Trump gunman spent months seeking target, then settled on ex-president, FBI says

The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump mounted a “sustained, detailed effort” to attack a major gathering of some sort before deciding to target the Republican presidential candidate at a Pennsylvania rally in July, FBI officials said.

“We saw … a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets,” said Kevin Rojek, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI’s) top official in western Pennsylvania, in a telephone briefing to reporters on Wednesday.

Rojek said Crooks became “hyper focused” on the Trump rally when it was announced in early July “and looked at it as a target of opportunity”.

“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.

Crooks’ computer activity showed he was interested in a mix of ideologies, but did not show definitively that he was motivated by a particular left-leaning or right-leaning point of view, Rojek said.

FBI officials said they had not found any evidence indicated that Crooks had worked with other people, or had been directed by a foreign power.