JUST IN: Trump Shooter Trained At Well-Known Gun Range Used By Federal Agents

Just two months before he took a shot at former President Donald Trump during a rally, wounding the former president and killing a bystander, Thomas Matthew Crooks practiced his marksmanship at Clairton Sportsmen’s Club’s rifle range. The preparation was part of what Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) described as “intense preparation” in the months prior to his attempted assassination of the former president.

Records released by Grassley’s office show that Crooks frequented the gun club multiple times, including the day before a scheduled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) training session at the same facility. The 20-year-old suspect visited the club on May 22, practicing alone on a 200-yard-long rifle range.

The range more than accommodated the 150-yard distance of the shot Crooks eventually took at Trump on July 13. According to a logbook from the club obtained by Sen. Grassley’s office, the DHS conducted a “police training” at the range starting at noon the following day, with at least three people participating. It remains unclear from the records whether such DHS trainings at the range were regular events or if the May 23 session was an anomaly.

“He focused almost exclusively on the rifle range throughout 2024,” Grassley’s office said. In addition, newly released body camera footage from the incident adds a dramatic visual account of the attack, showing the premeditation of Crooks’ actions as detailed in the records.

WATCH:

Crooks was a regular at Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania. He joined the club on August 2023, and by the time of the attack on July 13, had logged 43 visits, according to records from the club. These records were released following a congressional request. Crooks’ attendance at the club wasn’t sporadic; he was there 20 times within the first four months of his membership alone. Crooks visited the club between three and six times per month during his membership.

He spent a significant amount of his visits — 80% — practicing on the rifle range, the same type of distance that he would later use in his attempted assassination. He also practiced on several holidays, including Christmas Day, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween. These new details about Crooks’ activities at the rifle range, coupled with the shocking body camera footage recently made public, paint a vivid picture of the events leading up to that fateful day in July.

Crooks’ final visit to the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club occurred on July 12, just a day before his attack at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he fired at former President Trump. This visit marked the end of a series of frequent trips to the range where he practiced alone, never once bringing a guest.

On the day of the rally, Crooks, 20, was stationed outside the security perimeter and managed to fire as many as eight rounds from an AR-15 rifle before being fatally shot by a Secret Service counter-sniper. The body camera footage released on Thursday captured the critical moments as police confront Crooks, with one officer being hoisted onto the roof where the gunman was located, encountering Crooks, and then retreating.

As the probe continues, no clear motive for Crooks’ actions has been uncovered, leaving many questions about the tragic events that unfolded.

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