NEW: ‘Anonymous Donor’ Covertly Paid For Thomas Crooks’ Speedy Cremation After Butler, PA Attack

An anonymous donor paid for the cremation of Thomas Matthew Crooks shortly after the July 13, 2024, shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to federal records reviewed by the New York Post. The shooting killed retired fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounded multiple others, including President Donald Trump.

The detail appears in documents provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley as part of his inquiry into the attack. “Anonymous donor paid for cremation,” a note at the end of a summary of an FBI interview with Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, states.

The information was attributed to a lawyer representing the family. The records do not identify the donor, the amount paid, or any relationship between the donor and the Crooks family, the New York Post reported.

Matthew Crooks was described in the same materials as retired or unemployed at the time of the shooting, and his wife was on leave from work. Upon review of the files, The Post noted that they suggested the family may not have been in a position to cover funeral costs without outside help.

Crooks, 20, was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper after firing from a rooftop at the Butler Farm Show grounds. Then-candidate Donald Trump was wounded in the ear.

Crooks’ body was released to a funeral home on July 22, 2024, and cremated about 10 days after the shooting. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), who served on a House task force examining the attack, later said the release occurred with FBI approval and without notice to Congress, limiting any later examination of the remains. FBI officials have said investigators completed their examination and collected DNA, hair, fingernail, and blood samples before the body was turned over, and that the bureau did not order the cremation.

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According to records obtained by Fox News Digital, an anonymous donor paid for would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks’ body to be cremated. pic.twitter.com/D3qMD32Bbs

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 15, 2026

The same document set includes additional information from Matthew Crooks about his son’s online purchases. Thomas Crooks had packages delivered to the family home under the name “Bob Dole,” the late Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee.

According to the father, the parcels included parts, tools, and items intended to increase the capacity of a rifle. Crooks typically collected the packages before his father returned from work. Matthew Crooks told investigators that his son began using the alias after the father’s bank account was hacked and fraudulent charges appeared.

Thomas Crooks believed a pseudonym would reduce the chance of being hacked. His father said he told him that charges still linked to a real bank account, but the younger Crooks continued the practice. He also advised his parents on virtual private networks and browsers he considered more secure, including CyberGhost VPN and a Brave-related browser.

Other details from the interviews describe Crooks as socially isolated. His father said he did not scream as an infant, remained quiet, rarely showed strong emotion, had no close friends in middle or high school, and never showed interest in dating. Conversations between father and son were often brief and related to firearms.

Crooks was initially a poor shot and spent years practicing. He later used a prism sight and discussed shooting at longer distances with rudimentary sights. He once built a Glock-style handgun using a 3D printer and household equipment, which was fired once before his father told him to stop.

Six days before the rally, surveillance video showed Crooks in the garage cleaning a gun, pacing, and talking in a way his father said did not make sense. On the morning of July 13, Matthew Crooks removed an AR-15-style Panther Arms rifle from a locked safe — whose combination he had changed after noticing his son watching him enter the code — and gave it to Thomas, believing he was going to a shooting range.

Investigators have said they found no co-conspirator and no confirmed ideological motive. The newly disclosed records add that an unidentified person paid for the cremation and that Crooks used an alias for rifle-related deliveries. They do not identify the donor or explain a motive for the payment.

RELATED: Federal Files Reveal Disturbing New Details About Would-Be Trump Assassin Thomas Crooks