Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Women Serving as FBI Special Agents and FBI Police

For many years, far too many in the FBI’s early history, women did not have the opportunity to be special agents. And not for lack of interest. We know girls and women wrote the FBI back then to learn how they could become special agents.

One teenager, Nancy McRae, wrote Director J. Edgar Hoover such a letter in April 1971. And he sent a letter back to her, writing, in part—and I’m quoting here for historical accuracy—“Because of the nature of the duties our special agents are called upon to perform, we do not employ women in this position…We must have agents who are qualified to cope with any situation they may face.” 

I don’t think any speaker ever hopes to get booed by an audience, but I wouldn’t really mind it there.

What I know, what all of you know, and what Hoover either did not know or did not acknowledge, is that women are absolutely essential to effective law enforcement. And just a year later, Susan and Joanne proved not just that they could do the job, but that they could—and would—excel.

Fortunately, the numbers of women at the FBI who are special agents and FBI Police officers are steadily increasing. Ten years ago, women made up only 20 percent of our special agent ranks and only 16 percent of our FBI Police officers. These are officers who protect our employees and facilities and have to meet the same rigorous fitness and firearms standards as our special agents. Today, 22 percent of our FBI police officers are women, and women now make up 24 percent of our special agent cadre.

And we’re doing better every year. On average, women now comprise 37 percent of our new agent trainees. And at one of our agent graduations just a few months ago, women made up almost half the class. 

Now, of course, gun-toters aren’t the only women we have in the Bureau. More than 14 thousand women serve as intelligence analysts, professional staff, and more. From our newest employees at the line level to our career folks that serve on our executive team, women are an integral part of the FBI.

Take one of our newer special agents, who’s made high-caliber contributions to the Bureau as a new agent in our Shreveport Resident Agency. Special Agent Raquel Mobley investigated the kidnapping, rape, and brutal beatings of a Louisiana woman from two years earlier. The case hadn’t received much attention, and through her diligent work, Special Agent Mobley discovered seven others, including three children, who’d been victimized by the same subject.

Thanks to Special Agent Mobley’s determination, that monster ultimately received three life sentences. Now that’s a lot for any agent to accomplish right out of Quantico. But for Special Agent Mobley, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

In her brief time in Louisiana so far, she’s also secured two civil rights indictments, including one that led to a guilty verdict in a particularly disturbing civil rights case. She’s headed up a sensitive public corruption investigation that sent two to prison for embezzling from the local police union. And she’s accomplished all of this while also working every single one of her office’s investigations into child exploitation and human trafficking.

Oh, and in her spare time, Special Agent Mobley’s become a crisis negotiator and earned her EMT certification.

We need women like Raquel because the threats we’re up against today are more complex than we’ve ever seen. To stay ahead of them, we need everybody’s experience, everybody’s knowledge, everybody’s specialized expertise. We’ve all got to bring our very best ideas to the table and have our best leaders in the room. The more diverse our teams are, the better the solutions we’ll come up with, and the greater impact we’ll make on the threats and the problems we’re all facing.

Diversity is important for so many reasons, not least of which because everything about who we are shapes the way we think. And in law enforcement, diversity of experience, background, and thought makes for stronger, smarter teams. And more women in law enforcement means better outcomes for us all—those we do the work with and those we do the work for.

30×30 Initiative

Those we do the work with include our partners at law enforcement agencies nationwide. And along with many of those partners, the FBI signed the 30×30 initiative pledge in March 2023—an important commitment to demonstrate our support to recruiting more outstanding women to law enforcement, including the Bureau.

Our goal is to keep building a world-class workforce. The best of the best. And to make that a reality, we need to keep expanding the pool, making sure people from all backgrounds know they have an opportunity to compete, and encouraging them to throw their hats in the ring. That’s how we’ll continue to bring the best of the best to the fight.

We’re proud of the progress we’ve made at the FBI on this front, but there’s always room for growth and improvement. That’s why we’re hosting events to recruit women at college campuses, career fairs, and athletic events across the country. 

And women are not just essential members of our teams today—women like Special Agent Mobley, for example, who are making a real impact in the communities they serve. Recruiting women now also pays dividends down the road, as women grow into leadership roles throughout the Bureau .

Today, women lead something like 17 of our 37 Headquarters divisions, including our Information and Technology Branch, our Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, the Directorate of Intelligence, and our Training Division, among others. And 12 women are special agents in charge of our 56 field offices.

But I’d like to see us do better, and I know we can. So we’re going to continue to examine how we can make our culture—our policies, our procedures, and our best practices—better than ever to support women in law enforcement.  

We know this kind of institutional improvement is more of a marathon than a sprint, and we’re in it for the long haul.

Conclusion

I’m optimistic about our progress and our future. And when I think about where we were 52 years ago—back when Director Hoover wrote his letter to Nancy McRae—and then I think about where we are today, I can’t help but be proud of how far we’ve come. At the Bureau and across law enforcement.

And that is due in no small part to all of you. So thank you for everything you do to support women in law enforcement. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in the future. 

Thanks. 

And now it’s my pleasure to introduce our next speaker—my friend, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. 

As the 39th Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Lisa has devoted her life to national security and public safety. An accomplished federal prosecutor, advisor, and leader, she’s held many positions throughout DOJ and the U.S. government over the years, including counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno; Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Assistant Attorney General for National Security, as the first woman to hold that position; and Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to President Obama.

But I’d like to think some of her fondest professional memories might come from the years she spent at the FBI, where she served as special counsel and then chief of staff to Director Mueller. 

Throughout her career, Lisa has been a staunch advocate of safe communities for all Americans, and she has a long history of fighting for women’s rights. At the FBI, we’re fortunate to benefit from her partnership, and it’s great to see her here today.

Please join me in welcoming Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

Media Call Transcript

FBI Assistant Director Cathy Milhoan: Good morning, everybody. This is Cathy, assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, and thank you all for joining us. This is a series of calls and briefings that we’ve had with you, members of Congress and others as part of our continuing efforts to deliver information to the public through you all.

This call is on the record, and you may record the call for audio. But that audio is embargoed until the call is over. So, again, you may record for audio but embargoed until the call is over. Joining me here today is FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate; FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert “Bobby” Wells; and the FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek.

The Deputy is going to begin with comments, and then I’ll turn it over again to Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek, who is going to give an in-depth brief of our investigation thus far. Sir?

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate: Thank you, Cathy, and to our OPA colleagues for setting this up. Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to join us today. As we’ve been doing in an effort to be fully transparent, given the national importance and the need to provide and ensure that the American people have all the information relative to this case. We, the FBI, are continuing to share all that we can about our investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania.

We’re taking another opportunity today to do that to ensure that the most accurate, up-to-date information is provided publicly, in part, through each of you. So, thank you again. This investigation remains urgent and ongoing, and FBI personnel, agents, analysts, professional staff are working literally around the clock, 24/7, as we continue to uncover new and refined details and evidence regarding the attack.

Our teams, of course, are focused on building a timeline of events leading up to the attack, covering a number of different aspects. Our priorities within that, of course, are – to identify the shooter’s motive, which, as the SAC and the EAD will get into, is still not clear, and to determine whether any co-conspirators or associates were involved in or aware of the plot in advance.

To be clear, though we have ruled nothing out, and we’re leaving no stone unturned and continuing on that course, we have no information at this time that there are any co-conspirators.

While it is not typical for us, the FBI, to share details of an open investigation, we believe it is critical in this instance to provide the public and all of you with everything that we know about this heinous attack and to correct the record where inaccurate or false information is put out in the realm.

Again, as a result of all that, we’re doing everything in our power to fully share information and to be as transparent as possible with each of you. And we’re committed to ensuring that the most accurate information is reported, and we’re grateful again to each of you for helping us in that regard. We want to arm each of you and share with you real information, the truth, the cold hard facts that we’ve developed and continue to bring out in the course of our investigation.

In a moment, we’ll go over to Kevin Rojek, the Special Agent in Charge of our exceptional Pittsburgh Field Office. And Kevin will lay out further details regarding the investigation. We’re also joined by the Executive Assistant Director of our National Security Branch, Bobby Wells. But first, I wanted to take just a brief moment to thank, again, the hardworking FBI Special Agents, FBI Intelligence Analysts, and FBI professional staff who have been working nonstop since July 13th, literally moments after our personnel responded after receiving word from the Secret Service to the site and took over the lead in the investigation in the scene within mere hours of the incident occurring.

I had the opportunity to visit myself over the weekend the site in Butler, Pennsylvania, and also our field office there to meet with and hear from the people who are working on the front line on the case. And again, they’re doing an exceptional job. That includes also our extended investigative teams who have conducted literally hundreds of interviews and run down thousands of leads. It includes our evidence response teams, behavioral analysts, forensic scientists, operational technology personnel, victim specialists, and many, many others who are doing everything they can to advance and support this critical investigation.

We also seek to reassure the public that our teams are doing everything they can to support the after-action reviews. We know there are several that have already been announced or started through the DHS Inspector General, through Congress, through the independently named commission, and we plan to and are fully cooperating with each of those entities in pursuit of their mission in regard to this attack also.

I also want to highlight the cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service, with the Pennsylvania State Police, with Allegheny County and Butler County, and too many other to name state and local law enforcement partners, both in the investigation in terms of providing information to us in certain instances as witnesses. We’re grateful to each and every one of our partners in that regard as well.

To be clear, relative to that, relative to Secret Service, we’re not investigating from the FBI standpoint or evaluating what was done correctly or incorrectly by any protective service or other law enforcement agency, in regard to security planning, posture, or execution. We defer entirely to others, though we are collecting facts that is relative to that and that, again, we’re sharing cooperatively in order to assist those in conducting reviews focused on those elements. But again, the entirety of the FBI is committed to uncovering the real facts, the truth about this attack on former President Trump and the murder of Mr. Comperatore and the injury to others as well. 

And to keep the American people informed of those facts and the progress that we’re making and what we learn along the way. I’d now like to welcome, again, FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge, Kevin Rojek, to take it from here and to further discuss the investigation. We’ll follow that, as Cathy mentioned, with questions at the conclusion. Kevin? 

FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek: Thank you, Deputy Director Abbate. My name is Kevin Rojek, and I’m the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office. Our office is the lead investigative office since the incident occurred in the FBI Pittsburgh’s air responsibility. I want to begin by offering my condolences again to all the victims of this heinous act, to the family of heroic firefighter and father Corey Comperatore, who lost his life. To David Dutch and James Copenhaver, whose recoveries continue. And to former President Trump, who was also struck by a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the subject’s weapon. I would also like to offer my support and gratitude to the seven local law enforcement officers injured either as a result of the shooting or from their actions during the initial response.

Regarding the scope of the FBI’s investigation, our mission is to attempt to identify a motive for the shooting and whether or not the subject acted alone or conspired with others to commit this act. The FBI’s role is not to investigate any failures in security or determine fault of any agency.

This investigation has involved a monumental effort by the FBI, along with our partners in the Pennsylvania State Police and the United States Attorney’s Office. I want to acknowledge the incredible team at FBI Pittsburgh, who have been working around the clock since the night of July 13th.

Additionally, more than 300 agents, intelligence professionals, and professional staff employees from across the FBI have contributed significantly to this investigation. Employees from approximately half of the FBI’s field offices, nearly all of our headquarters divisions, as well as several of our international offices, have lent their expertise and assistance in some capacity to this case.

To date, the FBI has conducted over 450 interviews with more likely to occur. We served legal process requests to 86 different companies related to accounts associated with the subject, meaning legal requests to these companies to provide the data and contents associated with these accounts.

As part of our normal investigative process, we regularly interview victims of crime to offer our support and learn more about their perspective regarding their experience. To that end, we have contacted former President Trump, and he has agreed to participate in a victim interview.

As part of our investigation, we examined over 2,100 tips from the public through our digital media tip line, including images, videos, documents, and audio recordings. This partnership and support from the public is absolutely critical after events like this, and I want to thank everyone who has sent in their tips thus far and encourage people to continue to contribute. Your information has proved to be invaluable.

Law enforcement and emergency personnel to include special agents and officers with the U.S. Secret Service and other state and local officers, as well as others who were attending the event on July 13th have all been extremely cooperative in the conduct of this investigation.

Our investigation quickly yielded a positive identification of the subject. Subsequent steps have been focused on better understanding what led this individual to execute this heinous attack. Investigators have interviewed dozens of people who knew or interacted with the subject. This included family members, co-workers, former teachers, classmates, and others.

We also consulted with specialists assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to offer their expertise as we worked to develop a profile of the subject. We have learned the subject was highly intelligent, attended college, and maintained steady employment. His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family, as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life.

We’ve identified our subject’s interest in shooting began as a hobby and progressed into formal firearms training courses, particularly since September of 2023. We continue to analyze his electronic devices and social media accounts for additional information and insight into his psyche. We have searched and continue to search multiple cell phones related to the subject, as well as other electronics, including laptop computers, a router, and memory cards.

The FBI is looking at the email accounts, gaming accounts, messaging platforms, social media accounts, as well as online search engines in an attempt to determine a possible motive and whether the subject acted alone or worked with co-conspirators.

From our subject’s Internet search history, we determined the subject specifically searched, and I quote, “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy”. Additionally, our investigation has revealed he also made searches related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister earlier this year.

Another point of clarification: the investigation has revealed searches of nationally elected officials, including our current and former presidents, and a detailed analysis of those searches is ongoing. All other images associated with searches of key American political figures appeared only as cached images, likely as a result of the subject reviewing news stories and media coverage online, and not specific searches associated with these individuals.

While the FBI’s investigation may not yet have determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities. Additionally, we believe his actions also show a careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.

We identified the model of the rifle the subject used; a DPMS AR-15 style firearm designed to shoot 5.56-millimeter ammunition. Thanks to our partners at the ATF, we know the weapon was purchased legally in 2013 by the subject’s father, and our investigation has shown it was legally transferred to our subject last year from his father. We continue to analyze the rifle and shell casings at the FBI Lab in Quantico, Virginia.

We know the weapon had a collapsible stock, and we know the subject carried a backpack with him as he made his way to the position on the roof. However, we are still working to determine how the subject was able to conceal the rifle until just minutes prior to the shooting.

Regarding explosive devices, we recovered two explosive devices from the trunk of the subject’s vehicle near the site of the rally, and one explosive device in the subject’s room at his residence. These devices consist of ammunition boxes filled with explosive material with wires, receivers, and ignition devices connected to them.

The FBI Laboratory has determined that both IEDs recovered from the subject’s vehicle did not explode adjacent to the site of the rally due to the receivers both being in the off position. Explosive experts in the FBI Lab assessed the devices from the subject’s vehicle were capable of exploding. However, the magnitude of the damage associated with an explosion is unclear.

As recovered, the IED from the subject’s residence was determined to be non-functional due to missing initiation system components. Our lab continues to analyze bullet and bullet fragments from the scene, the explosive devices located in the subject’s vehicle and home, the drone located in his car, and other physical evidence including fingerprints and foot impressions.

Regarding the subject’s use of a ladder, our investigation has revealed the subject did, in fact, purchase a ladder at a hardware store on the day of the attack. However, that ladder was not present with the subject at the farm showgrounds at the time of the shooting.

Our investigation has revealed the ladder was left at a location near his home, approximately 50 miles away from the site of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And to clarify again, this ladder was not used during the course of the attack on July 13th. Through analysis by our Evidence Response Team, we believe the subject accessed the roof by scaling some HVAC equipment along with a pipe located outside of the business and the AGR compound.

Numerous media outlets have also reported a bicycle and a backpack attributed to the subject. However, our investigation has determined that neither of these items belong to the shooter. In fact, we have positively identified and interviewed the owner of both of those items. I know there are many questions surrounding the timeline of events.

Again, I want to be clear, the purpose of our investigation is not to identify security failures or the failures of any agency on that day. I want to provide some details about what we’ve gleaned about the subject’s movements and planning activities prior to the attack.

Starting in the spring of 2023, the subject made more than 25 different firearms-related purchases from online firearm’s vendor using an alias. Throughout the first half of 2024, the subject made six chemical precursor-related purchases online of materials used to create the explosive devices recovered in the subject’s vehicle and home. And again, for those purchases, he used aliases.

On July 3rd, the campaign announced its intention to hold a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And on July 6th, the subject registered to attend the event. That same day, the investigation revealed our subject used an Internet search browser to query how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.

On July 7th, the subject traveled from his home to the site of the rally, spent approximately 20 minutes in the area, including the area around the AGR buildings, in what we believe was an early surveillance of the site before heading back to his home.

On July 12th, the day before the rally, the subject visited a local shooting range and practiced with what we believe was the same weapon used in the day of the attack.

The following timeline I’m about to cover of events highlights confirmed significant sightings of the subject in and around the rally site that day, established through an exhaustive review of police dash camera video and from cameras of six local area businesses. This timeline does not take into account much of the information from known radio communications between law enforcement on the ground, as the FBI is still working to confirm the exact timeline based on that information. However, we have included some information here to help explain his movements.

We assessed the ammunition used the day the attack was purchased legally that day. The subject brought 50 rounds at a local gun store. The morning of July 13th, the subject traveled from his home to the site of the rally at approximately 11:00 am and spent over an hour in the area before traveling home again.

Then at approximately 1:30 pm, the subject obtained a rifle from his residence and informed his parents he was heading to a nearby shooting range. At approximately 3:45 pm, the investigation has confirmed the subject again arrived in Butler at the site of the rally. He parked his vehicle and began flying his drone in proximity to the rally site from about 3:50 pm to just after 4:00 pm, for approximately 11 minutes.

The investigation found this drone flight was conducted approximately 200 yards from site of the rally by reverse engineering the metadata associated with the subject’s drone. The ongoing analysis did not reveal any photos or video taken from the drone as there was no memory card recovered inside the device when it and the controller were discovered in the subject’s vehicle.

The FBI is still working to determine if the subject was viewing footage on the drone’s controller, and whether that may have revealed further insights that day into the security posture at the location from which he ultimately carried out his attack.

Just after approximately 4:00 pm, the subject left the scene in his vehicle and appeared to drive throughout the area in the vicinity of the shooting for a period of time. Shortly after approximately 5:00 pm, we assessed the shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person in the area of the AGR building and grounds.

A local officer took a photo of the subject and sent it to other SWAT Coordinators on scene as well as local command personnel. Approximately 30 minutes later, shortly after 5:30 pm, SWAT Coordinators observed the subject using a range finder and browsing news websites on his phone.

The next confirmed observation is at approximately 5:56 pm when the subject was seen walking in the vicinity of the AGR buildings carrying a backpack.

At approximately 6:08 pm, police dashcam video observed the subject traversing across the roof of the business in the direction where he ultimately fired his shots. Our assessment is that the subject climbed using HVAC equipment and piping outside of the AGR facility, made it onto the roof, and then traversed across multiple rooftops to get to his ultimate shooting position.

At approximately 6:11 pm, a local police officer was boosted onto the roof by another officer where he encountered the subject. The subject pointed the rifle at him, and the officer immediately dropped to the ground.

After approximately 25 to 30 seconds after this encounter, the subject fired eight rounds before being successfully neutralized by a United States Secret Service counter-sniper.

After the shooting, the FBI identified eight shell casings at the scene, and we assessed the subject fired eight rounds at the former president and into the crowd of attendees.

While the FBI’s investigation may not have yet determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities. Additionally, we believe his actions also show careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.

I want to again thank the public for their assistance as we continue to carry out our investigation.

I also want to thank the many law enforcement agents and officers, victims and witnesses who have cooperated with this investigation. We know there are still lingering questions, but be assured the FBI will continue this investigation for the foreseeable future. Thank you.

Milhoan: Thank you, Deputy. Thank you, Kevin. We will begin our first question.

Reporter Question: Hey, thanks a lot for the transparency here. We really appreciate it. About the drone, what have you determined about whether there was a temporary airspace restriction in place at the time he flew it? And was there any counter-drone capability on site when he flew it? And then can you share anything about what the Behavioral Analysis Unit has concluded about his mental state, his selection of victims, his sophistication level? You kind of alluded to some of it, but – and does he fit the profile of other people who have carried out mass shootings as opposed to politically motivated violence, or is there a difference there?

Rojek: Regarding the drone, we would defer to Secret Service regarding any actions they took regarding either a no-fly zone or counter-drone operations.

Regarding consultation with BAU, I invited them to be part of the investigation during the first week. They came in, did initial assessment, and then they continued to work with us regarding an overall assessment. We – they believe, as we do, that the subject was highly intelligent. We know he attended college and maintained steady employment. We do still believe that he was a loner. As far as his association or any other activities related to his mental state, we are still continuing to assess all items from his social media accounts, from different electronic devices, and it will be, like, a process as we continue to develop profile associated with them.

Abbate: Just to add, this is something, of course, you know, much like all of you were very focused on. As Kevin mentioned, we have reflections of this individual’s personality by virtue of the interviews we’ve done with the mother, father, co-workers, classmates, anyone and everyone we can, you know, make contact with. We’re gathering that information. I think other than sort of the broad outline that Kevin provided, you know, we’re relying on our behavioral analysis experts as they do in the course of their work to put all that together and, you know, render some of the assessments that you’ve referenced here.

I would also note, just as far as mental health, we are certainly looking into that. At this time, though, we’re not ruling anything out, we have no information or evidence of mental health treatment, institutionalization, medications, or anything like that.

Reporter Question: Good morning. I had a question on – have you determined or found any gaps in communication timelines between the Secret Service and local law enforcement snipers? For example, we’re hearing that Secret Service did not brief the local snipers the day before the rally.

Abbate: As we’ve already stated, we’re collecting facts and information, as you’ve referenced radio communications, video from all around, and in furtherance of our investigation focused on the shooter motive, about whether any co-conspirators that type of stuff. We’re certainly assembling and collecting evaluating all of that, but we’re going to defer to the commissions and other entities that I referenced earlier in terms of evaluating that from a security posture, perspective, preparation, and any failures within that.

We’re not undertaking to do that here. It is evolving. I will tell you, having just visited with our field office and at the site over the weekend, the collection of information and evidence is ongoing to include all that stuff. It’s a very painstaking and rigorous process to piece together, to verify and authenticate time stamps on video communications and all that. And we’re still in the process of doing that to help others assess and render some of the conclusions that we’re all interested in hearing just even beyond the FBI investigation.

Reporter Question: In a previous briefing, you guys mentioned a number of encrypted apps that the suspect had used. We also noticed the CEO of Gab said on social media this past week that they believe they found an account associated with the shooter and that he had been posting pro-Biden messages.

I wanted to see if you could clarify a little bit about or update a little bit about the encrypted apps that you were looking at. Have you been able to get into them? And also, whether there’s any truth to this Gab CEO’s comments.

FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells: Hey, good morning. Bobby Wells here. I can take that question. So, encryption has been a challenge for us here in this investigation. I think initially, you know, we had a delay in getting in the phone, which we were able to overcome. As far as accounts that he used, there were a couple of foreign-based encrypted email accounts that he was using. And we have – again, we faced some delays, but we worked closely with our foreign partners and obtained as much information as we could about those accounts.

Obviously, the concern was to identify whether there were any potential co-conspirators or foreign involvement. Based on what we’ve seen in the review of those accounts, the subject appeared to be utilizing them primarily to purchase firearm components, chemicals, and other explosive components.

We also identified some additional accounts and identifying information, including aliases he was using on these encrypted platforms. As far as the Gab piece of your question, I don’t have any additional information to provide on that at this time.

Reporter Question: I was just wondering if you could sort of shed some light into what, if anything, the gunman’s parents knew or are sharing with you about this, you know, exhaustive planning which seems to be happening inside their house. I mean, were they aware of that, or have they explained to you why they were not?

Rojek: I will say, the parents have been extremely cooperative from the first night when we approached them and throughout the investigation.

So, I would caution against the word exhaustive when we talk about his planning. We know he did some prior pre-planning. We’re seeing additional activity associated with his planning, but anything he was doing was online. He wasn’t hoarding ammunition. He wasn’t doing anything that I would say would significantly raise the suspicion of his parents in his home.

Abbate: And I don’t know if we’ve said this before, but the parents have said in their interviews that they had no advanced knowledge of any of this. We do find that to be credible at this stage, but pending additional investigation, again, we’re not ruling any possibility out.

As far as what was in the home, the chemicals and explosives-related materials, it’s our understanding from the parents and others that the shooter had a long interest in science and things like this and had been doing experiments and things like this over a period of time. And for that reason, they weren’t concerned that it was focused on committing an attack of this nature or harming other people.

Reporter Question: You said earlier that 86 different companies were providing – could potentially provide data. There’s been reporting that he had really no social media presence. Was there any indication that he had any contacts, that he was participating in chat rooms, that he was communicating with anybody in an informal way to share technical information, even if it wasn’t conspiratorial. And if you can also just clarify this notion that his social circle was essentially his immediate family. Did he have any friends? Have you uncovered any sense that he might have communicated with someone outside of his house?

Wells: So, regarding his social circle, we know that – you are correct, the primary social circle is his family. We have identified only a couple people who we would call his friends and most of those contacts were in fact dated.

Regarding his activity in social media accounts and gaming platforms, even in his gaming platforms we see very little interaction with other individuals, which is, obviously, outside the norm with what you normally see, particularly in gamers.

So, again, we continue to analyze his accounts, and we continue to look for any other individuals that he may have been associated with. And then when we identify with even an ancillary connection with the subject, we go out and conduct interviews. But to date, we have not found anyone that is really close to him in any type of social circle.

Reporter Question: Hi. Thank you so much for doing this call. You mentioned that former President Trump has agreed to be interviewed. Can you walk us through some of the questions or information that you think he could provide that would be relevant? Thank you so much.

Wells: So, the interview of the former President will be consistent with any other victim interview that we do. Again, we provide victims with support from our victim services, and we want to get his perspective on what he observed. So, just like any other witness to the crime, as well as get his perspective on what occurred to him during that event. But it is a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime under any other circumstances.

Milhoan: This is going to conclude the briefing for today. We’ve given you a lot of information that we haven’t had an opportunity to say publicly thus far, so thank you for joining the call. Thank you to our briefers.
 

Media Call Transcript

FBI Assistant Director Cathy Milhoan: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Cathy Milhoan, assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs. Thank you all for joining us. I know you’ve had lots of questions, and we wanted to get everybody on the call. This call is on the record and you may record it for audio.

We’re going to have brief remarks at the top from Attorney General Garland and Director Wray. They’ll both be dropping off the call after that, and then be followed by a series of operational briefings. We  have Deputy Director Paul Abbate. We have Executive Assistant Director Robert Bobby Wells, and we have the FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek. So, with that, Mr. Attorney General, I’ll turn it over to you, sir.

Attorney General Merrick Garland: Thank you. I want to begin by saying that I’m grateful that former President Trump is safe following yesterday’s horrific assassination attempt. On behalf of the entire Justice Department, I want to extend my deepest condolences to the loved ones of the spectator who was killed. Our hearts are with them and with those critically injured and their families. And I am deeply grateful to the agents and law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line during yesterday’s attack.

I spent the morning in briefings with Justice Department personnel, as well as our partners across the federal government. And earlier today, I briefed President Biden in the situation room on our investigation of yesterday’s shooting. I have directed the FBI, the ATF, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Department’s National Security Division to bring every available resources to bear on this investigation.

I want to reiterate that the violence that we saw yesterday is an attack on our democracy itself. The Justice Department has no tolerance for such violence, and as Americans, we must have no tolerance for it. This must stop. I will now pass things over to FBI Director Wray.

FBI Director Christopher Wray: Thank you, Attorney General Garland. What we witnessed yesterday was nothing short of an attack on democracy and our democratic process. An attempt to assassinate a presidential candidate can only be described as absolutely despicable and will not be tolerated in this country. I want to start by offering my deepest condolences to all the victims of yesterday’s shooting and their families. Our hearts go out to the family of the individual who was killed, the two others who were critically wounded, and of course, former President Trump and his family.

I want to make sure they know, and the American people know, that the men and women of the FBI are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened. The shooter may be deceased, but the investigation is very much ongoing, and because of that, we are limited in what we can say at this point. But what I can say is that we  have committed the full force of the FBI to this investigation. Both criminal and national security resources, tactical support, evidence response teams to help process the crime scene, victim services specialists, the FBI lab, and our operational technology division to process the physical evidence recovered.

We also continue to operate our FBI tip line and encourage anyone with information to reach out to us as soon as possible. Both in our FBI Field Office in Pittsburgh and in our Command Post at FBI Headquarters, we continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local partners, as we did throughout the night last night, to ensure there was no ongoing threat to former President Trump or to the people of Pennsylvania.

The American people can rest assured that we will leave no stone unturned as we work to get to the bottom of what happened yesterday. Thank you again to all those who are hard at work on this investigation. And with that, I’ll go ahead and hand the floor over to FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate: Thank you, sir. We’re going to go out directly to SAC Kevin Rojek for the Pittsburgh Field Office to give us an operational briefing and overview, and then we’ll take it back here at FBI Headquarters. Thank you all.

FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek: Good afternoon. My name is Kevin Rojek. I’m the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Division, and I currently have the lead for this investigative effort on the assassination attempt of former President Trump. To echo the words of the Director, on behalf of the FBI, I want to offer my sincere condolences to the former president, to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was a spectator killed at the scene, as well as the other victims’ families and those at the rally and in our communities who were affected by yesterday’s violence.

Rest assured, we have brought the full resources of the FBI to bear in the pursuit of answers related to this heinous event. I want to thank the public for your patience as we meticulously investigate this case. At this time, the information that we have indicates that the shooter acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns. At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation.

We are working hard to determine the sequence of events related to the subject and his movements in the hours, days, and weeks prior to the shooting, and we are following all investigative leads. We have a robust presence on the ground currently in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the Butler County Fairgrounds, as well as at FBI Headquarters and here in the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office.

This includes our evidence response team, who is on scene processing the scene as we speak, special agents who are covering investigative leads, technical specialists who are exploiting all digital evidence and media, as well as the shooter’s social media accounts, lab services who are processing DNA evidence, fingerprints, as well as the shooter’s weapon. And we have several victim specialists on the ground who are working closely with Pennsylvania State Police Victim Services specialists. As I mentioned, our evidence response team continues to process the scene, and we have several items of evidence that are being transported to the FBI lab at Quantico, Virginia, for processing and exploitation, to include the shooter’s weapon and his cellular telephone.

I can confirm that the gun used in the shooting was an AR style 556 rifle, which was purchased legally. We located the weapon at the scene located immediately adjacent to the shooter at the scene. We searched the shooter’s car, and we’re in the process of searching his phone.

During the search of the vehicle, we located a suspicious device, which was inspected by bomb technicians. This caused a significant delay in our processing of the scene for officer safety reasons. We have seized the device, rendered it safe, and we are also in the process of analyzing that further. We cordoned off an area around the vehicle for safety, and again, we have transported that device also to the lab at Quantico. The subject has been negative in all FBI holdings.

I want to personally thank the FBI agents, analysts, technicians, who are working around the clock to make sure that we bring justice for the individuals affected by this incident.

I also want to recognize our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, as well as our partners from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and specifically highlight our partnership with the Pennsylvania State Police and their victim services.

I want to remind the public that if you have any information about yesterday’s attack, please contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALLFBI or send information to fbi.gov/butler. At this time, we’ve already received over 2,000 tips, which we are diligently analyzing, and we continue to ask for the public’s assistance in this effort. Thank you.

Milhoan: AD Wells?

FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells: Good afternoon, everyone. Bobby Wells here. Also wanted to start by offering my condolences to the families and victims related to this heinous act. As the SAC mentioned, we’re working 24/7 around the clock. We have a 24/7 command post in Pittsburgh, as well as here at FBI headquarters, dedicating every resource that we have at our disposal.

Our number one goal here is to identify the motive of the subject and determine whether he had any other associates or anyone else that was involved. At this point in the investigation, it appears that he was a lone actor, but we still have more investigation to go. We are investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking at it as a potential domestic terrorism act.

So our counterterrorism division and our criminal divisions are working jointly to determine the motive in this case. We have deployed all available resources to Pittsburgh. We also have a tip line that has been set up, and we’ve received over 2,600 tips. Every single tip that we receive, we will be investigating and running it down as quickly as we possibly can.

I think the law enforcement outreach is critically important. We just held a call with some of our senior law enforcement leaders around the country to provide a similar update of what we’ve seen so far. So, going forward, we’ll continue to investigate aggressively, and we’re going to be very focused on any other potential threats that we may see coming in via social media, and also threats, any threats that we would see in the upcoming RNC next week and DNC. And I’ll now pass it over to Deputy Director Abbate.

Abbate: Cathy, I’m going to turn back to you at this time to go to questions, and then we’ll go from there.

Milhoan: Okay, thank you all very much. So the Deputy said we’ll now go ahead and open it up for Q&A. I’m going to hand it back to the moderator, he’ll give you instructions and key folks up. Thank you.

Reporter Question: Thanks. Can you say whether the gunman had any mental health treatment history or, in the course of your investigation, you’ve uncovered evidence of a mental health problem?

And also, now that you’ve gone — I understand what you said about no holdings related to this subject, but now that you’ve begun looking at him, have you found any threats that you — that he had made that maybe weren’t picked up or noticed at the time?

Rojek: This is Kevin Rojek. At this time, we have no indications of any mental health issues. And sorry, what was the second part of the question?

Reporter Question: The second one was, I understand you don’t have any holdings on him of prior interactions with law enforcement. What I’m curious about is, as you have been unpacking his life and activities, have you now come across any threatening statements by him, either on social media or in other contexts that perhaps did not rise to level of law enforcement before?

Rojek: So, as of this time, no. But again, it’s still very early in the investigation. We continue to look at all his social media accounts and look for any potential threatening language, but as of right now, we have not seen any.

Reporter Question: Good afternoon, and thank you for doing this, everyone. I think my question is, can you give us any sense of what type of social media information he was consuming? Was it conspiracy driven misinformation? Can you give us any kind of information on what he was consuming of late?

Rojek: Again, this is Kevin Rojek. Again, the primary avenue we’re trying to get to is a determined motive. We’re looking into his background, his day-to-day activities, any writings and social media posts that might help us identify what led to this shooting. And we have not seen anything threatening at this time. So, right now, we’re still, again, still early on, still diving into all the social media information.

Reporter Question: Hi. Thanks. I think one of you, I think Mr. Rojek, might have mentioned that there was — his devices were being transported and being looked at. Can you give us an update of what exactly the status of that is? Have you been able to get into his cell phone or his computer? Have you been able to get through those passwords, or is that something that is still ongoing?

And the other, just as a follow up on the circumstance at the rally, we’ve seen from witnesses and from some of the local officials that he appeared to be trying to get access to the magnetometer area. He was lurking in that area, and that raised some concerns. Have you uncovered any of that in your investigation as far as trying to understand what happened yesterday?

Rojek: So, regarding the devices, right now, our primary focus is on the phone, and we are working to get access to the phone. We have shipped the phone to our lab at Quantico, and as of this time, we still don’t have access to the phone, although we do have possession of the physical phone. Regarding the individual’s actions in and around the event, I do not have that level of detail.

We are still in the process of creating a timeline associated with his actions prior to the event in the, again, days, weeks, hours leading up to the event. So, that’s something that will come out later in the process of the investigation.

Abbate: Just to add to that, as Kevin said, we’re urgently working to gain access to the subject’s phone and fully exploit it. We believe we’ll be able to accomplish that fairly quickly. We do — I’m not going to go into detail — we do have some limited insights into recent communications that he’s made. Texts and phone call information that thus far has not revealed anything with regard to motive, or the involvement or knowledge of anyone else in this, but we have a lot of work to do still.

Reporter Question: Or any indication of what he was intending to do, correct?

Abbate: Nothing on that either, so far.

Reporter Question: Yes, hi, thank you so much for doing this call. I was wondering if you can elaborate on the nature of former President Trump’s injury. Do you have confirmation that he was actively shot, or was his wound caused by some other sort of injury? Thank you so much.

Rojek: I don’t have the details on the condition of the former president.

Reporter Question: Thanks, guys, for doing this. Is there any indication that, and again, I’ll just ask this, I might be retouching on what was already said, that the shooter had a confrontation with law enforcement before he climbed up on the roof?

Rojek: Again, we don’t have any indications of that. We’re still, again, working with the local authorities who are there. We’re still conducting interviews of people who are actually on the scene. So, we don’t have any kind of fidelity right now on the shooter’s actions immediately prior to him engaging the former president.

Reporter Question: And the second part of that question is, have the family members been cooperative with the FBI?

Rojek: So, from what the information that I’ve received is that, yes, the family is cooperating with our investigation at this time.

Reporter Question: Hi. Two quick questions. First, are you guys speaking to anybody with the Secret Service advance team and interviewing them and finding out why there was no coverage of this elevated position?

And then my second question is, and I understand you say that there’s no interaction that you’re aware of with law enforcement before he shot at former President Trump. The Associated Press is reporting that he pointed his gun at law enforcement and then law enforcement — so, did that happen on the roof? I’m trying to figure out, was there any interaction on the roof, specifically?

Rojek: To address the first part of your question regarding interviews of Secret Service agents. The focus of our investigation will be the actions associated with the attack on the former president. And so, the questions that we’re asking of now are related to that. They are not necessarily focused on the security of the event and the grounds. That’s something that the Secret Service would be in a better place to answer than me.

And then, again, as far as the actions of the shooter immediately prior to the event and any interaction they may have had with law enforcement, we’re still trying to flesh out those details now.

Abbate: I would add that, ultimately, while we’re prioritizing certain things like motive and some of the things we’ve touched on immediately right now, we do plan a full scope investigation to encompass the entire timeline of the events leading up to this, how it happened, as well.

Reporter Question: And on the phone, are you guys working with Apple or what phone company are you working with?

Abbate: We’re not going to be in a position to disclose the service provider in the phone at this stage.

Reporter Question: Hey, guys, thanks for doing this. On the weapon that was bought by his father, do you have any indication whether he borrowed or just took or stole the weapon? And the second part of that, it seemed like he knew what he was doing. So, do you have any indication that he had any practice with an assault rifle? I mean, that’s a pretty long way to shoot and fairly accurate if you hit somebody in the ear from X number — a couple hundred yards away, at least.

Rojek: So, as we conduct interviews of the family members, we’re going to direct questions in that vein. As far as how the shooter gained access to the weapon, you are correct, we believe the weapon was purchased by his father, but we do not know specifically how he accessed the weapon and whether he took it without his father’s knowledge. These are facts that we’ll flesh out as we conduct the interviews. And then the second part of your question, can you say again, please?

Reporter Question: Yes. Thanks. The second part is, do you have any indication yet? I know it’s been kind of less than a day, was that he had any practice using a weapon of that sort? That’s a pretty good shot from a long way away.

Rojek: We’re still trying to work through the details as far as his affinity for weapons and how much, if any, times he went to the range. These are the type of leads that we’re trying to track down, and we’ll be conducting interviews over the next days and weeks.

Reporter Question: And do you have any indication this is a straw purchase, by any chance?

Rojek: No, we have no indication.

Reporter Question: I’m guessing it’s probably premature to say this, but can you just describe the explosive devices that you found in the car and in the residence? What you know, how were those crudely made? Like, what were they made of? Were they designed to go off? Anything that you can say about what those constituted and if they were, and if you can sort of describe, you know, where in the house you found them, and if anybody else who was living in the house seemed to have an awareness of that?

Rojek: I’m not in a position to provide any expertise on the specific components of any potential bombs or suspicious packages. We left that up to the bomb technicians and they just provided us advice as far as officer safety.

So, and the primary focus at the time was at the vehicle and the devices located in the vehicle, and that was our primary focus last night. But again, I relied on the expertise of the bomb technicians on the ground and don’t have the specific details of the contents of the device. And again, we’re also continue to analyze that with our lab at Quantico.

Abbate: I’m just going to add to that as Kevin mentioned, we don’t have a full assessment of these — what have been described as explosive devices. They are collected as evidence along with everything else, and they’re quickly being flown back to the FBI Laboratory Division at Quantico, where they’ll be examined by experts in the field to determine their viability, what they were constructed of, whether they can function, and answer some questions along those lines.

I would describe them as rudimentary, though, based on what we, the preliminary evaluation of what those in the field have seen.

Milhoan: We have no additional questions at this time. Deputy, would you like to close this out?

Abbate: Yes, thank you, Cathy. I just want to thank everyone again for joining the call this afternoon and giving us the opportunity to brief you. This is not typical, but we’re leaning far forward here, given the circumstances, and want to keep everyone well informed. As has already been expressed, our thoughts and prayers are with those, the family members of the individual who was killed and also with those who were harmed during this incident and their loved ones as well. And of course, former President Trump and his family.

While we’re, very urgently, looking in and mounting this investigation to answer many of the questions that have been brought forward here, we are also looking forward on the threat, as we always do every day, 24/7 as well. And particularly with the online elements, we are seeing, although the rhetoric regarding threats of violence has already increased online, we’re seeing that tick up in the aftermath of this event.

We’ve seen individuals go online and attempt to mimic or pose as the shooter who, obviously, is now deceased. And we’re also focused on the continuing efforts, which were already substantial given that there are national special security events on the upcoming conventions in Chicago, in Milwaukee, to work with Secret Service in the lead to play our part in protecting the people and the facilities and the events there, as well. And with that, thank you all again.

Remarks as prepared.

Good morning, Chairmen Peters and Durbin, Ranking Members Paul and Graham, and distinguished members of the committees. 

It is a privilege to appear before you today to discuss the FBI’s investigation of the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Before going further, I want to again offer my condolences to the victims of this heinous attack. To the family and loved ones of heroic fire fighter and father Corey Comperatore; to Mr. Dutch and Mr. Copenhaver, who continue to recover; and to former President Trump, who was also struck by a bullet fired from the shooter’s rifle. Our thoughts and prayers are with each of them and their families and loved ones.

Within minutes of the attack, the FBI field office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received notification of the assassination attempt and responded to the scene immediately with a surge of resources, quickly moving forward on the investigation. 

From the outset, the FBI has been investigating this attack as an assassination attempt and an act of domestic terrorism. Our team continues to conduct a full, thorough, and objective investigation and will continue to follow all leads and investigative avenues to logical conclusion, leaving no stone unturned.

Investigative Update

While it is not typical to provide details about an ongoing investigation, this is an extraordinarily tragic set of circumstances of national importance, making it essential to inform the American public and Congress what is known right now.

The investigation remains focused on determining motive, identifying any potential co-conspirators or others with knowledge of the attack, and building out a timeline of shooter Thomas Crooks’ actions in advance of and during the attack. Thus far, though absolutely nothing has been ruled out, the investigation has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or others with advance knowledge.

To date, the FBI team has conducted more than 460 interviews; executed search warrants, including at the shooters residence; and seized electronic media, to include phones, laptops, hard drives, and thumb drives. Legal process has been issued to dozens of companies, and we have received more than 2,000 tips from the public.

The full resources of the FBI have been brought to bear in furtherance of the investigation: agents, analysts, and professional staff. I’ve visited the site of this horrific attack and seen firsthand the work of FBI Pittsburgh and our partners on the front line and want to thank all involved for their ongoing and tireless efforts to get the answers we need and deliver justice. 

Specialized resources deployed include evidence response teams, victim specialists, Laboratory and Operational Technology Division resources to process physical evidence and digital devices, and a shooting reconstruction team. Additionally, our explosives experts have analyzed the three IEDs recovered—two in the shooter’s vehicle, one in his family’s residence—and the Behavioral Analysis Unit is helping to build a profile of the shooter, including mental state. 

Timeline

Next, I want to provide a brief, highlighted overview of the timeline that has been established to date through witness interviews and other information. Again, this is our understanding at present and is subject to change and further refinement as more facts are collected.

On July 3, the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was announced. 

On July 6, the shooter registered to attend the rally and performed a search for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.”

On July 7, the shooter traveled from his home to the Butler Farm Show Grounds and remained there for approximately 20 minutes. We assess this shows advanced planning and reconnaissance on his part.

On July 12, the shooter traveled from his home to the Clairton Sportsman Club, where he practiced shooting.

On the morning of July 13, at approximately 10 a.m., the shooter returned to the Butler Farm Show Grounds and remained there for about 70 minutes before returning home. At approximately 1:30 p.m., while at the residence, the shooter’s father gave him a rifle for the purpose of going to the Sportsman’s Club, he believed. About 25 minutes later, the shooter purchased ammunition while en route to the Butler Farm Show Grounds.

The subject then arrived at the scene and was moving around the Farm Show grounds, close to the AGR [American Glass Research] building, from which he ultimately committed the attack. Shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:51 p.m., the shooter flew a drone approximately 200 yards from the Farm Show grounds for about 11 minutes. The drone and controller were later found in the subject’s car. Analysis did not reveal any photos or video taken by the drone, but we can confirm he was live streaming and would have been able to view it on his controller. 

The first reported sighting of the shooter by local law enforcement was at approximately 4:26 p.m. At approximately 5:10 p.m., the shooter was again identified by local law enforcement as a suspicious person around the AGR building. 

At approximately 5:14 p.m., a local SWAT operator took a photo. At around 5:32 p.m., local SWAT observed the shooter next to the AGR building using his phone, browsing news sites, and with a range finder. At approximately 5:38 p.m., the photo of the shooter taken earlier is sent to local SWAT operators in a text message group.

Approximately 25 minutes prior to the shooting, the U.S. Secret Service command post was notified of the suspicious person. Officers lost sight of the subject from approximately 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m. but continued to communicate and attempt to locate him.

Recently discovered video from a local business shows the shooter pulling himself up onto the AGR building rooftop at approximately 6:06 p.m. At approximately 6:08 p.m., the subject was observed on the roof by law enforcement. At approximately 6:11 p.m., a local police officer was lifted to the roof by another officer, saw the shooter, and radioed that he was armed with a long gun. 

Within approximately the next 30 seconds, shots were fired. The evidence recovery team found eight shell casings at the scene next to the shooter; we believe the subject fired eight rounds.

While the investigation has not determined motive, the investigative team continues to review information from legal returns, including online and social media accounts.

Something just very recently uncovered is a social media account, which is believed to be associated with the shooter in the 2019 to 2020 timeframe. There were over 700 comments posted from this account. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-immigration themes, espouse political violence, and are extreme in nature.

While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did belong to the shooter, we believe it important to note, particularly given the general absence of information to date reflecting on the shooter’s potential motive. 

Conclusion

These are the facts, in part, the investigation has revealed to date. While the shooter is dead, our work is very much urgent and ongoing. 

I look forward to answering your questions.

Remarks as delivered.

Thank you, deputy director.

My name is Kevin Rojek, and I’m the special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office.

Our office is the lead investigative office since the incident occurred in our area of responsibility.

I want to again offer my condolences to all the victims of this heinous act.

To the family of heroic fire fighter and father Corey Comperatore who lost his life; to David Dutch and James Copenhaver, whose recoveries continue; and to former President Trump, who was also struck by a bullet fired from the subject’s weapon.

I would also like to offer my support and gratitude to the seven local law enforcement officers injured either as a result of the shooting or from their actions during the initial response.

Scope of Investigation

Regarding the scope of the FBI’s investigation, our mission is to attempt to identify a motive for the shooting and whether the subject acted alone or conspired with others to commit this act.

The FBI’s role is not to investigate any failures in security or determine fault of any agency.

This investigation has involved a monumental effort by the FBI, as well as our partners in the Pennsylvania State Police and the United States Attorney’s Office.

First, I want to acknowledge the incredible team at FBI Pittsburgh who have been working around the clock since the night of July 13.

More than 50 agents, intelligence professionals, and professional staff employees from across the FBI also travelled to Pittsburgh to assist.

Employees from approximately half of the FBI’s field offices, nearly all of our Headquarters divisions, and employees from several of our international offices have lent their expertise and assistance in some capacity to this case.

To date, the FBI has conducted over 450 interviews, with more likely to occur.

We served legal process requests to 64 different companies related to accounts associated with the subject, meaning legal requests to these companies to provide the data and contents associated with these accounts.

As part of our normal investigative process, we interview victims of crime to offer our support and learn about their perspective regarding their experience.

To that end, we have contacted former President Trump, and he has agreed to participate in a victim interview.

As part of our investigation, we have examined over 2,100 tips from the public through our digital media tipline, including images, videos, documents, and audio recordings.

This partnership and support from the public is critical after events like this, and I want to thank everyone who has sent in their tips thus far.

Your information has proved to be invaluable.

I encourage people to continue to submit any information they may have related to this investigation.

To date, the vast majority people we have approached—from law enforcement to people attending the event on July 13—have been extremely cooperative.

The Investigation

Our investigation quickly yielded a positive identification of the subject.

Subsequent steps have been focused on better understanding what led him to execute this attack.

Investigators have interviewed dozens of people who knew or interacted with the subject.

This includes family members, co-workers, former teachers, classmates, and others.

We also consult with specialists assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, to offer their expertise as we work to develop a profile of the subject.

We have learned the subject was highly intelligent, attended college, and maintained steady employment.

His primary social circle appears to be limited to his immediate family, as we believe he had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life.

We’ve identified our subject’s interest in shooting began as a hobby and progressed into formal firearms training courses, particularly since September 2023.

We continue to analyze his electronic devices and social media accounts for additional information and insight into his psyche.

We have searched, and are continuing to search, multiple cell phones related to the subject, as well as other electronics including laptop computers, a router, and memory cards.

The FBI is looking into email accounts, gaming accounts, messaging platforms, social media accounts, as well as online search engines, in an attempt to determine a possible motive and whether the subject acted alone or worked with co-conspirators.

From our subject’s internet search history, we determined the subject specifically searched “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.”

Additionally, our investigation has revealed he also made searches related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister earlier this year.

Another point of clarification: The investigation has revealed searches of nationally elected officials, including the current and former presidents, and a detailed analysis of those searches is ongoing.

All other images associated with searches of key American political figures appeared as cached images, likely as the result of the subject reviewing news stories and media coverage online and not specific searches associated with these individuals.

While the FBI’s investigation may not have yet determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities.

Additionally, we believe his actions also show careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.

The Weapon and Improvised Explosive Devices

We have identified the model of rifle he used: a DPMS AR-15 style firearm designed to shoot 5.56mm ammunition.

Thanks to our partners at ATF, we know the weapon was purchased legally in 2013 by the subject’s father, and our investigation has shown it was legally transferred to our subject last year from his father.

The FBI currently is analyzing the rifle at the FBI Lab at Quantico and is working to confirm that the shell casings found at the scene were indeed fired from that rifle.

The weapon had a collapsible stock, and we know the subject carried a backpack with him as he made his way to the position on the roof.

However, we are still working to determine how the subject was able to conceal the rifle until the minutes immediately prior to the shooting.

Regarding explosive devices, we recovered two explosive devices from the trunk of the subject’s vehicle near the site of the rally and one explosive device discovered in the subject’s room at his residence.

These devices consisted of ammunition boxes filled with explosive material with wires, receivers, and ignition devices connected to them.

The FBI Laboratory has determined that both IEDs recovered from the subject’s vehicle did not explode adjacent to the site of the rally due to the receivers both being in the OFF position.

Explosive experts in the FBI lab assessed the devices from the subject’s vehicle were capable of exploding; however, the magnitude of the damage associated with an explosion is unclear.

As recovered, the IED from the subject’s residence was determined to be non-functional due to missing initiation system components.

The Lab continues to analyze bullet and bullet fragments from the scene, the explosive devices located in the subject’s vehicle and home, the drone located in his car, and physical evidence including fingerprints and foot impressions.

Incorrect Reporting

Regarding the subject’s use of a ladder, the investigation has revealed the subject purchased a ladder at a hardware store the day of the attack.

That same ladder was not present with the subject at the Farm Show grounds at the time of the shooting.

Our investigation has revealed the ladder was left at a location near his home, approximately 50 miles away from the site of the rally in Butler, and to clarify again, it was not used during the course of the attack on July 13.

Through analysis by our Evidence Response Team, or ERT, we believe the subject accessed the roof by scaling HVAC equipment and a pipe outside of the business.

Numerous media outlets have reported a bicycle and a backpack attributed to the subject, but the FBI’s investigation has determined those do not belong to the shooter.

In fact, we have positively identified and interviewed the owner of those items.

Timeline

I know there are many questions surrounding the timeline of events.

Again, I want to be clear the purpose of our investigation is not to identify security failures of any agency that day.

I want to provide some details about what we’ve gleaned about the subject’s movements and planning activities prior to the attack.

Starting in the spring of 2023, the subject made more than 25 different firearm-related purchases from online firearms vendors using an alias.

Throughout the first half of 2024, the subject made six chemical precursor-related purchases online of materials used to create the explosive devices recovered in the subject’s vehicle and home, again using aliases.

On July 3, the campaign announced its intention to hold a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and on July 6 the subject registered to attend the event.

That same day, the investigation revealed our subject used an internet search browser to query “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.”

July 7, the subject traveled from his home to the site of the rally, spent approximately 20 minutes in the area, including the area around the AGR buildings in what we believe was an early surveillance of the site before heading back home.

July 12, the day before the rally, the subject visited a local shooting range and practiced with what we believe was the same weapon used in the attack.

July 13, Day of the Attack

The following timeline of events highlights confirmed significant sightings of the subject in and around the rally site that day, established through an exhaustive review of police dash camera video and from cameras of six local area businesses.

This timeline does not take into account much of the information from known radio communications between law enforcement on the ground, as the FBI is still working to confirm the exact timeline based on that information; however, we have included some information here to help explain his movements.

We assessed the ammunition used the day of the attack was purchased legally that day. The subject bought 50 rounds at a local gun store.

The morning of July 13, the subject traveled from his home to the site of the rally at approximately 11 a.m. and spent over an hour in that area before traveling home again.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., the subject obtained the rifle from his residence and informed his parents he was heading to a nearby shooting range.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., the investigation confirmed the subject again arrived in Butler at the site of the rally.

He parked his vehicle and began flying his drone in proximity to the rally site from about 3:50 p.m. to just after 4 p.m. for approximately 11 minutes.

The investigation found this drone flight was conducted approximately 200 yards from the site of the rally by reverse engineering the metadata associated with the subject’s drone.

The ongoing analysis did not reveal any photos or video taken by the drone, as there was no memory card recovered inside the device when it and the controller were discovered in the subject’s vehicle.

The FBI is still working to determine if the subject was viewing footage on the drone’s controller and whether that may have revealed further insights that day into the security posture at the location from which he ultimately carried out his attack.

Just after approximately 4 p.m., he left the scene in his vehicle and appeared to drive throughout the area in the vicinity of the shooting for a period of time.

Shortly after approximately 5 p.m., we assess the shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person in the area of the AGR building and grounds.

A local officer took a photo of the subject and sent it to other SWAT operators on scene, as well as local command personnel.

Approximately 30 minutes later, shortly after 5:30 p.m., SWAT operators observed the subject using a range finder and browsing news websites on his phone.

The next confirmed observation is at approximately 5:56 p.m., when the subject was seen walking in the vicinity of the AGR building carrying a backpack.

At approximately 6:08 p.m., police dashcam video observed the subject walking along the roof of the business in the direction of where he ultimately fired his shots.

Our assessment is the subject climbed the HVAC and piping outside of the business, made it onto the roof, and then traversed across multiple rooftops to his ultimate shooting position.

At approximately 6:11 p.m., a local police officer was boosted onto the roof by another officer, where he encountered the subject.

The subject pointed the rifle at him, and the officer immediately drops to the ground.

After approximately 25 and 30 seconds after this encounter, the subject fired eight rounds before being successfully neutralized by a United States Secret Service counter-sniper.

After the shooting, the FBI identified eight shell casings at the scene, and we assess the subject fired eight rounds at the former president and into the crowd of attendees.

Final Remarks

While the FBI’s investigation may not have yet determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities.

Additionally, we believe his actions also show careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.

I want to thank the public for their assistance as we continue to carry out our investigation.

I want to thank the many law enforcement agents and officers, victims, and witnesses who have cooperated with our investigation.

We know there are still lingering questions but be assured the FBI will continue this investigation for the foreseeable future.

Remarks as delivered.

Good morning everyone and welcome. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to join us today. 

As we’ve been doing in an effort to be fully transparent given the national importance and the need to provide and ensure that the American people have all of the information relative to this case, we, the FBI, continue to share all that we can into the investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

We’re taking another opportunity today to do that to ensure that the most accurate, up-to-date information is provided publicly, in part, through each of you, so thank you again. 

This investigation remains urgent and ongoing, and FBI personnel agents, analysts, professional staff are working literally around the clock 24-7 as we continue to uncover new and refine details and evidence regarding the attack. Our teams, of course, are focused on building a timeline of events leading up to the attack covering a number of aspects. Our priorities within that are of course to identify the shooter’s motive—which as the SAC and the EAD will get into, is still not clear—and to determine whether any co-conspirators or associates were involved in or aware of the plot in advance. To be clear, though we have ruled nothing out and we’re leaving no stone unturned in continuing on that course, we have no information at this time that there are any co-conspirators.  

While it is not typical for us, the FBI, to share details of an open investigation, we believe it is critical, in this instance, to provide the public and all of you everything that we know about this heinous attack and to correct the record where inaccurate or false information is put out in the realm, again, as a result of all that doing everything in our power to fully share information and to be as transparent as possible with each of you. And we’re committed to ensuring that the most accurate information is reported, and we are grateful to each of you again for helping us in that regard. We want to each of you and share with you real information, the truth, the cold, hard facts that we’ve developed and continue to bring out in the course of our investigation.

In a moment, we’ll go over to Kevin Rojek, he is the special agent in charge of our exceptional Pittsburgh Field Office. Kevin will lay out further details regarding the investigation. We’re also joined by Executive Assistant Director of our National Security Branch, Bobby Wells.

But first I want to take just a brief moment to thank, again, the FBI special agents, FBI intelligence analysts, and FBI professional staff who have been working non-stop since July 13. Literally moments after our personnel responded, after receiving word from the Secret Service, to the site and took over the lead in the investigation in the scene, within mere hours of the incident occurring.

I had the opportunity to visit myself over the weekend, the site in Butler, Pennsylvania, and also our field office there and meet with and hear from the people who are working on the front line on the case, and again, they’re doing an exceptional job. That includes also our extended investigative teams who’ve conducted literally hundreds of interviews and run down thousands of leads that includes our evidence response teams, behavioral analysts, forensic scientists, operational technology personnel, victim specialists, and many, many others who are doing everything they can to advance and support this critical investigation.

We also seek to reassure the public that our teams are doing everything they can to support the after action reviews. We know there are several that have already been announced or started through the DHS Inspector General, through Congress, through the independently named commission, and we plan to and are fully cooperating with each of those entities in pursuit of their mission in regard to this attack also.

I also want to highlight the corporation with the U.S. Secret Service, with Pennsylvania State Police, with Alleghany County and Butler County, and too many other to name state and local law enforcement partners, both in the investigation in terms of providing information to us in certain instances as witnesses. We are grateful to each and every one of our partners in that regard as well.

To be clear, relative to Secret Service, we are not investigating, from the FBI stance, or evaluating what was done correctly or incorrectly by any protective service or other law enforcement agency in regard to security planning, posture or execution, we defer entirely to others, though we are collecting facts that is relative to that and again, we’re sharing cooperatively in order to assist those conducting and refuse focus on those elements.

But again, the entirety of the FBI is committed to uncovering the real facts, the truth about this attack on former President Trump and the murder of Mr. Comperatore and the injury to others, as well, and to keep the American people informed those facts and the progress we are making and what we learn along the way.

I’d like to introduce FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek to take it from here and to further discuss and we’ll follow that, as Cathy mentioned, with questions at the conclusion.

Key Tactic: Strong Communication Skills

In addition to excellent technical skills, CAT members are closely vetted for strong communication skills. Ledford explained that part of the CAT applicant selection process entails a multi-day live technical exercise that’s designed and curated by CAT:

“We design a network environment. We may mimic an industry, for example, an electric utility. And then we compromise that environment, and we litter it with artifacts, digital evidence, and malware. Then we task applicants to investigate this cyber incident and present their findings.

At the end of the five days, applicants present their findings, and we identify who has the technical capability and expertise to find digital evidence of a crime hidden within this mountain of data that we’ve thrown at them.

If the applicant passes that phase of that selection exercise, we invite them to participate in a panel presentation. Our CAT members will play the roles of the victims we’re trying to help and their own resource teams, for example, a company CEO, a U.S. attorney, a third-party legal counsel, or IT administrator.

You’re essentially giving us the narrative of the cyber intrusion. You’re telling us a story about what happened. While some of the panel questions will be very technical in nature, some will be more basic questions—the applicant will need to be able to explain to a CEO, for example, who might not have technical expertise, what the problem was and how to fix it. We’re looking to see whether you can take something that’s exceptionally technically complex and explain it in such a way that everyone in the room understands it.

We’re also looking for interpersonal ability. For example, in the case of a company CEO, at that moment during a cyberattack, they may be going through one of the most stressful times of their company’s existence—there may be data leaked that can make or break that company’s future and their profits, as well as their ability to employ people and their ability to deliver services to their customers. You need the communications skills to interact with them during a difficult time and gain trust.”