Trump agrees to ‘victim interview’ as part of FBI probe into July 13 rally shooting

Victim interviews are a standard procedure in criminal investigations but participation is voluntary.

Updated: July 29, 2024 11:01 PM IST

2 min read

U.S. Secret Service agents remove Donald Trump from the stage in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024 (AP photo)

Former US President Donald Trump has agreed to sit down with the FBI for a victim interview, as the bureau continues to probe the July 13 assassination attempt on him, an FBI official said on Monday.

“The interview with the former president will follow the same protocol as any other victim interview we conduct,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, told reporters on a conference call on Monday, CNN reported. The FBI aims to “understand his perspective on what he observed, just like with any other witness to the crime.”

Victim interviews are a standard procedure in criminal investigations but participation is voluntary.

“It is a standard victim interview, conducted under the same circumstances as with any other crime victim,” Rojek was quoted as saying by CNN.

FBI official also said that the police had noticed the Pennsylvania man who attempted to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Trump over an hour before the shooting on July 13. A local police officer had identified the shooter and taken a photograph about an hour before Trump’s speech that day.

During the briefing, FBI officials noted that they have not yet determined the motive of 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, the gunman who was shot dead by a Secret Service agent after opening fire. They reported that Crooks had conducted online searches related to previous mass shootings, improvised explosive devices, and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister in May.

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