Classmate: Suspect in Trump shooting was loner who was bullied at school

(15 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania - 14 July 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Kohler, classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks:
"No, I didn't have any classes with them. My only interactions with him were just seeing him in school, and he was bullied, sat alone at lunch."
++DIP TO WHITE++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Kohler, classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks:
"Insane. I mean, this is where I live. I never thought this would be going on in a town that I've grew up in my whole life."
++DIP TO WHITE++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Kohler, classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks:
"Well, I was actually at, Bethel Sheetz last night. Bethel Park Sheetz the one right down the road. And we were just like .... People were coming in, and we just heard it, like people were talking about it like, yo, this kid's from Bethel. Like. And we just ... that's how we all learned. Then we started seeing pictures online of him. We're like, wow, this is insane."
++DIP TO WHITE++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Kohler, classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks:
"I mean, yeah, but that's not something you want to think about like that. You don't want to have that first thought in your head like he's a little off, is he going to do something?"

STORYLINE:
The 20-year-old nursing-home employee from suburban Pittsburgh who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump was a registered Republican who packed explosives in the vehicle he drove to the campaign rally an hour from his home.

Law enforcement officials were working Sunday to learn more about Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, to determine what motivated him to open fire on the rally from a nearby rooftop, killing one spectator, before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.

The FBI said Sunday it has not yet identified any underlying ideology or threatening writing or social media posts from Crooks, who graduated from high school two years ago and had no past criminal cases against him, according to public court records. The FBI said it believes Crooks acted alone.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said on social media the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. Two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. The man killed was Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief from the area who Pennsylvania's governor says died a “hero” by diving onto his family to protect them.

Relatives of Crooks didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. His father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN late Saturday that he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but wouldn’t speak about his son until after he talked to law enforcement. An FBI official told reporters that Crooks' family is cooperating with investigators.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. In a video of the school’s graduation ceremony posted online, Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to receive his diploma, appearing slight of build and wearing glasses. The school district said it will cooperate fully with investigators. His senior year, Crooks was among several students given an award for math and science, according to a Tribune-Review story at the time.

Crooks tried out for the school's rifle team but was turned away because he was a bad shooter, said Frederick Mach, a current captain of the team who was a few years behind Crooks at the school.


“He was bullied almost every day,” Kohler told reporters. “He was just an outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays.”








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#pennsylvania #classmates #bethelpark

[brendab.]

He said he didn’t have any classes with Crooks, so how was he a classmate? He said he “saw him around” then says he was bullied every day. This is not good reporting. I saw a different young man that said he knew Crooks, and he was not bullied at school and seemed like a nice person with several friends.

[mjohnson]

This kid sounds like he met some people who wanted him to talk to the news.

[jordanhenshaw]

This dude has "15 minutes of fame" written all over his forehead.

[callamastia]

can they interview anyone who actually spoke with him?

[corrosivepyro]

That kid was only trying to get his mug on tv.

[calebschnarr]

15 min of fame… shitty reporting with leading questions. Sad

[Iburn]

Didnt they figure out this kid was lying?

[auburnelectrologyskincare]

One guy looks broken up the other was happy to be interviewed

[pyrofantasypyrotechnics]

Trying to justify his actions with him being bullied.

[DoctorAlright]

Tf was the kid on the left doing there

[bamagym]

I hope the stupid naive world doesn't fall for this bs again. We all predicted these 'interviews', loner, gamer, whatever.... geez

[MeaganEater]

Guidance Counselor of the school said he had friends the last two years of his school time. He also said the third year before graduating that Thomas spent time video gaming during lunch and that he offered to eat lunch with him sometimes, but Thomas said no and went back to video gaming. The school Councilor refutes what is said in the above video. Also, to be a schoolmate, you usually know each other and possibly had classes together at some time. They didn't have classes and were not friends by his own admission.

[usmcvet]

We already know that this isn't true. Why are you reporting it over and over? His guidance councilor came out and said that he knew he wasn't being bullied because he was close to that student. These kids didn't even know this kid. Thomas only had like 5 friends and none of these kids are it. You need to start reporting the truth because this isn't going away. People will get to the bottom of this and hopefully we will do something about it.

[InfoArtistJK]

Thumbs DOWN. Incompetent inaccurate reporting by regurgitators.

[xeroinfinity]

apparently he had plenty of friends at Black Rock last year

[jasoncrum-dndn]

Billy Ray checked his pits at the worst time

[ThatTeamOutWest]

I always thought the FBI was a group of elites and never was a loner.

[simpleman]

What about the $12 million bet that was made against true social the day before? Why are the new stations not investigating this? Why are you not calling this shit out?

[corrinamoon]

I saw another video where a guy who actually had many conversations with the suspect, said he was not bullied like the media is trying to portray. He said he had his friends and he did not eat alone, and if he did its because his friends had a diff lunch time. He also said the suspect did not like Democrats nor Republicans. Basically he was not happy with either.

[AJ-]

There's another guy who DID know him & said the guy was not like the media is portraying him. He said he was arrogant and a know it all.