The FBI has revealed that the gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump was investigating a member of the royal family while planning assassination targets.
Thomas Crooks was killed by U.S. Secret Service snipers seconds after he opened fire on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Armed with a rifle, the 20-year-old Trump, 78, shot him in the ear and killed another male spectator.
FBI investigators told members of Congress that Crooks had gone online to “survey” a number of potential assassination targets, including an unnamed member of the royal family.
The revelation came after federal agents downloaded the contents of two of Crooks’ cellphones.
Donald Trump (pictured) narrowly escaped being killed by a gunman at a rally on Saturday, when he was struck in the ear
Shooter Thomas Crooks (pictured) had been investigating a member of the royal family during his assassination plans, the FBI revealed
The 20-year-old was shot by US Secret Service snipers moments after he opened fire on Trump
The wannabe hitman also reached out to Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, and Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General.
Investigators also revealed that Crooks’ devices contained images of President Joe Biden and Trump, as well as the dates of both Trump rallies and the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to take place in Chicago next month.
News of the FBI’s discovery came after it was revealed that Crooks had written an ominous warning on a gaming platform before trying to assassinate Trump.
DailyMail.com confirmed that US senators were told the 20-year-old killer had posted the following on Steam: ‘July 13th is my premiere, watch it unfold.’
On July 13, he opened fire on Republican presidential candidate Trump from a rooftop just 400 feet from the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania.
After the assassination attempt, the US Secret Service was accused of incompetence for failing to protect Trump.
An hour before the attack, the agency received a report of a “suspicious person” near the stage. Crooks was ejected after setting off a metal detector.
Senators also learned that Crooks was spotted by Secret Service agents 10 minutes before Trump walked on stage, 20 minutes before he was shot.
Sources close to the call told DailyMail.com that more than an hour passed between the time the gunman was spotted and the first shot he fired. Even more disturbing, Secret Service snipers spotted Crooks on the roof 20 minutes before he shot the former president.
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks wrote an ominous warning on a gaming platform before shooting the former president
Donald Trump was seen with blood on his face after being shot on Saturday
Trump was shot in the ear about 10 minutes after he took the stage
At 5:52 p.m. the ‘suspect’ shooter was spotted on the roof by snipers.
Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m.
Around 6:12 p.m., Crooks’ first shots rang out.
“They let an awful lot of time pass before they shoot,” the source said.
Mike Lee, the Republican senator for Utah, confirmed this in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.
“They had already identified the shooter as a ‘suspicious’ 19 minutes before the shooting,” he posted.
Crooks was shot seconds after attempting to assassinate the former president, his body found on a rooftop just 400 feet from the podium where Trump spoke.
The FBI also discovered he had two cell phones on him. The second was found at home and contained only 27 contacts.
Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle has since come under fire for the failed security operation.
She has been under mounting pressure since it emerged that her agents were repeatedly warned about potential assassin Thomas Crooks as he prepared to shoot the president at Saturday’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
As outrage mounted over the attempt on Trump’s life, Cheatle was dramatically protected by her own agents after angry U.S. senators chased her down a hallway, demanding she explain how a gunman was able to target Trump.
Cheatle was in Milwaukee’s Congressional Hall on Wednesday night to oversee security measures, just hours after he placed a phone call to senators on Saturday night to voice their dismay over the Pennsylvania shooting.
Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee led the chase, complaining that they did not have a chance to ask Cheatle their questions during the phone call.
A frustrated Barrasso then issued an ultimatum to the security chief.
“You almost killed him,” Barrasso shouted at Cheatle. “So resign or full explanation.”
Instead of placing her snipers on the roof of the American Glass Research Building in Butler, Pennsylvania, from where Crooks was shooting, she decided to secure the building from the inside.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at the highest point,” the Secret Service chief claimed.
‘So there is a safety factor that needs to be taken into account. For example, we don’t want someone standing on a sloping roof.
“And so it was decided to secure the building from the inside,” she added.
Cheatle’s decision allowed Crooks to evade police and the Secret Service three times, despite being considered a “suspect” and possibly having been on the roof for as long as 30 minutes before pulling the trigger.
Witnesses also pleaded with police to intervene when they saw him climb onto the roof with his AR rifle, but the lack of security allowed him to carry out his attempt to end the 45th president’s life.
Four sources close to President Biden’s family, including people who had contact with Cheatle during the Obama-Biden administration, told the New York Post that she was well-liked by the future first lady and her top advisers, including her top adviser Anthony Bernal.