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The FBI concluded that Crooks acted alone when he shot at Trump during the campaign rally in 2024
Rhian Lubin in New York Sunday 19 April 2026 22:17 BST- Bookmark
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Marjorie Taylor Greene has stirred up conspiracies about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, saying “there are a lot of questions” about would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The former GOP representative and Trump-loyalist is the latest MAGA figure to accuse the administration of a “cover-up” without any hard evidence.
In a final report on the July 13, 2024, shooting published last year, the FBI concluded that Crooks acted alone when he shot at Trump, clipping the top of his ear, and killing supporter Corey Comperatore. FBI Director Kash Patel said the president was “fully briefed” and “satisfied” with the report, effectively drawing a line under the matter.
But questions about Crooks’s motive and his political leanings remain unanswered, prompting skeptics, including Republican representatives, to accuse the bureau of “stonewalling.”
“I’m not calling the Butler assassination a hoax,” Greene said on X Sunday. “But there are a lot of questions that deserve public answers. I’m asking why won’t Trump release the information about Matthew Crooks?”
open image in galleryMarjorie Taylor Greene has questioned the details surrounding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, and said ‘there are a lot of questions’ about would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks (AFP/Getty)“Did he actually act alone?” Greene followed up. “If not, who is behind him and who helped him? Why the cover up??”
The White House has pushed back against the conspiracies, with a spokesperson saying “only a fool” would believe them.
Greene amplified a conspiracy theory Saturday posted by Trisha Hope, a delegate from Texas for the 2024 Republican National Convention, who described herself as a “J6 Activist.”
Hope shared her doubts about the official version of events and claimed Trump has “show[n] no interest in investigating what really happened.”
“I agree,” said Greene. “Corey Comperatore’s wife and daughters deserve to know why Corey, a true American patriot and hero was murdered in Butler. Trump said repeatedly ‘I am your retribution.’ Where is the retribution?” Greene asked her followers.
On the anniversary of the shooting, Comperatore’s widow, Helen Comperatore, said she was still waiting for answers.
“All I’ve wanted this entire time was to sit down with the men who screwed up that day and find out why,” she told The New York Post last year. “Why? Why at that rally? Why at that one in Butler?”
While many of Trump’s supporters initially viewed his survival of the shooting as an act of divine intervention, right-wing influencers such as Tim Dillon and Tucker Carlson have begun to push the unfounded theory that the assassination attempt was “staged.”
open image in galleryThe FBI concluded that Crooks acted alone when he shot at Trump but prominent MAGA figures have begun to push the unfounded theory that the assassination attempt was ‘staged’ (Getty)Former Minnesota Gov. and WWE star Jesse Ventura peddled the same conspiracy on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored last month.
Ventura branded the incident a “blade job,” which in professional wrestling is when fighters intentionally cut themselves to make it appear that their opponent has seriously hurt them.
“What, you think it was fake?” Morgan replied. “I don't know, where's his scar today?” Ventura said, referring to the injury Trump sustained to his ear.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle rubbished the conspiracy theories in a recent statement.
“On that tragic day in Butler, Pennsylvania, we tragically lost an American hero, Corey Comperatore, who selflessly laid down his life to protect those around him,” White House spokesperson Ingle said. “President Trump will never forget Corey and his beautiful family. On that dark day, God spared President Trump’s life by a miraculous millimeter.”
“President Trump is standing stronger than ever as he continues to ‘fight, fight, fight’ for the American people,” Ingle added. “Only a fool would believe otherwise.”
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