While the FBI said there was 'no forensic evidence' that the ninth bullet hit Crooks or his rifle, others have credited Zaliponi for his actions that day. 'It's very reasonable to say Aaron Zaliponi saved lives that day,' GOP Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, told The Post. 'At the moment he needed to perform, he performed beautifully, and he has not been recognized enough for that.'
