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Donald Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks’ former school guidance counselor has said there was no official record that he was bullied, and that “something evil happened” which caused him to snap and decide to shoot the former president.
Jim Knapp, who retired from Bethel Park in 2022, said the school took a “proactive approach” towards bullying and mental health.
Crooks opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in an attempt to kill the former president. His bullets clipped Trump but killed another man, Corey Comperatore, who was protecting his family from the attack.
An official motive for Crooks’ actions is yet to be discovered by investigators. However, since the incident, students from Bethel Park have alleged that he was mocked over his attire and bullied “every day.”
Speaking to WPXI, Knapp described the 20-year-old as a “quiet young man” who was “the type of person you pretty much knew he wanted to be by himself.”
Bethel Park school district said they don’t have any reports of bullying, though some in the community have argued that such incidents can often go unreported. Knapp told WPXI that many times reports come in through the school’s anonymous tip line.
Knapp says such reports would be in student files, but that there were none. “The notes would have been taken and we’d have been responsible for letting the appropriate people know,” he said.
He added that, in his opinion, “something happened.”
“Mental health kicked in... something evil happened in this world and he snapped and whatever occurred, occurred,” he said, adding: “Bethel Park has always taken the proactive approach towards bullying and mental health.”
Knapp told WPXI he initially wasn’t going to speak out, but felt it was important to share what he did remember from his time as Crooks’ counselor.
“I wish I could say more... we feel for the families affected,” he said.
Since the shocking incident on Saturday, multiple reports have emerged – often conflicting – about Crooks’ behavior at school and his interactions with other students.
Some mocked him for the way he dressed, such as hunting outfits, fellow student Jason Kohler told reporters. “He was bullied almost every day,” Kohler told reporters. “He was just an outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays.”
But Crooks “never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything,” Sarah D’Angelo, who attended Bethel Park High School alongside Crooks, told The Wall Street Journal.
She said Crooks enjoyed playing video games, and was known to have “a few friends,” but lacked “a whole friend group.
For Knapp though, the news came as a terrible shock. “Hearing Thomas’s name sent chills down my spine,” he said.
