Last Update July 16, 2024 04:15pm ET

FBI investigates attempted assassination of former President Trump

The Secret Service is facing heightened scrutiny in the wake of the assassination attempt against former President Trump, in which the shooter was allowed to bring a rifle onto a nearby rooftop in broad daylight. The FBI is investigating the Trump shooting as well as the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Covered by: Chris Pandolfo, Elizabeth Pritchett, Greg Wehner and Bradford Betz

Fast Facts:

•  Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt that killed one of his supporters and wounded two others during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. 
•  The shooter has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, and the FBI is investigating his specific motive. 
•  Corey Comperatore, was fatally shot while two other victims, 57-year-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, were both shot and are now in stable condition. 
•  Trump is now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican National Committee is meeting to formally nominate him for president, with Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate. 

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BREAKING NEWS1 hour(s) ago

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Secret Service increased Trump’s security recently over intel of Iranian assassination plot

The U.S. Secret Service has increased protection of former President Trump in recent weeks due to intelligence suggesting a possible plot by Iran to attempt an assassination on the former president.

Two federal law enforcement sources told Fox News the level of the plot by Iran is unclear.

The sources said there has been an increase in Secret Service protection to Trump in recent weeks because of the intelligence.

The Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service has been increasingly concerned about Trump holding outdoor events, and have even expressed concern to Trump’s campaign.

Trump has been increasingly targeted since Soleimani’s killing in January 2020, but the new threat only developed over the past few days.

The sources also said the Iranian plot is not connected in any way to the attempted assassination of Trump by Thomas Crooks.

Read more about the Secret Service’s increased protection for Trump.

Fox News’s David Spunt, Bill Mears, and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

4 min(s) ago

Comer issues subpoena for USSS director to testify after assassination attempt

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has issued a subpoena for U.S. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before lawmakers after the assassination attempt on former President Trumpon Saturday.

Fox News’ congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports that Comer has issued a subpoena for Cheatle to appear before house lawmakers next Monday.

An Oversight Committee spokesperson said a subpoena would “head off any attempt by [the Department of Homeland Security] to backtrack from her appearance on Monday,” Pergram said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” Tuesday.

He noted that communication between the DHS and the U.S. Secret Service in Capitol Hill “was not going as well as some members had hoped.”

“They were thinking that communication was going pretty good. I was told by one source that Homeland Security kind of stepped in and quieted some of the communication between the Secret Service and Capitol Hill,” Pergram said.

In addition to next Monday’s hearing there will be a second hearing the following Tuesday where House lawmakers will hear from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Pergram confirmed.

USSS director Cheatle has been under scrutiny in recent days for the Secret Service’s failure to prevent an assassination attempt on the former present.

Trump’s would-be assassin – later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks – fired shots at the former president from the rooftop of a nearby building just minutes after the rally began on Saturday. While the bullets only grazed Trump’s ear, one attendee was killed and others were injured.

Cheatle said Tuesday that the building from which Crooks fired had “a sloped roof at its highest point.”

“And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” Cheatle said. “And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside.”

Despite her comments, snipers were stationed on sloped roofs behind the building where Trump spoke. Video footage shows the building is clearly more sloped than the building where Trump’s would-be assassin was ultimately shot and killed after firing upon the former president.

Posted by Bradford Betz Share

39 min(s) ago

Gun shop where Trump rally gunman purchased ammo pledges full support for law enforcement

The owner of Allegheny Arms had pledged his full support and cooperation with law enforcement as authorities look into would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital.)

The Pennsylvania gun shop where would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks bought ammunition before a deadly attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a rally in nearby Butler County has vowed to fully support law enforcement as investigators seek answers in Saturday’s attack.

“As a responsible member of our community, it is our prerogative to cooperate with law enforcement in every way,” Allegheny Arms owner Bruce Piendl told Fox News Digital. “We are thankful that President Trump was not assassinated, and our hearts go out to all victims of this horrible incident.”

Trump suffered an injury to his right ear in the attack, which killed a spectator named Corey Comperatore and critically wounded two other bystanders – David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, according to authorities. 

The FBI, which is leading the investigation into Crooks’ actions, previously said he was not on the radar of federal law enforcement and had no prior criminal record or history of mental illness.

On the day of the shooting, he went to the gun shop just over a mile from his parents’ house and bought 50 rounds of ammo, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported earlier.

Read more about the events leading up to Crooks’ attempted assassination of Trump.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

50 min(s) ago

Trump shooter made Home Depot visit prior to assassination attempt: report

File photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks graduating from Bethel Park High School in 2022. Crooks is alleged to be the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

The 20-year-old would-be assassin who fired at former President Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend was found with a Home Depot receipt for a ladder, sources told NBC News.

Investigators discovered the item on Thomas Matthew Crooks after he was fatally shot by Secret Service agents on Saturday.

Officials are now trying to determine if Crooks used the ladder to access the roof of the building from which he blasted Trump in the ear, sources told the outlet.

More than a dozen firearms were discovered inside the Crooks family home, and the shooter’s father called police to tell them his AR rifle was missing after the incident.

The rifle used in the shooting was purchased legally, and may have been his father’s.

Law enforcement agents are also investigating if the bullets were bought at Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park.

The store is a brief drive from the Crooks’ family home.

Read more about Crook’s trip to Home Depot.

Fox News Digital’s Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

1 hour(s) ago

Over 150 NYC business leaders condemn attempted assassination of Trump

The New York City skyline (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Partnership for New York City announced Tuesday that over 180 business leaders are speaking out against the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

In a press release, the nonprofit organization made up of business leaders and companies in New York City, said the attempted assassination of Trump is “reprehensible and should be a wake-up call for Americans.”

“We call upon our fellow Americans to reject violence in all its forms and to uphold basic standards of civility and respect for our differences in the political arena and beyond,” the organization said. “We express profound sympathy for all the innocent victims of this tragedy.”

The list of business leaders who condemned the attempted assassination includes WNBA Commissioner Catherine Engelbert, designer Tory Burch, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.