FBI releases photos of rifle used to shoot Trump and reveals gunman had ‘mixture of ideologies’

The FBI has released photos of the rifle used to shoot former President Donald Trump during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

The law enforcement agency also announced that they have linked a“mixture of ideologies” to gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper. One rally attendee was killed in the shooting and two others were injured by the eight bullets fired by Crooks before he was killed.

While the investigation continues, the bureau has said that it has not found any motive or evidence that Crooks had collaborators.

Investigators think Crooks “engaged in detailed attack planning,” the head of the FBI field office in Pittsburgh, Kevin Rojek, said in a press briefing, according to CBS News.

He added that Crooks was “hyper-focused” on the rally in Butler following its announcement and “looked at it as a target of opportunity.”

One online account connected to the gunman was used to search for Trump events in Pennsylvania starting in September last year. Between April of this year and the day before the shooting, Crooks searched for campaign events for Trump as well as President Joe Biden.

Following the announcement of the rally in Butler, Rojek said Crooks searched for information about that venue, such as the term “Butler farm show podium.”

In June, Crooks searched for things related to both Biden and Trump, such as the dates for the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Accounts connected to Crooks searched for terms related to making explosive devices as early as 2019. Rojek said the gunman searched for terms like “detonating cord,” “how to make a bomb from fertilizer,” and “how do remote detonators work.”

Rojek said that some accounts connected to Crooks