When anything momentous happens, particularly an act of violence, there is an immediate desire to know two things: How did this happen, and why?
More videos of the moments leading up to events in Butler, Pennsylvania, have provided fresh details on what’s known about the physical aspects of the shooting. It seems clear that there was a serious lapse of security and confusion about areas of responsibility between the Secret Service and local law enforcement. The AP called it “a devastating failure of one of the agency’s core duties,” as the shooter was only 150 meters away from where Donald Trump was speaking at a rally. President Joe Biden has ordered a full investigation as well as increased security.
But the answer to “who was this guy?” doesn’t seem a lot clearer now than it did in the moments after the shooting. At just 20 years old, Thomas Crooks doesn’t seem to have left behind a long history of political opinions, or even a note. As with so many instances in which young men engage in gun violence, reporters are left looking for the truth about Crooks in a way that is unlikely to produce any satisfactory answers: by talking to his high school classmates.
We know that Crooks climbed onto a rooftop carrying an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle that reportedly belonged to his father and was purchased legally. We also know he fired multiple shots in the rally, killing one man, wounding two other attendees, and either grazing Trump with a bullet or with a fragment of shrapnel. That part still isn’t clear.
When it comes to "why," It seems possible, even probable, that we'll never know the full motivation of the shooter—just as in many such incidents. He doesn’t appear to have left any kind of manifesto. He doesn’t seem to be a member of a local militia group. As of this writing, forensic searches of his now-unlocked phone haven’t handed the FBI Crooks’ motive.
While state voter records indicate that the shooter was a registered Republican from a conservative area, he was young enough that the only vote he ever cast was during the 2022 midterms. When he was 17, he contributed $15 to a Democratically aligned campaign to get out the vote.
So far, very little has been found that can accurately be attributed to the shooter in terms of social media or other public statements. He had a rarely used account on Discord, a social media service often used in connection with gaming, but also connected to a wide variety of topics.
Those high school classmates describe someone who seemed “normal,” had friends, and was liked by teachers. Some called him a nerd. Others noticed that he wore camouflage a lot. Some said he had conservative friends, but they didn’t seem too certain about Crooks’ own positions, nor did anyone who claimed they were a friend of Crooks speak out.
His guidance counselor was “flabbergasted” when he learned of the shooter’s identity, noting that Crooks often sat alone in the cafeteria but claimed it was by choice.
“He snapped,” the former counselor, Jim Knapp, told NBC News. “I believe that the devil and the evil really invaded his brain and that made him do what he did.”
He tried out for the school’s rifle team (which is a more common thing than readers overseas and in urban areas may expect), though some of those classmates reported that Crooks “shot terribly” and failed to make the junior varsity team, and "wasn't really fit for the rifle team." His interest in guns apparently continued after high school, because Crooks was a member of a “sportsman’s club” that boasted about its excellent gun range.
And all that … really doesn’t say much. He was a young American man with a strong interest in guns. That’s a description that, unfortunately, applies to millions. The most distressing aspect may be just how nondescript and “normal” Crooks seems to be.
We may have to realize there will never be a neat answer where we can say, "This guy was an X who did Y because of Z." People aren't made that way. Unless Crooks did leave behind some information that’s not been made public, this may be about as much as we ever know.
But in the meantime, we need to resist the easy answers—left, right, and center—that are spreading across social media: This was not staged. This was not Biden's fault. This does not mean that Trump is guaranteed to win. This political violence is an extension of a type of violence that’s all too common in the United States.
And Thomas Crooks may remain an enigma. Just another young American man with an AR-15 and an urge to point it.
RELATED STORY: What happened to Trump is a drop in a vast ocean of American violence
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