Unmasking the Trump rally shooter: A case of mistaken identities and imaginary motives

On July 13, 2024, former U.S. President Donald Trump was injured in an attempted assassination at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the ear, while one bystander was killed, and two others were critically injured in the shooting incident involving a lone gunman.

In the chaotic aftermath, social media platforms were inundated with misinformation and speculation regarding the identity of the suspected shooter.

Even before the FBI released an official statement on the shooter's identity, a photo showing a person in a black jacket, black cap, and sunglasses went viral. The image was accompanied by claims that it depicted an ANTIFA (anti-fascist) member named "Mark Violets" who allegedly shot at Trump.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, Logically Facts discovered that the person in the viral post was not Trump's shooter but a football commentator named Marco Violi. Violi released a statement (archived here) denying any involvement in the shooting and clarifying that he was in Italy at the time of the incident.

Subsequently, another image gained traction online, showing a bearded man alongside photos of an injured Trump being escorted away. A post sharing the image claimed the man, a drug dealer named "Jesús 'El BIDÓN' Hernández," was the accused attacker. The post garnered over one million views on X (formerly Twitter).

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

A reverse image search revealed that the viral photo was a screenshot from a TikTok video (archived here) posted on September 17, 2023, by a user named "elfutboleromx" (The Mexican Soccer Player). The person in the photo is Chuy Hernández, a Mexican soccer critic. He is neither a drug dealer nor a suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump and has no connection to the incident.

The many Thomas Matthew Crooks

Sometime after the incident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officially identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, but did not release any official images.

Social media users compared grainy images of the attacker, who was neutralized by the U.S. Secret Service, with people resembling him. Images of different men with long brown hair were shared as that of the suspect, supposedly identified as "Maxwell Y" and "Maxwell Yearick."

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

We confirmed that the person in the viral post is indeed Maxwell Yearick and the photo is from 2016. According to a CBS report, Yearick was involved in a clash in Pittsburgh in 2016 and was subsequently arrested.

A ‘joke’ gone wrong?

Another video emerged on social media showing a man with long blonde hair, wearing a blue T-shirt, saying to the camera, "My name is Thomas Matthew Crooks. I hate Republicans, I hate Trump, and guess what, you got the wrong guy."

The post garnered around 6,26,400 views at the time of writing. This claim also gained traction on Facebook. Users shared another image of the man from a different angle, claiming it showed Trump's attacker, Crooks.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Logically Facts discovered that the viral video was initially shared by a user on X (archived here). Upon accessing the account, we found that most posts had been deleted, and the profile had been made private. However, we were able to retrieve archived posts showing that this user had reposted content attributing the video to him.

Additionally, this user shared the now-viral image of the man with long hair on their X account, captioning it: "breaking: the trump shooter has been identified (sic)."

An archive of the X account shows that the user had posted this image, supposedly meant to be a joke (Source: GhostArchive)

While we could not independently verify the user's identity, we found other images of the same man appearing in posts shared on their X account. The user also responded to social media claims identifying him as the Trump shooter. Based on these posts, it appears the image was shared as a "joke" that was misinterpreted as factual.

An archive of the person's X account shows his reactions as the image and videos he shared went viral, identifying him as the attacker (Source: Ghost Archive/X)

A 2020 video linked to the attack

Another video (archived here), circulated online, purportedly showing the Trump attacker shouting, "Slash Republican throats." However, this video dates back to 2020 and was recorded on the Arizona State University campus, unrelated to the recent attack on Trump.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Some claims on social media (archived here) also alleged that the FBI-identified shooter, Crooks, was an IDF soldier for Israel. As of July 15, 2024, the shooter's motive and ideology remain unclear, with no reputable sources confirming any connection to the IDF.

‘Zombie’ claims resurface

Following the shooting, the old ‘Sam Hyde’ hoax resurfaced online, falsely identifying comedian Samuel Hyde as the suspect. This hoax has falsely linked Hyde's image to numerous unrelated shootings in the past. Read our previous fact-check here.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What do we know about the attacker so far?

According to a BBC report, Crooks, the suspected shooter, was believed to have been armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and was shot dead at the scene by a Secret Service sniper.

While the FBI has not released images of the suspect, Reuters and BBC obtained and published a 2020 image believed to be of Crooks from his high school yearbook after speaking with residents, neighbors, and classmates. At the time of the incident, he was not in possession of any identification, and investigators used DNA and facial recognition technology to confirm his identity.

Reuters published an image of Trump’s suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Source: Reuters)

Reports indicated that Crooks was a registered Republican who had reportedly donated $15 to ActBlue in 2021. ActBlue is a nonprofit technology organization that facilitates online donations for Democratic candidates, progressive causes, and social initiatives. The motive behind the attack remains unknown, and the FBI continues to investigate.