Continuing the hearings on Capitol Hill regarding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to testify regarding the incident and ongoing investigation.
While there were questions and discussions on unrelated topics and some partisan agenda-pushing, there remained a decent amount of bipartisan interest in seeking answers regarding the July 13 shooting and the ensuing investigation. And unlike some of his prior appearances, Wray’s responses regarding the incident and investigation seemed largely straightforward.
Below are some key takeaways from Wray’s Wednesday testimony regarding the incident:
𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄
From FBI Director Wray:
-Shooter flew a drone over the area around 3:50 p.m.
-3 explosive devices found
-Remote detonators not turned on
-No accomplices at this time
-8 bullet cartridges found on the roof
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 24, 2024
- As of right now, they have not determined a motive.
- It still appears the shooter acted alone — so far, they have not identified any accomplices and have no evidence of any co-conspirators.
- The information they’ve been able to pull from cellular analysis and interviews confirms that the shooter was a “loner” with not a whole lot of interaction with other people.
- They have interviewed the shooter’s parents, and they have been cooperative.
- The weapon, which was purchased by his father in 2013 and then purchased by the shooter from his father in October 2023, was an AR-style rifle and had a collapsable stock.
- Eight bullet cartridges were recovered from the roof.
- There were three explosive devices found — one on the shooter and two in the vehicle, though they did not have remote detonators turned on.
- Although the shooter purchased a five-foot ladder (and had the bloodied receipt on his person), the ladder was not found at the scene, and they still are not certain how he gained access to the roof.
- Approximately two hours prior to the incident, the shooter flew a drone about 200 yards away from the stage. Although there were no photos or videos stored on the drone, they have been able to reverse-engineer its flight path and determine it was in flight for approximately 11 minutes between roughly 3:50 pm and 4:00 pm. The drone was recovered from the shooter’s vehicle.
- The shooter visited the site one week prior to the rally and spent about 20 minutes there; he returned the morning of the event and spent about 70 minutes there; he returned that afternoon for good.
- The day before the rally, the shooter went to the shooting range and shot an AR-style rifle, which they believe to be the same weapon he used in the shooting; the day of the rally, the shooter purchased ammunition (between his morning visit and afternoon visit to the site).
- One week prior to the rally (July 6), the shooter performed a Google search for “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” This information was obtained from a laptop linked to the shooter. That same day, the shooter registered to attend the rally.
FBI Director Wray reveals:
-The Trump assassination attempt shooter visited the rally site a week before the shooting.
-The morning of the shooting.
-The afternoon of the shooting.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 24, 2024
More updates on Trump assassination attempt according to FBI Director Wray:
-Shooter purchased a ladder.
-Ladder was not found at the scene.
-Unclear how shooter got on roof.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 24, 2024
There remain many questions regarding the incident which need to be answered. One thing that stood out regarding Wednesday’s hearing was the fact that, on the topic of the shooting, Wray appeared genuinely to be attempting to provide the available, pertinent information rather than evading the questions.
