Trump rally shooter was a bullied ‘loner’ but never shared his political views, classmates say

Former classmates of the 20-year-old gunman authorities identified as the would-be assassin who fired several rounds at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday remembered him as a somewhat unremarkable teen who enjoyed video games and didn’t make much noise about politics.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who lived with his parents in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park before he was shot dead by Secret Service snipers following his attempt on Trump’s life, “never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything,” Sarah D’Angelo, who attended Bethel Park High School with Crooks, told The Wall Street Journal. She said Crooks had “a few friends,” but not “a whole friend group,” and recalled Crooks’ penchant for playing games on his laptop in homeroom.

Two former classmates told The New York Times that they hadn’t noticed any obvious red flags that might have foretold future violence, with one telling the outlet he was stunned to hear authorities had named Crooks as the shooter.

Crooks was “incredibly intelligent,” Zach Bradford, who was in American history and government classes with him, told the Times. His politics were “slightly right leaning,” according to Bradford.

Bradford said some of Crooks’ fellow students gave him the occasional ribbing, and another said he “didn’t seem, like, really weird or anything.”

“I would have pegged him as a Republican,” a third former classmate told the New York Post.

Conversely, Jason Kolher, another Bethel Park HS graduate told KDKA that Crooks often wore hunting-style clothes to school and was bullied nonstop.

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