Would-Be Trump Assassin Researched Oswald-Kennedy Killing, FBI Director Testifies; Motive Still Unclear

FBI director Christopher Wray revealed several new details about the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump during a Wednesday hearing, including the fact that the would-be assassin researched the Oswald-Kennedy assassination ahead of his attempt on Trump’s life.

Wray was called before the House Judiciary Committee to explain how would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, managed to make his way onto a rooftop just outside Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and fire into the crowd, wounding Trump and killing former fire chief Corey Comperatore. Two others were critically wounded during the shooting before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks.

A search of Crooks’s laptop revealed that he began researching the Trump rally roughly one week before the event. The would-be assassin’s browsing history suggests he was reading news articles about various public figures around that time, though Wray insisted that there was no discernible pattern as to the identity of those figures. Crooks’s motive remains unclear, Wray testified, revealing that the bureau has not uncovered any manifesto or other piece of evidence that would explain why he targeted Trump.