Trump rally shooter not affiliated with military, force posture unchanged: Pentagon

The shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday was not affiliated with any military branch, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. 

“We've confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch active or reserve component in their respective databases,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

She added that the Defense Department does not plan to make any changes to its force posture following the shooting. 

Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., a small suburb of Pittsburgh. Investigators believe that Crooks, using a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, opened fire at the former president while he was speaking to a crowd of supporters in Butler. One bullet grazed Trump’s ear, one audience member was killed and two others were wounded.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement Sunday in which he said the department “condemns this violence, which has absolutely no place in our democracy. This is not the way that we resolve our differences in America—and it must never be.”

The Secret Service has since faced intense criticism as to how Crooks was able to get so close to Trump, with GOP lawmakers pledging congressional investigations into the shooting. President Biden also has directed an independent review of rally security.

The incident also raised questions of event security surrounding the Republican National Convention, which began Monday in Milwaukee.

Singh said approximately 1,700 National Guard members and a small number of active duty personnel will be providing support to civil authorities until Friday, but the numbers had been preplanned and were “not in response to the events that took place this weekend.”

The Guardsmen from Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota will provide civil support, explosive ordnance disposal and security, and any other requirements to aid the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Milwaukee Metro Police Department.