The man who shot at Donald Trump at a campaign meeting had made internet searches on Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and several other public figures before the deed, according to information to The New York Times.
The police were already before the shooting looking for a man who had behaved strangely at the meeting.
The 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks searched, among other things, for Biden and Trump, on which dates Trump would appear, as well as information about the Democrats' convention, the FBI told members of the US Congress on Wednesday. One of Trump's planned appearances turned out to be in Butler, Pennsylvania, eight miles from the suburb of Pittsburgh where Crooks lived.
Crooks also searched for other public figures, such as Justice Minister Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher A Wray. The 20-year-old had also made a search for "depression".
Police were alerted
About an hour before the shots were fired at Trump's election meeting, local police had noticed a young man who was behaving strangely and had alerted other police. Even the Secret Service was informed, writes The New York Times.
The police who had noticed the man lost track of him, but about 20 minutes before the shots were fired, a sniper saw the man at a distance and took a picture of him, a picture that was sent out to police on the spot. Despite the search for the young man, former President Donald Trump was allowed to go on stage. Eight minutes into the speech, the shots were fired.
Unknown motive
The FBI has still not found any motive for the shooting. Several former classmates of Thomas Matthew Crooks have said that they never heard him express any particular political ideology, writes The New York Times.
Crooks was registered as a Republican ahead of the autumn election, but he is also said to have donated $15 to the liberal organization Progressive Turnout Project via the Democratic donation platform Actblue.
It was on Saturday that Donald Trump was injured in a shooting during a campaign meeting. Two people died in the shooting, one of whom was the shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
