Did a bullet hit Donald Trump’s ear? The FBI asks questions
The FBI director initially expressed “doubts” about the incident, but later clarified that he did not know where the bullet landed after grazing Donald Trump’s ear.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday questioned whether a bullet hit Donald Trump’s ear during the July 13 assassination attempt. “There’s some question about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel,” Wray said without specifying what it was that damaged Trump’s ear. He did, however, suggest it was a bullet when he said: “I don’t know right now whether that bullet, in addition to causing the graze, could have landed somewhere else.”
What has the FBI found out d so far through its investigation?
Wray briefed the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday on the FBI's progress in its investigation into the assassination of Trump. A week before the shooting, the shooter had sought details about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, such as the "distance at which Oswald (the killer) was from Kennedy."
He had also visited the site three times before Trump's rally and had flown a drone in the vicinity on the same day of the attack, "about 200 meters" from the stage that the former president would later climb onto.
The shooter was a 20-year-old named Thomas Crooks.
Crooks was killed by a sniper attached to Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail who had been posted on a roof with clear visibility of the roof where the man was positioned. Later, when law enforcement began searching the Crook’s car, they found a drone and a bulletproof vest.
Periodic updates will be provided
The FBI has not yet found a motive for Crooks’ attempt to kill Trump. “We don’t have a clear picture of his motive yet,” Wray said. It is rare for the FBI to make public the progress of an investigation. However, periodic updates will be provided given the exceptional nature of the attack on Donald Trump and the public’s interest in the case.
“The attempted assassination of the former president was an attack on our democracy [...] I recognize the interest of Congress and the public in this case,” the FBI chief concluded.