July 30, 05:31 (IST)
According to the FBI, President Trump agreed to be interviewed as part of their investigation into the assassination attempt.
Former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation into an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania earlier this month, a special agent said Monday, revealing that the gunman had been researching mass attacks and explosive devices before the shooting.
The planned interview with the 2024 Republican presidential candidate is part of the FBI's standard procedure for speaking with victims during the course of a criminal investigation. The FBI said Friday that Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet or shrapnel during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We want to hear his version of what he observed,” said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office. “This is the same standard victim interview that we would conduct with any other crime victim in any other situation.”
Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Monday night that the FBI interview is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Through more than 450 interviews, the FBI developed a profile of Thomas Matthew Crooks, a “highly intelligent” but introverted 20-year-old who socialized primarily with family and had few friends or acquaintances throughout his life, Rojek said. Crooks also appeared to have minimal interactions with peers on online gaming platforms he used, the FBI said.
Rojek said the parents have been “very cooperative” with the investigation and said they had no prior knowledge of the shooting.
The FBI has not released a motive for why the gunman targeted Trump, but investigators say the shooting appears to have been the result of meticulous planning, including using false names in recent months to purchase chemical precursors believed to be used to make the explosives found in Trump's car and home, and flying a drone about 200 yards (180 meters) from the rally hours before it was to take place.
