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The father of 20-year-old would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was previously identified by the former president’s campaign as one of the voters in his area most likely to respond favorably to pro-gun messaging.
That’s according to confidential data obtained by Britain’s Channel 4 News, which said 53-year-old Matthew Crooks—who legally purchased the AR-15 rifle used by his son to fire at Trump as he spoke at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on Saturday—was covertly profiled by the Trump team in 2016 as “a strong Republican, likely gun owner and ‘hunter.’”
The campaign’s private database analyzed 6.7 million people in the Keystone State, a crucial battleground in the race for president, listing Matthew Crooks, a registered Libertarian, as among the top 20 prospects of 19,000 residents in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park, Channel 4 reported. He scored highly “across a range of gun-related [data] models,” according to the outlet, and was flagged by the Trump team as a voter “who could be susceptible to political messages about gun-rights.”
Crooks’ mother, a Democrat, was also singled out by Trump’s campaign as a likely gun owner who was potentially receptive to such messaging.
Overall, the Trump campaign ranked roughly 50 million individuals in 10 swing states, using the firearms-specific data models, according to Channel 4, which called the data-ming program “secretive.”
Crooks, a registered Republican who was not an attendee at Saturday’s rally, squeezed off at least eight shots from a nearby rooftop, clipping Trump in the ear. Trump was not seriously wounded, but one spectator was killed and two others critically injured. FBI officials said they were unsure if Crooks’ father had given his son permission to use the firearm, or if he had taken it without the older man’s knowledge.
The family is said to be cooperating with authorities. Shortly after he opened fire, Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.
Follow our live blog for updates on the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Matthew Crooks, a registered Libertarian, in 2013 bought the gun used in Saturday afternoon’s assassination attempt, a person familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post. Crooks purchased 50 rounds of 5.56 ammunition earlier on Saturday, authorities said. A former member of a shooting club in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a teenage Crooks was rejected by his high school’s rifle club for being a “dangerous” shot, according to one former classmate.
Many questions remain unanswered about the shooting, and experts have slammed the Secret Service for not preventing Crooks from posting up on the building, which the feds say was outside the rally perimeter and the responsibility of local cops.
Reached on Sunday by The Independent, Crooks’ uncle Mark said he had “no idea” what his nephew’s motivations for Saturday’s shooting might have been.
