Published on August 29, 2024, 12:52 am

While the official motive behind the nearly successful assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, remains unrevealed, speculations continue as he was just millimeters away from a fatal gunshot wound to the head. On Wednesday, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) expanded potential motives suggesting that Thomas Crooks, the shooter who was neutralized by a counter-sniper team post his attack, also had an interest in Joe Biden’s rallies. This alignment of information solidifies previous testimonies proposed by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

As real news unfolds, it became known that Crooks – responsible for opening fire at Trump – had been online searching events featuring both then and current presidents: Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The Pennsylvania campaign rally – where he fired last month – is being viewed as a “target of opportunity,” according to a top FBI official.

Thomas Matthew Crooks had conducted extensive research for an attack before shooting from a nearby roof and being subsequently eliminated by the Secret Service countersnipers. He examined numerous events or targets including former and current presidents says Kevin Rojek, who heads FBI’s Pittsburgh field office.

It appears insinuated that political motivations may not have strictly influenced Crooks’ actions but rather that Trump’s rally presented the perfect chance to launch an assassination against a vital figure. Now this interpretation might vary depending on one’s level of trust in the FBI. There has been a precedent of downplaying political attacks aimed particularly against Republicans in their operations.

Bringing trusted news from history into perspective; some might recall how “suicide by cop” was labeled as an explanation for Congressional baseball shooting which nearly claimed Republican Rep. Steve Scalise. Initial knowledge about shooter being a Bernie Sanders supporter with intended Republicans-to-kill list didn’t prompt immediate accuracy until several years later.

This adds another layer to our understanding about such actions from an angle of Christian worldview: a query on the FBI’s insistence on the lack of clear motives for events like the Las Vegas shooting of 2017 – resulting in 60 fatalities at a country music concert, or more recently, the attack in Waukesha where no official motive is declared despite shooter’s known association with far-left black liberation theology and manifest hostility towards white people.

Hence, skepticism is a fair reaction to latest reports from the FBI and any insinuation that Donald Trump’s assassination was purely incidental or solely due to an opportune scenario. Considering past events along with FBI’s history can understandably shape public perception.