Former President Donald Trump underwent a precautionary CT scan after being shot in the upper ear during his campaign event on Saturday. The scan came back clear. Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for the 2024 presidential election, was shot in the upper part of his right ear during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. One audience member was killed, and two others were critically injured.
The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired eight rounds from an AR-15–style rifle from a rooftop outside the rally venue. Crooks was subsequently killed by a sniper from the Secret Service Counter Assault Team.
Also Read: Secret Service Points to Local Police for Security Lapse in Trump Assassination Attempt
Andrew Tate Questions Security Lapse
Andrew Tate commented on the security breach, expressing disbelief at how the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was allowed on the roof. “It just seems very strange to me how this person was allowed to just sit there because they were clearly within the sniper’s view. He was allowed to sit on the roof, got his shots off, and then before he could talk, he was killed. He was put on that roof. He was allowed to be on that roof. Everyone protecting Trump was told not to kill this man until he’d already shot.”
Security Protocol Failures
A source close to the Secret Service revealed major failures in following security protocols at the venue. Questions are being raised about whether the Secret Service has been compromised.
FBI Identifies Shooter
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump. Crooks was killed by the Secret Service seconds after allegedly firing shots toward the stage where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Investigation and Motive
The FBI is working to determine the motive behind the attack, which resulted in one rally attendee’s death and two others critically injured. State voter records show Crooks was a registered Republican, set to vote for the first time in the upcoming election.
Shooter’s Background
Crooks lived about an hour from Butler. The Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace over Bethel Park for “special security reasons.” Crooks had made a $15 donation to ActBlue at 17, earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project.
Family’s Response
Matthew Crooks, Thomas’s father, stated he was trying to understand what happened and would wait to speak to law enforcement before commenting. Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School and received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.
