Why potential Trump assassin Thomas Crooks remains an annoying mystery weeks after the shooting

Five weeks after the first assassination attempt on a sitting or former president in over 40 years, the public still has few answers about the 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Since his identity was revealed, the FBI and members of Congress have been trying to determine a motive and are investigating every aspect of his life both online and offline.

Even in his hometown of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – a quiet suburb of Pittsburgh – the Crooks family has always been – and continues to be – an enigma, according to neighbors.

“Everyone here knows everyone, but nobody knows the others,” says 77-year-old Karen, who lives on the same street as the crooks and asked that her last name not be used.

“You can ask anyone on this street, you hardly know these people. I didn't even know their names.”

When federal authorities searched his family's modest home after the shooting, agents seized hardware, including his laptop, two cell phones and several hard drives and USB sticks.

The large amount of recovered data (about 4.5 terabytes) is a potential technological treasure trove for forensics teams, but authorities said progress is slow due to the enormous amount of information that needs to be sifted through to get definitive answers.

But from the congressional hearings – and the details that emerged from FBI briefings with lawmakers – it appears that investigators still do not have satisfactory answers as to why the crooks targeted Trump.

The slow pace of new information coming to light is frustrating for Crook's neighbors, who are still waiting for answers after the shocking discovery that they lived next door to a hitman who was plotting to assassinate the leading presidential candidate.

“I would like to know what really happened and what Thomas' motive was,” 39-year-old neighbor Kelly Little told The Post.

“Domestic terrorism is very real. We have a right to know what happened, but I don't know if we will ever get a clear answer.”

Little said her quiet suburban street has returned to calm after becoming the focus of a media and police storm last month.

“The police have not been here for weeks. Nothing is happening, there is no police activity,” she said, pointing out that although local police occasionally drive by, there are no officers permanently stationed there.

Crooks' parents have remained among themselves since the shooting, which neighbors say was pretty much the norm even before the events at the Trump rally in Butler.

Karen said she was curious to know how Crooks' parents didn't know about his plans.

“What happened in that house? Why didn't they know what their son was going through, or that their son thought the way he thought?” she asked.

Another neighbor from the Crooks block, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed that while things have largely returned to normal in the neighborhood, the lack of real answers remains frustrating.

“Law enforcement needs to figure out what went wrong,” she said.

“I know absolutely nothing about what went on other than what has already been reported, and that is not much.”

She agreed that it was bizarre that more was not known about Crooks at this point, which led her to believe there was more to the story than we already know.

“I don't think he acted alone, that would be my best guess,” she said.

This claim contradicts the FBI and Secret Service's statements that they found no accomplices.

However, Republican Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida said last week that he was not satisfied with the federal investigators' statements.

“How did he learn to build these explosive devices? How did he learn to install remote detonators? How did he conduct these searches without getting caught?” Waltz, who is a member of a House task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, told the Washington Post.

“I still have many questions.”

Waltz is not the only Republican member of Congress to express frustration over the seemingly slow pace of the investigation.

“It has been more than a month since former President Trump was nearly assassinated, and yet the FBI has still not given Congress or the public any real insight into the crooks' motives,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Post.

“The FBI should stop delaying and provide serious updates on its investigation. Every day that the FBI and Secret Service keep the American people in the dark is another lost day.”

Senator Ron Johnson accused the FBI and Secret Service of blocking a Senate investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Johnson (Republican of Wisconsin), who is involved in a bipartisan Senate investigation into the Trump assassination, argues that the FBI and Secret Service often gave him redacted documents on the day of key interviews, which made the investigation more difficult.

“All I can tell you is that the Secret Service and the FBI are basically lazy. They are stonewalling us,” Johnson said on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“From my perspective, we're not getting anything from the Secret Service or the FBI. We've requested all of their 302s, their transcripts of their interviews with hundreds of people. They're not giving us those either.”

The online presence of scammers, or lack thereof, is another mystery in a world where more than four-fifths of all young adults use at least one social media platform.

Despite the collective investigation of all law enforcement agencies and investigative journalists in the country, no profiles were uncovered that can be clearly linked to Crooks.

Investigators have discovered several accounts believed to be linked to crooks on encrypted messaging services and social media platforms abroad, but the FBI has not yet detailed its findings.

Even Crooks' political leanings remain elusive, with investigators struggling to uncover more than lukewarm signs of support for one political party or another.

There is no manifesto, no identifiable path to radicalization, and no evidence of allegiance to any group or ideology has been found.

And that means America has no starting point that brings us closer to understanding why he did what he did.