Demolition Ranch host reacts to alleged Trump shooter wearing his shirt: 'Shocked and confused'

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BUTLER, PA – JULY 13: U.S. Secret Service agents and a counterattack team respond moments after shots were fired at Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, PA on July 13.

A popular gun influencer whose YouTube videos reach millions of people said he was “shocked and confused” when he saw Thomas Matthew Crooks wearing a Demolition Ranch T-shirt during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

“As many of you know — and we were shocked and confused to learn — the shooter who attempted to assassinate Trump was wearing merchandise from my channel, a Demolition Ranch t-shirt,” Matt Carriker told his 11 million subscribers.

The nearly six-minute video posted Monday has been viewed more than 4 million times. Carriker, a Texas-based veterinarian who runs two gun-related channels for gun enthusiasts, said he usually avoids political discussions, but the news has thrust him and his business into the spotlight.

“We don’t vet the people who buy our shirts,” Carriker said. “I would like to prevent people like that from buying, wearing, being associated with this piece of clothing… I would have preferred that he not be able to get a shirt, but it happened,” he said.

The company’s Facebook account featured a photo of a law enforcement officer, wearing a camouflage uniform and holding a semi-automatic pistol, standing over Crooks’ body with the caption: “What the fuck?”

The 20-year-old shooter’s right sleeve of the T-shirt features an American flag and the word “DEMOLITIA.” At a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Crooks opened fire, hitting Trump in the ear, killing one bystander and wounding two others.

Typical posts on Demolition Ranch’s YouTube channel range from “Eating a meal cooked ONLY with a GUN!!!” to “Can a spinning propeller stop a bullet???” with Carriker using a propeller as a practice target.

“I think the difference between a shooter wearing a pair of Nike shoes and a shooter wearing my T-shirt is that brand is much more personal to me than Nike is to its executives,” he said. “To see my name next to the shooter’s name, oh, that sucks and I wish, I wish we could stop that from happening.”