Portrait of Thomas Crooks, the man who tried to shoot the Republican candidate

On Saturday evening, July 13, bomb disposal experts were sent to Thomas Crooks’ home. His neighborhood was cordoned off. Inside the house, investigators discovered equipment for making explosives. The same thing happened in his vehicle, left at the scene of the shooting. Local residents were ordered to evacuate the area.

Thomas Crooks, 20, grew up in a quiet town in Pennsylvania (United States). A video, authenticated by the “New York Times”, shows him collecting his diploma at his high school two years ago.

While police have so far provided few details, several newspapers report that he registered as a Republican voter in 2022, a year after donating $15 to a Democratic organization. His former high school classmate paints a picture of a loner. Until now, Thomas Crooks had no criminal history.