The FBI has closed its review of the 2024 attempt on President Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Penn., determining that the gunman acted alone and left no motive, a conclusion that lands amid continued scrutiny of federal security failures surrounding the rally shooting.
The FBI has concluded that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the twenty-year-old who opened fire at President Donald Trump’s July 2024 Pennsylvania campaign rally, acted alone and without a discernible motive, according to senior bureau officials who briefed Fox News on the findings.
The determination ends what investigators described as an exhaustive review.
Officials said the probe began the moment the attack occurred and was considered a priority from the first day. FBI Director Kash Patel said Trump, described as a victim of the case, was briefed on the conclusion and "was satisfied with the results and where we left it."
Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News Digital that investigators "reviewed this case over and over" and "looked into every nugget." He added that agents spoke with the families of those harmed and with Trump himself. "There is no cover-up here. There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it," he said.
Crooks fired from atop a building near the Butler rally site, killing Corey Comperatore and injuring two others.
A bullet grazed the president’s ear before Secret Service snipers killed the gunman.
Patel criticized former FBI Director Christopher Wray and the Biden administration’s handling of the immediate aftermath, arguing that confusion about whether a bullet had struck Trump eroded confidence in federal leadership at the time.
"The whole world knew it was a bullet," Patel said. "For the number one law enforcement officer to say that, it causes a massive disbelief in the institution that Dan and I are now running."
Though the FBI’s final assessment points to a lone actor, a senior bureau official told Fox News that credible leads would still be examined if new information surfaced.
The Secret Service continues to face bipartisan scrutiny following the attack.
Helen Comperatore, the widow of Corey Comperatore, said the agency was responsible for its security posture at the rally. "We were all sitting ducks that day," she told Fox News. "Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life."
Agents rushed the then-candidate from the stage after the shots were fired, blood visible on the right side of his face. Trump briefly paused, raised his fist, and shouted "Fight, fight, fight" before leaving the rally grounds.
The phrase later became a campaign refrain as Republicans rallied around the incident.
An internal watchdog report from the Department of Homeland Security later found that the Secret Service counter-sniper team had been chronically understaffed. The agency’s posture before the rally drew sharp criticism throughout the year following the shooting.
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