The parents of 20-year-old Thomas Crooks pleaded with local authorities to find their estranged son shortly before he positioned himself on a roof and attempted to shoot and kill former President Donald Trump on Saturday. This shocking revelation raises further questions about how and why authorities failed to intercept him.
Fox News reported that the parents of the gunman are collaborating with the FBI, which is leading the investigation to understand the motive behind the shooting. However, details about what the parents knew beforehand remain unclear. The shooter, a recent high school graduate, managed to fire eight rounds from a high-caliber rifle he took from his father before he was fatally shot.
The FBI is also probing why a local police officer retreated from the shooter moments before he opened fire. Meanwhile, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has justified the decision not to station an agent on the roof where the shooter positioned himself for a clear shot at the stage where Trump was speaking.
Fox News: Shooter’s parents called the cops on day of PA rally
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 17, 2024
The claim regarding Crooks’ motive became even more ambiguous on Wednesday after neighbors informed Fox that the household had never showcased a Trump yard sign out front, directly contradicting previous assertions that Crooks lived in a MAGA household.Neighbor Amy, who declined to give her last name, spoke with the press alongside Holly, a local GOP captain, saying “I give out the signs, and I’ve never given to that house, I’ll tell you that.”
Despite being a registered Republican, Crooks most recently made a small donation to a progressive political action committee supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection. “I walk by here all the time, other neighbors do,” Amy added. “You will not find one neighbor that will confirm or ever say they saw those signs in the yard.”
“I’m on a Republican committee here in Bethel Park,” Holly said. “I’m a committeewoman, and I door-knock everywhere: for [2022 U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet] Oz, for [2022 gubernatorial nominee State Sen. Doug] Mastriano, for Trump, for all of them,” she said, adding that her Republican canvassers know which houses to target for outreach based on the town’s voter lists.
“I know who the Republicans are. I mean, he’s not on the list,” she said. Records obtained by Fox show that Crooks’ mother is a registered Democrat and his father is listed as a libertarian. “I drive up and down this street all the time because it’s the way we get out to go to the main road,” she said, “and I never saw him out.”
