As the U.K.’s Channel 4 News details, the connection between Donald Trump and the Crooks family — including Thomas Matthew Crooks — goes back to 2016 when they got profiled by Trump’s presidential campaign. Back then the team number-crunched to figure out who among Pennsylvania’s population would be susceptible to pro-gun messaging. Crooks’ father Matthew ranked within the top 20 in this regard out of 19,000 people in Bethel Park. The campaign’s report indicated that Matthew not only likely owned a gun but was a hunter, as well. The same report indicated that his wife Mary was also likely a gun owner. This was around the time that the family displayed MAGA signs on their lawn.
Fast forward to 2024 and Trump’s 2016 campaign report comes across as eerie, prescient, and spot-on. The NY Post says that Crooks’ father owned the AR-15 that his son used to try and assassinate the politician on Saturday, July 13. While we don’t know where Crooks bought the gun, we do know that he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from Allegheny Arms & Gun Works right in town before the assassination attempt. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Allegheny Arms & Gun Works owner Bruce Piendl said that there’s a “rich tradition of hunting and fishing and outdoor stuff” in the area as well as “a ton of gun clubs.” As for whether or not Piendl sold the AR-15 to Crooks, he said, “That’s between me and God.”
