Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has released records from the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, the shooting range Thomas Crooks used in the lead-up to his alleged assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
The records show Crooks became a member of Clairton Sportsmen’s Club last August and visited there at least 43 times, the last visit being the day before he tried to kill Trump at the July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club “through his family,” according to the Associated Press.
Of his 43 trips, Crooks might have had company at least four times: Aug. 31, 2023; Sept. 28, 2023; Nov. 10, 2023; and April 24 of this year. On those dates, someone signed into Clairton on the exact same time and used the same ranges—with Crooks and the mystery visitor both using the rifle and pistol range on Nov. 10.
Looks like Crooks might've had company at several of his trips to the gun range. 4 times I could find someone else signing in at the exact same time for the exact same range (they even both went to both rifle & pistol on same day once)
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 9, 2024
Grassley redacted other names pic.twitter.com/sHubet5grC
Grassley redacted the names of the other visitors to Clairton, which is also reportedly a training ground for the Department Homeland Security. According to local news site TribLive, Clairton was used by the DHS for police training on a day Crooks wasn’t there.
Grassley’s office reportedly described Crooks’ visits as “intense preparation in the months prior to his attempted assassination of the former president.”
Also noteworthy was Crooks visiting the gun range on Valentine’s Day this year, and on Christmas and Halloween last year, according to the records.
According to TribLive, Clairton spans 180 acres in West Mifflin and Jefferson Hills and boasts more than 2,000 members. The club has several rifle ranges, including at least one that is 200 yards.
In the days after the shooting, club president Bill Sellitto reportedly told TribLive, “What happened was a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. That’s not who we are.”
“We know very little about him,” club president Bill Sellitto also told the AP. “That was a terrible, terrible thing that happened Saturday — that’s not what we’re about by any means.”
He declined to comment Thursday when the records were released.
As a freshman, Crooks had tried out for his high school rifle team but was rejected for poor marksmanship.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
