US FBI: "Trump shooter also searched for Biden events... motive unclear"

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, was found to have also looked up events involving President Joe Biden during the planning of the attack.

According to the Associated Press (AP) and others on the 28th (local time), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that Crooks conducted extensive attack planning by searching for campaign events of both President Biden and former President Trump, primarily in western Pennsylvania, between September last year and July this year.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump [Image source=Yonhap News]

Kevin Rojek, head of the FBI's Pittsburgh office, said, "Analysis of online search records showed continuous and detailed efforts to plan an attack on certain events," adding, "This means he looked into multiple events or targets."

He continued, "When former President Trump announced on the 13th of last month that he would hold a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks saw it as a target of opportunity."

According to Rojek, Crooks' internet search terms included phrases such as "Where does Trump speak at the Butler Farm Show," "Butler Farm Show podium," and "Butler Farm Show photos."

The FBI stated that Crooks' motive for the crime remains unclear. Crooks holds a politically mixed ideology, and they have not found definitive evidence indicating whether he leans left or right.

Rojek said, "We are not ready to make a definitive announcement regarding the motive at this time."

He also stated that there is no evidence that Crooks conspired with others or that there were other gunmen involved during the shooting.

Meanwhile, according to The New York Times (NYT) and others, former President Trump claimed in an interview with Phil McGraw, host of the TV program "Dr. Phil Show," the day before, that he believes "to some extent, Biden and Harris are responsible" for the shooting incident against him.

He cited the reason, saying, "Our people have always fought to strengthen security and secure more Secret Service (SS) personnel. They knew it was not enough," adding, "They weaponized the government against me and involved the Department of Justice to try to get me. They didn't really care about my health or safety."

"They say I am a threat to democracy," he said, "and they know that if they keep saying that, it could motivate a potential assassin. Maybe that bullet was because of their words."

Regarding the 2020 presidential election results, Trump repeated his claims of election fraud, mentioning California, where Biden won by nearly 30 percentage points, saying, "If Jesus had counted the votes, I would have won in California. If there had been honest vote counters, I would have won in California."