Since the attempt on Donald Trump’s life many have tried to explain why Thomas Crooks did what he did. Details about the shooter’s life only seem to have muddied the waters rather than making things clearer.
It would be easy to assume that the man was violently anti-Trump and anti-right wing, but then why was he a registered Republican? All signs seem to indicate that Crooks should have been an avid supporter of the former president, which makes it all the more puzzling as to why he would attempt to take his life.
Thomas Crooks is a mystery
The truth is we don’t know a whole lot about the troubled 20-year old at the moment; authorities have been looking into his past as well as his online presence to find out his reasoning and whether or not he was actually operating alone. So far it’s been reported that Crooks shared a cryptic message with the date of the shooting on his Steam profile, though a subsequent report cites officials’ belief that this Steam profile is a fake.
Like I said, there have been a number of theories, and everyone has their own ideas, including Hollywood icon Barbra Streisand. So. What exactly did the singer and actress have to say about Crooks’ motivations? Well, she believed that his twisted actions may have been the result of him being the victim of bullying in high school.
An interesting theory for sure, and it’s likely the authorities would be investigating that angle as an explanation, but obviously we can’t say for sure right now whether this really had any impact on Crooks’ decision to do what he did. It has been widely reported that he was indeed subject to bullying during his time in school, according to an article from the Independent, Crooks’ classmates claimed he was an “outcast” and was “bullied heavily.” One schoolmate in particular gave a bit more of an insight into the shooter’s young life.
“It’s honestly kind of sad, I don’t want to say this is what provoked it, but you never know. […] He was quiet but like, he was just bullied, he was bullied so much.”
So all this is to say, Streisand might have a point when she brings up Crooks’ school life. As you’d expect, there was a lot of backlash from Trump supporters, although Streisand is likely used to that by now. Many have voiced their criticisms against the actress for sharing her theory without having all the evidence. Some discredited the claims that he was even bullied in high school, sharing a video from Fox News in which another classmate called Crooks a “know it all.”
Others pinned the blame on the media encouraging antagonism and violence towards Trump. Although perhaps the most logical response to Streisand’s theory was simply that people like Crooks “are often not motivated by understandable reasons.” Maybe we’ll never truly know why he did it.