Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspect involved in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally Saturday, had a brief appearance in a BlackRock advertisement in 2022, the company said Sunday.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, acknowledged Crooks' brief appearance in a statement emailed to Reuters.
"In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks," it said in the statement.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022.
The 30-second TV ad featured an AP and Honors Economics teacher at Bethel Park High School, with Crooks visible in the background, apparently engaged in conversation with the teacher.
BlackRock has since removed the video from circulation and is cooperating with authorities by providing all relevant footage.
"The assassination attempt on former President Trump is abhorrent," the company said.
BlackRock, which manages assets worth approximately $9.1 trillion, is set to release its second-quarter earnings report on Monday, July 15.
Authorities reported that Crooks was shot dead by agents after he opened fire on Trump at the Pennsylvania rally. The FBI said it was investigating the attack as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
Officials from the Justice Department said that Crooks' phone is currently being examined at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, as investigators continue to delve into his background.
According to law enforcement sources, Crooks was spotted by bystanders with a rifle on a rooftop approximately 400 feet from where Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Butler County Sheriff disclosed that a local police officer was hoisted up by another officer to gain a vantage point on the roof. When Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer, the officer had to release his hold and fell from the roof.
Crooks then aimed his AR-style weapon towards the rally and fired six to eight rounds.
A Secret Service sniper swiftly neutralized the threat by shooting and killing Crooks. Trump was immediately escorted off the stage by armed agents, with blood visible running down the side of his face from a grazing wound.
In a statement posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday morning, Trump said it "was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening."
