What we can VERIFY about the suspect in the apparent Trump assassination attempt

Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated as new information becomes available. 

In the hours following the apparent assassination attempt for former president Donald Trump at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, photos purporting to be of the suspected shooter went viral online. 

The FBI identified the suspected shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania and confirmed he was killed by Secret Service at the scene. Here’s what we can VERIFY about Crooks and those viral photos. 

The FBI identified the suspected shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks early on July 14, hours after the shooting. Authorities told reporters that Crooks was not carrying identification so they used DNA and other methods to confirm his identity.

At the time of publication, no official photos of Crooks have been released by law enforcement The FBI is continuing to investigate and has not revealed a motive for the shooting.

Federal campaign finance reports show that when Crooks was 17 he donated $15 to Act Blue — a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office. Pennsylvania voting records show Crooks later registered as a Republican. November would have been the first presidential election he was eligible to vote in. 

Law enforcement sources told multiple news outlets they recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene. Those sources also said the gun appears to be registered in the name of Crooks’ father.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, the school district said in a statement given to KDKA-TV. The school district said it will cooperate fully with investigators. 

In a  YouTube video showing Bethel Park High School’s 2022 graduation, “Thomas Crooks” name can be heard and a person by that name can be seen accepting the diploma. 

Various images purporting to be of the shooter went viral in the aftermath of the shooting, but none of those were of Crooks

As has become common in the wake of major breaking news events, false claims and misinformation circulated rapidly about the identity of the shooter.

Some posts showed images of comedian Sam Hyde. Photos of Hyde have appeared online since at least 2015 after various high profile mass shootings across the country and have become a sort of meme associated with gun violence.

This photo of a different person is actually Italian YouTuber Marco Violi, who was also falsely identified as a shooter named “Mark Violets, an antifa member.” 

Violi posted a statement on Instagram on July 14, written in Italian and translated into English, saying “I categorically deny that I was involved in this situation.” He wrote he woke up in the middle of the night to notifications on social media about his alleged involvement and said “the news circulating about my account are totally unfounded.”

This X post with more than a million views also falsely identifies a different set of images as the suspected shooter. The mugshots seen in the photo were actually taken in 2016 when a group of individuals were arrested in 2016 during clashes at a Trump rally.

This photo that has been shared widely across social media, including by international news agencies, was actually posted by someone on X who later posted jokes about going viral. 

Before sharing photos or information during a breaking news event, the VERIFY team recommends that you take the following steps:

• Check the source: are they credible sources of information?

  • Who’s the author or source?

  • Is the source of information biased? 

  • Have they posted other misinformation before?

  • Is it from a well known or legitimate website?

• Check the date. Is the information current, are other credible sources posting it the same day?

• Conduct a reverse image search. If the image of the suspect has been shared by reputable outlets during breaking news, it could be real. If the same image appeared online connected to other events, like Hyde’s, then you know it’s not legit.

• Pause before sharing if a piece of information makes you feel anxious, upset, or angry. Misinformation often spreads during times of emotion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.