‘I Am Thomas Matthew Crooks’: Video Of ‘Trump-Hating’ Man Surfaces After Rally Shooting

Washington: Shortly after the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, a fresh video has surfaced online claiming that the agencies have “got the wrong guy”. Former US President and Republican presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, was addressing a rally in Butler town of the swing state when a series of gunshots were heard. Trump immediately dropped to the ground and took cover behind the podium.

He was immediately covered by agents of US Secret Service, who escorted him off the stage, while he raised his fist into the air. Trump was rushed to a nearby hospital in motorcade. In his very first statement, Trump said that a bullet had pierced the “upper part of his right ear.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is leading the investigation identified the shooter as Thomas Mathew Crooks. “The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania,” a FBI spokesperson said on Sunday. The shooting attempt left one attendee dead and two more critically injured. The gunman was also killed by Secret Service agents.

However, soon after that a video surfaced on the internet in which a man could be heard saying that the security agencies “got a wrong guy”. Sharing the video, New Jersey Trump Delegate Mike Crispi said, “Shooter could also be Maxwell Yearick – honestly the image of the dead shooters face looks most like him.” As per reports, Maxwell Yearick (30) had pleaded guilty in Allegheny County in connection with a police altercation during an anti-Trump protest almost a year ago.

In the viral video, the man says, “My name is Thomas Matthew Crooks. I hate Republicans. I hate Trump and guess what you got the wrong guy.” The FBI, earlier in the day, said that it was trying to identify the killed assaulted through “biometric confirmation”.

“We’re looking at photographs right now, and we’re trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” said Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office.

The US Secret Service is now investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally. The roof, where Crooks was lying, was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target.

Videos doing rounds on social media platforms show the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump’s rally was held.