Trump shooter used dead senator's name for packages, donor paid for cremation

New Senate documents have revealed that Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks used an alias to receive suspicious packages before the July 2024 attack. The disclosures also reveal an anonymous cremation donor, even as investigators say his motive remains unknown.

In Short

• Thomas Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump in July 2024
• He used the alias 'Bob Dole' for suspicious package deliveries
• An anonymous donor paid for Crooks' cremation after he was killed

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024, had suspicious packages delivered to him under the pseudonym Bob Dole, a late Republican senator, according to new government documents.

The documents, which were turned over to the Senate in March, also revealed that an anonymous donor paid for Crooks’ cremation after he was killed by a Secret Service sniper shortly after the attack on Trump on July 13, 2024.

The 20-year-old fired eight shots at the rally, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. A bystander was killed, and two others were seriously injured in the attack.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, US Attorney General Todd Blanche that the FBI had uncovered previously unknown information about "the shooter's background, about his history and that stuff that we didn't know before."

Blanche, who was Trump’s personal lawyer at the time of the assassination attempt, said he had been with Trump as the investigation unfolded and officials tried to establish what had happened.

The documents revealed that Crooks would typically collect packages addressed to the "Bob Dole" alias before his father, Matthew Crooks, returned home from work, Fox News reported.

It also indicated that he bought rifle parts and tools from Amazon to increase the weapon’s capacity.

According to the documents, the anonymous donor paying for Crookes's cremation came as a surprise to his family.

The records also include statements from the shooter's father, Matthew Crooks, who told investigators that his son adopted the “Bob Dole” alias after his payment account was hacked and fraudulent gambling charges appeared.

They provide details about Thomas Crooks’ school years and his relationship with his peers. His father told FBI investigators that his son “never identified anyone as a friend throughout middle school and high school."

He also said he had noticed Thomas talking to himself in the months before the shooting but did not observe other signs of possible mental illness.

Matthew Crooks described his son as a “straight-A” student who scored 1,400 on his first SAT attempt without studying. He later retook the test after studying and scored more than 1,500, according to the documents.

Despite the latest disclosures, Thomas Crooks’ motive remains unknown. Investigations into the shooting have found that he acted alone and have uncovered no evidence linking Democrats to the attack.

After the new information surfaced on Tuesday, Trump alleged, without providing evidence, that it was a “Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election.”

Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI have commented on the latest revelations.

- Ends
(With Reuters inputs)