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The man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who lived in Pennsylvania, not far from where last night’s rally took place. So far, not much has been reported about Crooks. He seems to have been one of America’s few 20-year-olds who didn’t have any social media accounts, but perhaps something will come to light. And there is no report, yet, of any “manifesto” or other writings relating to his assassination attempt. I take it that this is understood to be a photo of Crooks, although I am not sure that has been confirmed:

Predictably, Crooks has been described as a “loner.” The press is making much of the fact that when he turned 18, Crooks registered to vote as a Republican. Some accounts describe him as a “member of the Republican Party.” More significant is the fact that at 17, he donated $15 to ActBlue, the left-wing grass roots fundraising operation. That donation reportedly was made on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day.

The donation to ActBlue was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a group that says its mission is to “rally Democrats to vote” and describes itself as “dedicated to mobilising the Democratic Party and defending democracy”.

So it is possible that Crooks’s politics were all over the lot; that he was a “never Trump” Republican; or that he registered as a Republican in order to be able to vote against Trump (or perhaps other Republicans) in a primary.

One thing is certain: if Crooks was tuned into ActBlue (or, frankly, if he had just been paying attention for the last several years), he couldn’t have missed countless claims that Trump is literally Hitler; that he is a fascist and wants to be a dictator; and that his election would likely be the end of our republic. It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to assume that such oft-repeated claims lie behind his attempt to murder President Trump. Whether he had read Joe Biden’s exhortation to “put Trump in a bullseye” is unknown.

We will continue to update as more information about Crooks emerges.

ONE MORE OBSERVATION: Videos show people in the crowd seeing Crooks on the roof of a building around 130 yards from Trump’s podium and yelling “He’s got a gun,” trying to alert police and the Secret Service. It is possible that by doing so, they saved Trump’s life. The assassin may have realized he had been spotted, known there were Secret Service snipers nearby (they would have been visible from his location on the roof), and hurried his shots as a consequence. If that scenario is right, it would account for Crooks’s poor aim. 130 yards is not much distance for a rifle if you have time to aim and set up the shot.

UPCATE: The New York Post reports that Crooks also had explosives in his car and his home:

The investigation into Donald Trump’s attempted assassin have been slowed down by improvised explosives rigged across his property, senior law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the search told The Post.

Explosives were found in 20-year-old Thomas Crooks’ car as well as his home, sources said.

The explosives were described as having “varying” levels of sophistication, though it is unclear exactly what they consist of.

Investigators were forced to tread lightly after uncovering the explosives in Crooks’ property.

ANOTHER THING: I meant to mention this earlier. Reportedly, Crooks was not carrying identification and was identified through DNA. I don’t understand that. How was the FBI or Secret Service able to identify Crooks through his DNA, almost immediately? Crooks apparently didn’t have a criminal record, so why would his DNA be somehow on file with law enforcement? Obviously there is an answer, but I don’t know what it is.

MORE: About the DNA, my friend Kevin Roche writes:

On identifying someone by DNA, you would be stunned John by how many people’s DNA is in a database and how quickly sequencing can happen now. If you have any kind of medical procedure your DNA is probably out there. And there are portable sequencers but I am guessing the FBI just zipped it to the Univ. of Pitts Medical school which could sequence it in five minutes or less and the match with today’s computers takes no time.