Thomas Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump, practiced his shooting skills at his favorite shooting range the day before the Department of Homeland Security training session — just two months before he opened fire at a rally for the former president.
According to a club logbook obtained by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Crooks, 20, visited the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania around 3:10 p.m. on May 22 and was practicing alone at the rifle range.
Starting at noon the following day, DHS conducted a “police training” session with at least three people at the shooting range, according to club records.
The Clairton shooting range where Crooks trained is 200 yards long — more than enough space to conduct the 150-yard shooting session that wounded Trump and killed a passerby on July 13.
It was unclear whether DHS regularly conducted training there or whether the May 23 visit was a rare occurrence.
But Crooks has been a frequent visitor to the training ground since joining the team in August 2023, stopping by dozens of times for workouts.
Mr Crooks spent 80% of his time at the club’s rifle range during at least 43 visits, which Mr Grassley’s office said showed “extensive preparations” to attack Mr Trump.
“He has been focused almost exclusively on the rifle range through 2024,” the senator’s office said in a statement.
During his time as a member, Crooks averaged visiting three to six times a month and never brought a client, but he did visit on Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Crooks’ last visit was at 2:45 p.m. on July 12, the day before he opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The motive for the plot to assassinate Crooks has yet to be revealed.
The club is about 30 minutes from Crooks’ hometown of Bethel Park and just over an hour from the meeting site.
A record of his visit was provided to Grassley’s office at Congress’ request.
The Clairton Sportsman’s Club declined to comment on Crooks or the Department of Homeland Security’s use of its facilities, citing the ongoing investigation into the shooting.
