CNN
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Donald Trump has agreed to take a seat for a sufferer interview with the FBI, which is investigating this month’s attempted assassination, an company official stated Monday.
Sufferer interviews are a routine a part of legal investigations, however are voluntary.
“The interview of the previous president will probably be in keeping with every other sufferer interview that we do,” Kevin Rojek, the particular agent in control of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Area Workplace, instructed reporters on a convention name Monday. The FBI needs to “get his perspective on what he noticed, similar to every other witness to the crime.”
“It’s a commonplace sufferer interview, like we’d do for every other sufferer of crime beneath every other circumstances,” Rojek stated.
FBI investigators proceed to focus their efforts on uncovering the motive of the 20-year-old would-be murderer, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks was “extremely smart” and had a rising curiosity in taking pictures, Rojek stated. Whereas officers had already revealed that he searched “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy” earlier than the taking pictures, Rojek stated Monday that he additionally made searches associated to “energy vegetation, mass taking pictures occasions, info on improvised explosive gadgets and the tried assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister earlier this yr.”
His main social circle “seems to be restricted to his instant household, as we consider, he had few pals and acquaintances all through his life,” Rojek stated.
“Whereas the FBI investigation could not but have decided a motive, we consider the topic made vital efforts to hide his actions,” Rojek stated. “Moreover, we consider his actions additionally present cautious planning forward of the marketing campaign rally.”
Used alias to purchase weapons and chemical substances and encrypted emails
Crooks additionally used aliases to make firearms-related purchases on-line.
“Beginning within the spring of 2023, the topic made greater than 25 totally different firearms associated purchases from on-line firearms vendor utilizing an alias,” Rojek stated.
Within the first half of 2024, Crooks additionally made “six chemical precursor-related purchases on-line of supplies used to create the explosive gadgets recovered within the topic’s automobile and residential,” Rojek stated.
“For these purchases he used aliases,” Rojek added.
Crooks used foreign-based encrypted e mail accounts to buy firearm elements, chemical substances and different explosive elements, investigators stated Monday.
Native sniper who noticed Trump shooter 1.5 hours earlier than failed assassination try speaks out
Bobby Wells, assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, stated that the bureau had hassle initially getting access to the accounts due to their encryptions. However since they accessed the accounts, investigators discovered that the shooter was utilizing the emails primarily to make on-line purchases.
“We additionally recognized some further accounts and figuring out info, together with aliases he was utilizing on these encrypted platforms,” Wells stated.
Whereas Crooks had explosive elements in his residence and bought chemical precursors beforehand, investigators stated his dad and mom didn’t have clear causes to report on their son previous to the taking pictures.
“So far as what was within the residence, the chemical substances and explosive-related supplies,” Rojek stated, “it’s our understanding from the dad and mom and others that the shooter had an extended curiosity in science and issues like this, doing experiments and issues like this over a time period.”
He added that due to that, his dad and mom “weren’t involved” that the supplies might have been “targeted on committing an assault of this nature or harming different individuals.”
“He wasn’t hoarding ammunition” or doing issues that will increase clear pink flags for his dad and mom, Rojek stated, including that they’ve been “extraordinarily cooperative” with the FBI.
Describing Crooks’ isolation from others, Rojek highlighted his lack of pals each on-line and in individual.
“Even in his gaming chatrooms, we see little or no interplay” with others, Rojek stated, including that it was uncommon to see such a scarcity of exercise there. “So far, we’ve got not discovered anybody that’s actually shut in any kind of social circle.”
This story has been up to date with further particulars.