Demolition Ranch YouTuber: ‘Shocked and confused’ to see Trump shooter wearing my shirt
New York (CNN) — Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who opened fire on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, was pictured twice wearing a t-shirt that said “Demolition Ranch” on it.
A law enforcement official told CNN that one of the times was when Crooks was at an ammo store and the other was during the assassination attempt.
Demolition Ranch is a popular YouTube channel for gun enthusiasts with more than 11 million subscribers. Its founder, Texas-based Matt Carriker, distanced the brand from the shooter in an almost six-minute-long video posted Monday on the channel.
“We were shocked and confused to find this out: The shooter who tried to assassinate Trump was wearing merch from my channel, wearing a Demolition Ranch t-shirt. And that sucked to see that. Yeah, that was rough,” he said.
The video racked up more than 520,000 views within two hours of publishing. Demolition Ranch usually posts a variety of videos relating to guns with titles such as “Eating A Meal Cooked ONLY With A GUN!!!” and “How Lethal is The TINIEST Gun I Own???”
“No matter what side you’re on politically, none of us want violence. This channel was never meant to incite violence or hate,” Carriker said in the video.
The shirts are printed in Carriker’s hometown and sold and shipped all over the world, he said in the video. Carriker said Demolition Ranch cannot vet everyone who buys its products. T-shirts are sold online for about $30, and the online store also sells hoodies, hats, stickers and other accessories.
“To see my name next to the shooter’s name sucks. And I wish, I wish we could keep that from happening,” Carriker said.
Crooks’ attack killed one and critically injured two others. Crooks had been perched on a nearby building rooftop outside the rally’s security perimeter, and was shot and killed by Secret Service agents, according to law enforcement officials.
On Friday before the attack, he went to a shooting range where he was a member, and practiced firing, a law enforcement official told CNN. The next morning, Crooks went to a hardware store, where he bought a five-foot ladder, and also went to a gun store, where he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, the official said.
He lived in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park and graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, according to a local media report and a video of the school’s graduation ceremony.
CNN’s John Miller, Casey Tolan, Evan Perez, Casey Tolan, Danny Freeman, Majlie de Puy Kamp, Curt Devine and Isabelle Chapman contributed to this report.
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