The FBI recently released details and images related to an attack planned by Thomas Matthew Crooks at a Trump campaign rally, which tragically resulted in one death.

On July 13, Thomas Matthew Crooks targeted a campaign rally for former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, leading to a fatal incident, Fox News reported.

Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old without a clear political affiliation, had been tracking the former president's campaign events meticulously. Announced earlier in July, the Butler event quickly became the focus of his extensive pre-attack preparations.

Extensive Pre-Attack Research Conducted By Crooks

From April to just before the attack, Crooks conducted over 60 online searches concerning both President Biden and former President Trump. His queries included details about their campaign schedules in Pennsylvania.

Specifically, on July 4 and July 6, Crooks searched for details about the Butler rally at the Butler Farm Show, showing his intent to gather comprehensive information about the event's logistics.

His online activities also included searches for 'AGR international,' possibly related to the venue and local weather conditions on July 10, further indicating his intention to understand the rally environment fully.

Surveillance and Actions on the Day of the Rally

On the day of the rally, Crooks was spotted near the rally site at 4:26 p.m. Subsequent surveillance footage captured him maneuvering across rooftops near the Butler Farm Show venue.

Between 6:05 p.m. and 6:08 p.m., Crooks was recorded moving to a position that gave him a strategic vantage point over the rally. This culminated in the tragic shooting at 6:11 p.m., where he spent only six minutes in position before the incident occurred.

FBI analysis revealed Crooks also operated a drone in the vicinity for about 11 minutes prior to the rally, potentially to assess the security setup.

FBI Investigates Motives and Tactical Preparations

While the FBI has disclosed these details, they have not confirmed a definitive motive for Crooks or identified any accomplices who might have known about his plans in advance. His research included alarming inquiries like the distance Lee Harvey Oswald was from President Kennedy during his assassination.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge, expressed that Crooks had engaged in "a sustained detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, scrutinizing any number of possible events or targets." This included events associated with both Biden and Trump.

Regarding the drone found, Rojek commented, "However, we will never be able to determine the exact motivation for why the subject flew the drone. We can only speculate based on our assessment of the flight path and what we're able to determine through our analysis by the lab."

Community and National Response to the Tragedy

The community of Butler and the broader national audience must grapple with the ramifications of this incident. The lack of a clear motive and the detailed planning involved have raised concerns about the security of public events and the challenges in predicting such attacks.

As the investigation continues, the FBI hopes to uncover more about Crooks' actions and whether others might have been complicit in this tragic event. Meanwhile, the release of the images of Crooks' weapons and the details of his preparations serve as a sad reminder of the dangers facing public figures and the complexities involved in safeguarding public events.

The FBI will provide further updates as they delve deeper into the digital and physical evidence collected in the aftermath of the July 13 attack.