Newly obtained emails and documents belonging to Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who opened fire at President Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July 2024, provide a chilling insight into the mind of a young man leading a double life. The attack resulted in the President sustaining an ear injury and the death of an audience member.
Just six months prior to the shooting, in January 2024, Crooks was actively pursuing his academic aspirations. The community college student was in the process of refining his transfer applications to a four-year engineering program. Emails obtained by CBS News show Crooks diligently working on gathering transcripts and seeking feedback from friends on his personal statement.
However, during the same period, Crooks was also engaged in planning a violent act. Utilizing an encrypted email account, he ordered over two gallons of nitromethane from an online specialty fuel retailer, according to the documents reviewed by CBS News. Twelve days after placing the order, Crooks followed up with the retailer, Hyperfuels, inquiring about the delayed shipment. In an email sent on January 31, 2024, he wrote, “Hello, my name is Thomas. I placed an order on your website on January 19. I have not received any updates of the order shipping out yet and I was wondering if you still have it and when I can expect it to come.” Notably, Crooks used his community college email account for this inquiry, a seemingly minor oversight that has provided a rare glimpse into his disturbing plans.
Further emails reveal Crooks’ continued focus on his academic future. On February 13, 2024, he scheduled a video call with friends to proofread his personal essay for the University of Pittsburgh.
Student Remembered for Dedication
Prior to the release of these documents, little was known about the motivations behind Crooks’ decision to target then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The emails, essays, and other materials reviewed by CBS News now paint a picture of a student simultaneously envisioning two drastically different futures. In one scenario, Crooks was on track to excel in his engineering studies, where professors lauded his strong work ethic, academic progress, and active participation in class. In the other, he was on a path toward an act of violence that would ultimately lead to his death on July 13, 2024.
Academic records indicate that Crooks was a motivated and meticulous student who attended community college after achieving a score of 1530 on the SATs. He reportedly told an academic advisor that his initial enrollment at the community college was a cost-saving measure before transferring to a four-year institution. An examination of hundreds of college emails obtained by CBS News reveals that Crooks rarely discussed personal matters, with a few exceptions. For instance, he once inquired with a professor about the possibility of bringing fewer than the required five adults for an assignment, explaining that aside from his parents and sister, he did “not have access to any other adults.”
The day before contacting Hyperfuels about the nitromethane order, on January 30, Crooks wrote a school assignment detailing his appreciation for the fall season. The passage, written in various colors, expressed his enthusiasm for football and his favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving, while also describing his enjoyment of the autumn weather and rhetorically asking, “who doesn’t love the changing color of the leaves?”
Crooks took his coursework seriously and routinely contacted professors to contest grades with which he disagreed. Following a math exam where he inadvertently mislabeled a variable, he successfully petitioned his instructor for partial credit, which he calculated would be sufficient to earn him an “A” in the course. His transcript shows that Crooks consistently performed at an A-level in most of his subjects, and emails indicate that professors were frequently impressed by his dedication. An English professor wrote in December 2022, “Thanks again for your contribution to the class this term — wouldn’t’ve been the same without you!”
One particular project in the engineering department drew significant praise from faculty. Crooks, whose mother has a visual impairment, designed and 3D-printed a unique chessboard featuring Braille labeling along the rows and columns, as well as alternating “raised squares with peg-holes to prevent the pieces from being knocked over,” as described by Crooks himself. Former engineering professor Todd Landree recalled the faculty’s admiration for the project, noting that it was “above and beyond what anybody expected.” Patricia Thompson, who also taught Crooks, echoed this sentiment, describing the project as exceeding expectations and expressing her sadness that such a promising student would choose this path. “It’s just very difficult to understand where it came from,” Thompson said.
Skepticism Towards Government
While Crooks primarily focused on engineering and computing at the community college, a few written assignments hinted at a deep skepticism regarding the federal government and corporations. In response to a prompt asking students to evaluate the ethical conduct of engineers involved in NASA’s 1986 Challenger disaster, Crooks offered a critical perspective. He attributed the ill-fated launch to NASA administrators who were “trying to live up to the lofty promises they made to Congress which they were never going to be able to fulfill.”
For a 2022 English assignment, Crooks analyzed George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” calling it “a powerful allegory warning against adopting imperialistic policies.” He wrote that the essay “maintains its significance as the themes in it apply to every form of tyrannical government many of which still exist today, and continue to send young men, much like Orwell, to carry out the ‘dirty work of Empire.'”
Crooks also referenced Mr. Trump in at least one essay titled “Why Nuclear Energy is the Key to a Cleaner Future.” In this piece, he briefly touched upon nuclear weapons proliferation, criticizing a decision made by Mr. Trump during his first term regarding the Iran nuclear deal.
Additionally, Crooks’ writing at least once focused on then-President Biden. He reviewed a 2021 opinion column published in The Washington Post, concluding that it effectively argued against Mr. Biden’s support for tuition-free community college, suggesting the author appealed to pre-existing political concerns rather than imposing their own views.
Despite his advanced reasoning and persuasive writing abilities, Crooks frequently made spelling and grammar errors, with several essays and assignments returned for corrections.
Federal Grand Jury Investigation
The invoice for the nitromethane purchase listed a separate email account from a Belgium-based service offering end-to-end encryption. FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek stated in August that Crooks had researched “nitromethane, and other materials consistent with the manufacturing of explosive devices.” Rojek indicated that agents had accessed multiple overseas-based encrypted email accounts used by Crooks, who did not employ explosives during his attack. A Hyperfuels employee acknowledged the company’s awareness of Crooks’ purchase last year, while the company’s president did not respond to requests for comment.
Crooks’ transcript and other academic records were initially made public by America First Legal, a nonprofit organization founded by Stephen Miller, a former aide to Mr. Trump who is now White House deputy chief of staff. Pennsylvania lawyer Wally Zimolong, representing America First Legal, pursued the records, ultimately winning a legal battle for their release last year. Among the findings was the existence of a previously undisclosed federal grand jury that had subpoenaed the community college and obtained Crooks’ emails and essays. Zimolong provided CBS News with records related to the grand jury’s subpoena and Crooks’ transcripts. A letter from a Justice Department official to the college, dated July 24, 2024, confirmed the subpoena was related to “an active FBI criminal investigation.”
Federal grand juries typically convene to determine if there is probable cause to indict an individual for a crime. However, Crooks, the only known suspect in the shooting, had been deceased for 11 days by the time this letter was sent. Wally Zimolong questioned the scope of the investigation, asking, “Were they investigating anyone else? Are they still investigating?” He added that this development adds to the mystery surrounding Crooks, who appeared committed to his college studies until the day of the attack. “A year later we still don’t know enough,” Zimolong concluded.
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