The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the gunman who allegedly shot Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Saturday rally as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The 20-year-old was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, according to the FBI statement released early on Sunday.
He was shot dead by Secret Service snipers at the scene.
The FBI earlier said it had tentatively identified Mr Crooks as the gunman and was conducting a DNA test. Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that Mr Crooks carried no identification to the site of the shooting and had to be identified using other methods.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that it closed the airspace over Bethel Park for “special security reasons”.
Details about Mr Crooks and his possible motivations are still sparse.
Mr Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state party records cited by US media. However, when Mr Crooks was 17 he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing cited by Reuters.
The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote. The groups did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Mr Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to the newspaper.
His father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN that he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before speaking about his son.
Video footage shared on social media showed the gunman on top of the roof of a nearby building before shots rang out.
A witness said he alerted police after noticing the gunman several minutes before shots were fired.
“We noticed a guy crawling … bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us,” he told the BBC.
“You could clearly see him with a rifle.”
He said they alerted police, who “didn't know what was going on”.
“I'm thinking to myself – why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him off the stage?”
Security officials said the gunman was outside the secured perimeter, around 100 yards from the stage where former US president Trump was speaking.
He wore a T-shirt promoting a YouTube channel devoted to firearms, according to US media reports, which named the channel as Demolition Ranch.
The channel’s founder posted a photo of the gunman on Instagram after he shot dead following the attack, captioned “What the hell”.
A man who was shot dead at the event has also been identified but is yet to be named by police.
A doctor who attended the rally said he tended to the man, who was shot in the head.
“I thought it was firecrackers at first,” he told CBS News.
“The guy had spun around and was jammed between the benches. He had a head wound here, there was lots of blood. There was brain matter.”
Two others, both men, were injured.
A bullet pierced Trump's right ear, the former president said on social media before being taken to hospital.
He has since been discharged.
The assassination attempt has been condemned by US President Joe Biden and world leaders including UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns this act of political violence. He sends his best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery,” Guterres spokesman Stephan Dujarric said.
– Reuters contributed to this report
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more from Janine di Giovanni
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
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%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20flag%20was%20first%20unveiled%20on%20December%202%2C%201971%2C%20the%20day%20the%20UAE%20was%20formed.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIt%20was%20designed%20by%20Abdullah%20Mohammed%20Al%20Maainah%2C%2019%2C%20an%20Emirati%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMr%20Al%20Maainah%20said%20in%20an%20interview%20with%20%3Cem%3EThe%20National%3C%2Fem%3E%20in%202011%20he%20chose%20the%20colours%20for%20local%20reasons.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20black%20represents%20the%20oil%20riches%20that%20transformed%20the%20UAE%2C%20green%20stands%20for%20fertility%20and%20the%20red%20and%20white%20colours%20were%20drawn%20from%20those%20found%20in%20existing%20emirate%20flags.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
Book%20Details
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