Newly disclosed FBI records show Thomas Matthew Crooks used the name “Bob Dole” to receive packages before his July 2024 assassination attempt against Donald Trump, while a family attorney told investigators an unidentified donor later paid for Crooks’ cremation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Newly disclosed FBI records are providing additional details about Thomas Matthew Crooks’ life before and immediately after his 2024 attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, including his use of the alias “Bob Dole” for package deliveries and an unidentified donor who reportedly paid for his cremation.
The records, which were provided to the Senate and reviewed by Fox News, describe a socially isolated 20-year-old whose attack stunned his family and whose motive remains unresolved.
Crooks opened fire from the roof of the American Glass Research complex during Trump’s July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He fired eight rounds, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore and seriously wounding David Dutch and James Copenhaver. Trump was struck in the ear before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks.
The newly disclosed material indicates Crooks had been receiving packages under the “Bob Dole” name before the attack.
His father, Matthew Crooks, told FBI investigators that his son generally retrieved packages bearing the alias before he returned home from working late, according to the records.
Matthew Crooks said the pseudonym emerged after his checking account was compromised and fraudulent gambling charges appeared. The documents do not establish that the choice of “Bob Dole,” the name of the late Republican senator and presidential nominee, had any political significance.
The FBI had previously disclosed that Crooks used aliases while purchasing firearms-related items and chemicals before the shooting, though the bureau did not publicly identify the names he used at the time.
Investigators said in August 2024 that Crooks made more than 25 firearms-related purchases from an online vendor beginning in spring 2023 and used an alias for those transactions. During the first half of 2024, he also made six online purchases of chemical precursors associated with the explosive devices later recovered from his vehicle and home, again using aliases.
The latest records identify “Bob Dole” as one of the names Crooks used, adding another detail to investigators’ findings that he had taken steps to conceal portions of his activity.
The documents also provide new information about Crooks’ cremation following the shooting.
According to the records, an attorney representing the Crooks family told investigators that an anonymous donor paid for the 20-year-old’s body to be cremated after it was released to his family. The identity of the donor and the reason for paying the expense were not disclosed in the reporting.
The existence of an unidentified donor does not, by itself, establish that another person participated in or had advance knowledge of the assassination attempt.
The FBI has said its extensive investigation found Crooks acted alone and uncovered no credible evidence that anyone inside or outside the United States directed, assisted or inspired him to carry out the attack. The bureau said in 2025 that its investigation found no foreign government, foreign organization or other individual connected to planning the shooting.
Questions surrounding the handling of Crooks’ body had surfaced much earlier.
The FBI said an autopsy was conducted after the attack and that investigators collected necessary forensic evidence before the remains were released. The bureau and Pennsylvania State Police concurred with the Butler County Coroner’s Office that there were no additional investigative reasons to retain the body.
The autopsy concluded that Crooks died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and forensic evidence was consistent with the shot fired by the Secret Service counter-sniper. Toxicology testing was negative for alcohol and drugs of abuse.
FBI officials have also emphasized that the bureau itself did not order Crooks’ cremation. A senior FBI official said investigators had completed their examination and collected DNA, hair, fingernail and blood samples before the remains were turned over to the family.
The newly disclosed family interviews offer further insight into Crooks’ personal life.
His father told agents that Crooks “never identified anyone as a friend throughout middle school and high school.”
Although Crooks interacted with classmates, Matthew Crooks told investigators his son explicitly distinguished those acquaintances from friendships.
That account is consistent with information the FBI disclosed shortly after the shooting.
Investigators who interviewed relatives, former teachers, classmates and co-workers described Crooks as intelligent, steadily employed and largely socially isolated outside his immediate family. The FBI said his “primary social circle” appeared limited to relatives and that he had few friends or acquaintances.
His family told investigators they had not anticipated the attack.
Federal authorities have spent more than two years examining Crooks’ computers, phones, online accounts, purchasing history and communications in an effort to understand what led him to target Trump.
The investigation uncovered extensive planning.
Crooks developed an increasing interest in firearms beginning years before the shooting and undertook formal firearms training beginning around September 2023. Investigators found searches involving mass shootings, improvised explosive devices, power plants and the May 2024 assassination attempt against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
After Trump’s Butler rally was announced July 3, Crooks registered to attend on July 6. That same day, he searched online for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” referring to Lee Harvey Oswald and the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
On July 7, Crooks traveled to the Butler rally site and spent approximately 20 minutes around the area, including near the AGR buildings from which he would later fire. Investigators characterized the visit as apparent advance surveillance.
Crooks returned July 13, purchased 50 rounds of ammunition and ultimately climbed onto the AGR roof less than 200 yards from the stage. At 6:11 p.m., he fired eight rounds toward Trump before being killed.
Authorities also recovered two explosive devices from Crooks’ vehicle and another from his bedroom. The FBI determined the devices in his vehicle were capable of exploding but did not detonate because their receivers were switched off.
Despite that extensive reconstruction of his preparations, investigators have struggled to answer the central question of why he did it.
The FBI said its review of Crooks’ online history provided insight into his mindset but failed to establish a definitive motive. Investigators also found no credible evidence that another person had advance knowledge of the attack.
The newly released records add unusual details to that still-incomplete picture: a young man described by his father as having no close friends, packages collected under the borrowed name “Bob Dole,” and a cremation expense reportedly covered by an anonymous donor.
For investigators, however, those details have so far changed neither the bureau’s conclusion that Crooks acted alone nor the continuing uncertainty over what ultimately drove him to open fire in Butler.
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