Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Sunday that bomb-making materials were found in the car and home of a man suspected in an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
A law enforcement official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said bomb-making materials were found both in the car and home of the suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Authorities swarmed a home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on Sunday believed to have ties to Crooks. CBS News reported. CBS added that roads to the home were closed and nearby residents evacuated on Sunday.
The discovery came just one day after Crooks allegedly opened fire at a Trump rally at an agricultural show in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding the former president and killing a spectator. Two other attendees were also seriously injured, according to the Secret Service.
Authorities shot and killed Crooks at the scene shortly after the incident.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with state-level prosecutors, executed warrants Sunday to identify suspects and determine their motive. How he gained ownership Weapons and explosives The New York Times reported.
The Secret Service said the suspect fired an AR-type rifle from “an elevated position outside the rally venue,” raising questions about how he was able to get close to the former president. The Associated Press reported that the suspect was on a rooftop less than 150 meters from where the former president was speaking.
Investigators said the weapon used by Crooks was believed to have been purchased by his father at least six months ago, according to the Associated Press, which added that authorities were still investigating to determine how and when Crooks acquired the gun.
Crooks’ political affiliation was not immediately clear — records show he was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania — but federal campaign finance reports also show he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in, the Associated Press reported.
On Sunday morning, Trump called on Americans to come together, adding that “only God prevented the unthinkable.”
“Now more than ever it is important that we come together, show our true character as Americans, stand strong and determined and do not let evil win,” Trump said.I wrote in the post“I love this country with all my heart, and I love you all, and I look forward to speaking to this great nation from Wisconsin this week,” he said at Truth Social.
