New York Post
· collected 2026-09-14 · by Victor Nava, Chris Nesi, Josh Christenson
FBI documents released to Senator Chuck Grassley reveal new details about President Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to shoot the president on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. The files include interviews where Crooks' father, Matthew, describes his son as emotionless since birth and lacking a typical emotional bond with him. Matthew notes that Thomas displayed antisocial behavior from childhood, showing little empathy or laughter, though he had high academic achievement, scoring 1500 on his SATs without extensive preparation.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
President Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was born without making a sound on Sept. 20, 2003, a trait that would follow him right up to the end of his short life when the 20-year-old died in a hail of Secret Service gunfire seconds after missing Trump’s head with a bullet by a hairsbreadth.
asserted
old → bear → hairsbreadth
“When Thomas was born he did not scream and he was always quiet from that point on,” his father, Matthew, told feds in newly unearthed documents about the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Butler, Penn.
asserted
father → bear → Butler
The fresh documents were provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) as part of his ongoing inquiry into the Butler assassination attempt and exclusively reviewed by the New York Post.
asserted
documents → provide → Post
The trove of files includes FBI interviews with Thomas’ father, Matthew, who revealed he “never really had a father/son bond” with the gunman, and that his stoic son rarely expressed strong emotions, hardly laughed and was very difficult to read.
asserted
son → include → emotions
Thomas occasionally acted out in elementary school because “he was bored,” his father said, recalling one instance in which he damaged a desk and other school property in a bid for attention.
asserted
he → act → attention
By the time he got to middle school, Matthew said both he and his wife, Mary, “thought Thomas had ADHD” and were concerned he had fallen in with a “bad” group of kids for a brief period.
asserted
he → get → period
Matthew’s frustration with his son’s dispassionate nature once boiled over at home after Thomas dumped an entire container of fish food into his sister’s betta tank after an argument.
asserted
Thomas → boil → argument
He said he “pushed” Thomas to the point he started crying, just trying to elicit some kind of an emotional reaction from the boy.
asserted
he → say → boy
Between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, Matthew noticed a shift in his son’s behavior — he had grown “a little more quiet and reserved” and started having “issues with speaking to his teachers.”
asserted
he → notice → teachers
He said he frequently caught Thomas talking to himself, however, a quirk that “became more noticeable over the years.”
asserted
that → say → years
Matthew lamented the fact that “work schedules” hampered his ability to pick up and drop Thomas from extracurricular activities, expressing sadness that if he had done so, it may have been a positive social outlet for his lone-wolf son.
uncertain
it → lament → son
Thomas threw himself into college prep courses because he “feared he may not get into college,” Matthew said.
uncertain
Matthew → throw → college
“He was putting a lot of pressure on himself.”
asserted
He → put → himself
Despite his lack of social graces and “street smarts,” as Matthew described, Thomas could have been a promising student.
uncertain
Thomas → describe → graces
He scored a 1400 on his first attempt at the SAT without studying, and later improved to a near-perfect 1500.
asserted
He → score → 1500
Matthew said Thomas expressed vague interests in certain professions over the years, but with little, if any, real commitment.
asserted
Thomas → say → commitment
“At one point, Thomas wanted to join the military to work in nuclear submarines, but this was more of just an idea as Thomas thought it would be ‘cool,'” according to FBI notes from an interview with the gunman’s father.
uncertain
it → want → father
Thomas never seemed to have a love interest, and “never showed interest in girls.”
asserted
Thomas → seem → girls
He “repeatedly denied” being gay over the years, Matthew said.
asserted
Matthew → deny → years
Growing obsession with guns
Thomas started getting into shooting and guns as a teenager, though he had little interest in the outdoorsman life — Matthew said he briefly took interest in hunting but said he couldn’t envision him actually killing an animal.
asserted
him → grow → animal
He also “hated” fishing.
asserted
He → hat → fishing
Matthew said his conversations with Thomas during this period were usually brief and gun-related, such as the then-teen wondering if “he would have to do a background check” to buy his dad’s Glock, a question he told investigators he considered “odd.”
asserted
he → say → investigators
He also asked if he could have his grandfather’s guns.
uncertain
he → ask → guns
Thomas started going to the gun club around the time of the pandemic and was a “terrible” shot — “he could not hit the paper [target],” Matthew told investigators, estimating it took 4-5 years of practice before he could even do that.
uncertain
he → start → that
Eventually, with practice, Thomas became a better marksman, coming home with range targets showing off to his dad how well he did with a target placed over 100 yards away.
asserted
he → become → target
After he questioned his son about why he was “going out so far,” Thomas explained, “he wanted to see how far he could shoot with rudimentary sights.”
uncertain
he → question → sights
He found he was able to shoot even further distances after he bought a prism sight, eventually becoming “very knowledgeable” about how to measure and zero-in on a target, and knew exactly how many clicks it would take to change the specific angle on the sight.
asserted
it → find → sight
As Thomas’ interest in guns grew, he started buying large numbers of Amazon packages, including “parts, tools and items to increase the capacity of his rifle.”
asserted
he → grow → rifle
He took to using the pseudonym “Bob Dole” for his delivery address, a bit of misguided paranoia he picked up after his father’s Citizens Bank checking account was hacked and several fraudulent BetMGM charges were made on his account.
asserted
charges → take → account
Matthew said Thomas believed if one were to purchase items under a pseudonym, such as the ex-GOP presidential candidate’s moniker, the buyer could never be hacked.
uncertain
buyer → say → moniker
The father explained that wasn’t how it worked, and that even under an assumed name for deliveries, the charge is still being made to a bank account under his name.
asserted
charge → explain → name
Thomas dismissed his dad’s logic and continued using pseudonyms to make his online purchases, believing he was shielding his accounts from being compromised.
asserted
he → dismiss → accounts
He also coached Matthew how to use identity-obscuring software like CyberGhost VPN and the Bravenet Browser — which Thomas would argue made them “less likely to be compromised by outside actors.”
asserted
them → coach → actors
Matthew further recalled Thomas using multiple different, privacy-focused encrypted email providers, including GMX and Mailfence.
asserted
Thomas → recall → GMX
It was around this time Thomas obtained a 3D printer, and once brought home a large container of an unknown substance he claimed was needed to clean it.
asserted
he → obtain → it
Matthew said he once tried to fashion his own handgun, which nearly ended in disaster.
asserted
which → say → disaster
“Using carbon fiber plastic, a dryer and a toaster oven, Thomas did once create a Glock 19,” Matthew told investigators.
asserted
Matthew → use → investigators
But he said after he discharged a single round from it, he feared the frame would explode, and would not allow Thomas to use it.
asserted
Thomas → say → it
Thomas also built a gaming PC, after dismissing his father’s suggestion that a laptop would serve him better, and a security camera using a Raspberry Pi — a simple, low-cost microcomputer.
asserted
laptop → build → Pi
Asked by investigators about Thomas’ role model, Matthew indicated it was likely the Marvel Character Iron Man.
asserted
it → ask → model
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
