Thomas Crookes’ Neighbors Speak Out
Kelly Little, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital that she rarely saw the family of the Trump shooter, despite living across the street.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive, but the true identity of the 20-year-old man who attempted to assassinate former President Trump is beginning to emerge as former classmates come forward.
Few people applauded when Thomas Matthew Crooks, a slender, bespectacled 2022 Bethel Park High School graduate, was handed his diploma, a YouTube video of the ceremony showed.
Former colleagues who have spoken out since he was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent on Saturday have described the Pennsylvania resident as a quiet loner.
Jason Kohler, who attended the same high school as Crooks, told Fox News that he was “a lonely boy” who was always alone and “bullied every day”.
Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ parents were registered with professional counselors in Pennsylvania: records
Undated photograph of Thomas Matthew Crookes. (Courtesy of AFP)
Kohler told reporters that Crooks would sit alone at lunch and would often be mocked for wearing “hunting clothes.”
Julianna Grooms, who graduated a year after Crooks, also said Crooks was awkward around the school, wearing camouflage and hunting gear.
“If anyone said anything to his face, he would just stare,” Grooms said. The Wall Street Journal“People will say he’s a student who will be a school shooter.”
“He was a nerdy kid, but I don’t think he was bullied as badly as some people say,” said Mark Sigafoos, who had two of the same classes as Crooks. Inquirer. “He never wore a trench coat to school.”
“He never publicly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump,” Sarah D’Angelo, a classmate of Crooks’ at Bethel Park High School, told the outlet, recalling watching Crooks play games on his laptop during homeroom before class started.
FBI accesses Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone in Trump assassination attempt
The Bethel Park School District has confirmed that the suspect in the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on former President Trump is a Bethel Park High School graduate. Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in the class of 2022. (Bethel Park School District)
“I think this is something that is so unusual for him,” Sigafoos continued. “Nobody I knew ever thought of him as a creepy, lonely guy.”
Crooks is a 2022 National Mathematics and Science Initiative STAR Award recipient. Tribune Review In an article from his senior year, Sigafoos said his now-infamous classmate was “very kind” in helping him when he couldn’t understand the material in class.
Sigafoss said he did not recall Crooks making any political comments in class and that while he seemed interested in how government worked, “he didn’t try to bring his own beliefs into it.”
“Shocked is an understatement,” Sigafoos added. “None of my friends could imagine that the man we know would try to kill Trump.”
Max R. Smith, who took Crooks’ U.S. history class as a college sophomore, said Crooks made political statements but offered no explanation for his actions Saturday.
Discord publishes details of would-be Trump assassin’s account on its platform
Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“He was definitely a conservative,” he told the Inquirer. “I wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on a conservative candidate.”
Smith recalled that during a mock debate, a teacher asked students to stand on either side of the classroom and show their support or opposition to various proposals.
“Most of the class was liberal, but Tom always took the conservative side no matter what,” Smith said. “That’s still how I remember him. He just stood on one side while everyone else in the class was on the other side.”
“Everybody is shocked,” Smith said. “He was so quiet, you just couldn’t imagine he’d do something like that, but I think it was the same with Columbine.”
FBI visits Pennsylvania gun club where Trump assassin belonged
Thomas Matthew Crooks, pictured, is a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. (Google Maps)
Crooks reported being unemployed in 2020 but most recently worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a state-licensed transitional facility.
Marcy Grimm, the center’s administrator, said in a statement Sunday that Crooks “performed his duties without any concerns” and that a background check had passed.
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ABC News According to team members at the time, Crooks had tried to join the school’s rifle club but was rejected and asked not to rejoin.
He was a member of the Clairton Sportsman’s Club, which the FBI visited as part of its investigation.
