BlackRock Says Trump Rally Shooter Briefly Appeared In An Ad For Top US Money Manager | WATCH

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who shot and injured former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, was briefly featured in a BlackRock advertisement, the company revealed on Sunday.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, confirmed that Crooks was an unpaid participant in the ad, which also featured a teacher. Crooks appeared in the background of a 2022 ad filmed at Bethel Park High School, where he graduated the same year. The company said it would remove the ad from circulation and make the footage available to authorities.

In a statement, BlackRock condemned the attack that left one person dead and two others critically wounded. “The assassination attempt on former President Trump is abhorrent. We’re thankful former President Trump wasn’t seriously injured, and thinking about all the innocent bystanders and victims of this awful act, especially the person who was killed,” the company was quoted as saying by the US-based business magazine Fortune.

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BlackRock, which reports earnings on Monday, has faced scrutiny for holding shares in gun manufacturers through its index funds. On Sunday, the FBI, which identified Thomas M. Crooks as the suspect, said the shooting was being investigated as an attempted assassination. FBI officials stated that the shooter acted alone. The agency also noted that it had not yet identified any specific ideology linked to the suspect, nor had it found indications of mental health issues or threatening language on the suspect’s social media accounts.

Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting, he was employed as a dietary aide at a nursing home. The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said Crooks “performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.” The gun – an AR-style-5.56 caliber rifle – had been legally bought, FBI officials said, adding they believed the suspect’s father had purchased it. The officials said “a suspicious device” was found in the suspect’s vehicle, which was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe.

(With agency inputs)