Demolition Ranch: Thomas Matthew Crooks wearing my t-shirt ‘shocked and confused’ me

new York
CNN
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Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who opened fire on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, was twice photographed wearing a T-shirt that read “Demolition Ranch.”

A law enforcement official told CNN that one of the times was when Crooks was in an ammunition store and the other time 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 shooter’s brand in a nearly six-minute video posted to the channel Monday.

“We were shocked and confused to hear this: The shooter who attempted to assassinate Trump was wearing merchandise from my channel, a Demolition Ranch T-shirt. And it sucked to see that. Yeah, it was tough,” he said.

The video was viewed over 520,000 times in two hours. Demolition Ranch typically posts a variety of gun-related videos with titles like “Eating a meal made ONLY with a GUN!!!” and “How deadly is the SMALLEST gun I own???”

“No matter what political affiliation you’re on, none of us want violence. This channel was never intended to incite violence or hatred,” Carriker said in the video.

The T-shirts are printed in Carriker’s hometown and sold and shipped worldwide, he said in the video. Carriker said Demolition Ranch can’t control everyone who buys its products. The T-shirts are sold online for about $30, and the online store also sells hoodies, hats, stickers and other accessories.

“Seeing my name next to the shooter’s name is disgusting. And I wish, I wish we could prevent that from happening,” Carriker said.

The attack on Crooks left one person dead and two others seriously injured. Crooks was perched on the roof of a nearby building, outside the rally’s security perimeter, and was shot and killed by Secret Service agents, according to law enforcement.

On Friday, before the attack, he went to a shooting range where he was a member and practiced shooting, 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 bought 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 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.