Trump rally shooter’s motive remains unclear as Biden urges calm

Federal investigators continue to investigate the motive of the gunman who Fire opened during former President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday, touching the former president’s earkilling a passerby and seriously injuring two others.

In an address from the Oval Office on Sunday night, President Biden said the shooter’s motivations remained unclear and urged Americans to reject politically motivated violence.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any kind of violence, ever. Period. No exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to become normalized,” Biden said. “The political rhetoric in this country has become very heated. It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.”

More details emerged on Sunday about the shooter, identified as a 20-year-old man. Thomas Matthew Crooksof Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who died after opening fire. Rudimentary bomb-making materials were found in the gunman’s home and vehicle. He was a member of a local gun club, and a former classmate said he had tried out for the high school shooting team but did not make it.

The FBI is investigating whether the shooter was a politically motivated domestic violent extremist, and investigators are still reviewing his background. Justice Department officials told reporters that investigators have the shooter’s phone and are examining it at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

Law enforcement sources said passersby spotted the shooter with a rifle on a roof about 400 feet from where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, and reported his presence to authorities. Butler County Sheriff saying A local police officer was lifted up by another officer to inspect the roof. The shooter pointed his rifle at the officer, who dropped it and fell.

The shooter then turned toward the rally and fired six to eight shots from an AR-style weapon. He was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper. Armed officers quickly removed Trump from the stage, blood running down the side of his face.

On Sunday morning, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that “it was only God who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Biden ordered an independent review of security at the rally to assess what happened and said he directed the Secret Service to examine security measures for this week’s rally. Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump will be officially named the party’s nominee. Trump landed in the city on Sunday evening.

Trump and Biden spoke Saturday night in what one White House official called a “good, brief and respectful” call.