Exclusive | Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks had sick obsession with guns, federal documents reveal
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 backgrou...