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Former President Donald Trump has agreed to participate in a victim interview with the FBI following an attempted assassination on July 13. The interview is a standard part of criminal investigations and is voluntary. Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, stated that the interview would be conducted like any other victim interview, aiming to gather Trump's perspective on the incident.
The FBI continues to investigate the motives of the would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. According to Rojek, Crooks was "highly intelligent" and had a growing interest in shooting. His online searches included topics related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister earlier this year.
Crooks' social circle was limited, primarily consisting of his immediate family. He had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life. The FBI believes that Crooks made significant efforts to conceal his activities and showed careful planning ahead of the campaign rally where the assassination attempt took place.
Crooks used aliases to make online purchases of firearms and chemical precursors for explosive devices. He also used foreign-based encrypted email accounts for these purchases. The FBI initially had difficulty accessing these accounts due to their encryption but has since found that Crooks primarily used the emails for online purchases.
Despite Crooks' possession of explosive components and his previous purchases of chemical precursors, investigators stated that his parents had no clear reasons to report their son prior to the shooting. Crooks had a long-standing interest in science and experiments, which his parents did not find concerning.
Crooks' parents have been "extremely cooperative" with the FBI, Rojek said.