FBI documents reveal Trump assassin Thomas Crooks trained with rifles daily and used 'Bob Dole' alias before Butler attack

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Newly released FBI documents show Thomas Crooks took three paid firearms-training courses in the seven weeks before his July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, with records confirming he was still training with a long rifle the day before the attack. Crooks registered for the Butler, Pennsylvania rally on July 6, 2024, requesting a single ticket, and conducted more than 60 online searches about Trump and Joe Biden in the 30 days prior. The documents, released following a Senate records request, also reveal Crooks routinely received packages under the alias "Bob Dole" and was cremated shortly after the attack, paid for by an anonymous donor.

Crooks killed Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore and seriously wounded two others before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

Investigators found a Snapchat account under the username "tom_crooks19," with a former FBI agent saying it could still hold a 'treasure trove' of recoverable evidence.

Trump claimed on Truth Social the Butler attack was a 'Democrat Plot' and that key information had been 'missing, altered, corrupted, or gone' before new documents surfaced.