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Claim that 20-year-old Trump rally shooter voted for Clinton is Pants on Fire!
If Your Time is short
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The FBI confirmed that the individual who fired shots at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
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Crooks would have been too young to vote in the 2016 or 2020 elections.
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Pennsylvania voting records show that Crooks was a registered Republican.
Since shots were fired at former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally July 13, social media has been saturated with speculation about the shooter’s motive.
"Thomas Matthew Crooks is the shooter who tried to assassinate Trump," wrote a Facebook user in a viral post. "He was a registered Democrat who voted for Clinton and Biden."
But on this claim, the math doesn't add up.
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The FBI identified Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspected shooter. Secret Service agents killed Crooks moments after they said he fired toward Trump. Pennsylvania voter registration records show that a person by that name from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was born Sept. 20, 2003, and registered as a Republican.
He would have been 13 years old during the 2016 election when Hillary Clinton was running against Trump for president and 17 years old during the 2020 election when Joe Biden was running against Trump for president. And Bill Clinton's elections for president happened before Crooks was born.
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Abigail Gardner, communications director for Allegheny County where Crooks was registered, confirmed he first registered to vote on Sept. 28, 2021, and voted only once, in the 2022 general election.
This upcoming presidential election would have been the first in which he could have voted.
The full picture of his political leanings remain unclear. Federal Election Commision records show he donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democrat PAC, on Jan. 20, 2021, the day of Biden’s inauguration.
The rest of the Facebook post makes currently unsubstantiated claims that Crooks is affiliated with antifa, which is short for "anti-fascists." The term is used to describe a broad, loosely affiliated coalition of left-wing activists. The post also included images that PolitiFact has confirmed are not photos of Crooks.
As of July 14, the FBI was investigating the shooting as a possible "assassination attempt" or "domestic terrorism," but had not identified a motive. The FBI stated that the shooter appeared to be acting alone.
According to voting records, Crooks was registered as a Republican, not a Democrat, and at age 20 he would have been too young to vote for either Clinton or Biden. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Interview with Abigail Gardner, Allegheny County Director of Communications, July 15, 2024
Facebook post, (archived), July 14, 2024
Federal Bureau of Investigation, "FBI Statement on Incident in Butler, Pennsylvania," July 14, 2024
USA Today, "Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks: Neighbors, classmates, employer speak," July 14, 2024
Pennsylvania Department of State, "Voter Registration Status," accessed July 15, 2024
NBC News, "Trump rally shooter identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man," July 14, 2024
The New York Times, "The FBI Identifies Suspected Gunman in Trump Rally Shooting: What to Know ," July 14, 2024
Reuters, "Suspect came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why," July 15, 2024
CNN, "What we know about the Trump rally gunman so far," July 14, 2024
Federal Election Commission, "Thomas Crooks Record Jan, 20, 2021" accessed July 15, 2024
Progressive Turnout Project, "Home page," accessed July 15, 2024
PolitiFact, "No, this photo is not of Trump rally shooting suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks," July 14, 2024
Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Update on the FBI Investigation of the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump," July 14, 2024
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