Thomas Crooks’ motivations one year after Trump’s assassination attempt are still unclear

Since then, the year mark has come close Assassination attempt President Donald Trump’s questions remain unanswered. In particular, why did Thomas Matthew Crooks attack, and how did he get so close?

Despite passing this year, the mystery endures the motives surrounding the 20-year-old Pennsylvania native. Fox News Digital spoke with two former federal officials about lingering questions.

Former FBI agent John Nantz said the con artists don’t fit the profile of politically motivated extremists.

“The con artists didn’t look like ideologues like those with antisocial issues that could be sought for infamy, rather than individuals who are somehow instructed to make an attempt at assassination,” Nantz told Fox News Digital.

Journalists who rejected the duck during an attempt to assassinate Trump reflect Butler Rally in a new book

A year later: prolonged questions about Crooks’ motivations

Investigators have not identified any critical ideological or political motivations; The FBI suggested The complex interaction of personal grievances, mental health issues, and desire for infamousness that leads to aggression.

From a research perspective, Nanz explained that establishing motivation in the absence of confessions and manifesto relies heavily on digital footprints and personal interviews.

“Whether you are a suspect, some of your best information comes from people who know them and what they have left behind.

A former USSS agent, Charles Marino special agent at Homeland Security, repeated Nanz’s sentiment.

“If they had the opportunity to interview the scammers in advance, I think they identified that he presented a very realistic threat based on his ability to develop this attack plan.

“This is everything we see when we try to identify if someone presents a threat,” he said.

Digital cues and red flag of action

Following its fate of July 13, 2024, the attack claiming the lives of 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured Trump and rally attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver, has been thoroughly reviewed by federal agents.

Fox News Digital Previously reported About the lack of friendship and high school classmates, like Bethel Park in Penn. Natives were bullied throughout the school.

Nantz pointed out Crooks’ upbringing and family background as an important part of the puzzle.

“One of the things I found interesting was that he didn’t have any friends,” Nantz said. “I doubt why it wasn’t a red flag for them from the start. I’m a parent. I can say that if your child doesn’t have friends, it would be a huge concern. And the fact that his parents were certified counselors raises questions about their level of engagement.”

Uncovering conspiracy theories

With the emergence of the attack on July 13th, the theory swirled and swirled with the intention of large-scale work on job duties and bad actors from abroad to influence 2024 election.

“It’s the danger of lonely wolves. By definition, they haven’t talked about this with anyone else, right? They don’t share any information about their plans.

“FBI’s KashPatel will know everything we know about the attempted Trump assassination.”

The FBI and Secret Services have found no external direction or evidence of conspiracy.

“I think the way this plot story began was through his discovery of multiples (numbers) on his phone, which has led to a growing curiosity about the possibility of international interactions,” he said. “I can tell you that all of that has been investigated. I’m not sure about all the outcomes.”

“As far as plot goes, I seem to be completely failing to mitigate what it is a single threat right now,” he added.

See it: Animation shows that Trump becomes an assassin when he is shot

Anatomy of security breakdown

The July 13th attack is long remembered not only for how close it has come to changes in American history, but also for how much systemic flaw it exposed.

Marino characterized it as “a catastrophic failure of the overall security plan.”

According to Marino, the tragedy unfolded due to breakdowns at all levels of the protection system that was supposed to prevent the fraudster from ascending to the water tower with a clear gaze to the president.

“This requires a layered approach to security, and three strong boundaries: outer boundaries, center, inner. And then, in the case of finding suspects, we exposed other issues in other areas in other areas to discover suspects, and all the way to communication with the response,” Marino explained to Fox News Digital.

“The building that the con artists reached the top of the roof was clearly not clear to the secret service, not clear to local law enforcement agencies.

A year after Trump’s assassination attempt, Butler’s widow demands accountability from the Secret Service

In addition to breaking down the multi-layered approach to security, Marino said Trump’s team should be given additional support. This was a decision that was rejected by the head of the institution.

“The Secret Service needs to keep the main thing the main thing, and all they need to do is have staff staff accordingly to the threat level, that’s the threat level here, and the whole time it’s the threat level all the way to the individual.

Watch: Former Secret Service Agent says Trump Rally’s security was a “devastating failure”

Marino said on July 13th that Trump shouldn’t have a full team “no reason” Secret Service Counter Snipermembers of the Counter Assault Team and more agents posted to Butler Fairgrounds.

Along with the personnel, Marino pointed out the need to utilize technology.

“It comes in the form of matching threats with talent and technology. Why didn’t you use and implement the Secret Service technology you were running and operating?”

Aftermath and Accountability – The New Secret Service

The breakdown on July 13 led to a bipartisan call for then-USS director Kimberly Cittle to step down. After her resignation, Ronald Lowe Jr., who served as deputy director, was appointed acting director.

He held the position until January 22nd when Sean Curran, a veteran agent who was part of Trump’s protective details during an attempted assassination, was appointed Director of the USSS 28th Director.

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“Now, Secret Service has a new leadership too. This is a big part of the agency’s success. We need a leader that we can trust. “And they have that leadership now. I’m confident in that leadership.”