The owner of a popular pro-gun YouTube channel responded to news on Saturday that the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump had been wearing his brand's T-shirt.
In a post to Instagram, Matt Carriker, who runs the popular channel "Demolition Ranch," shared an image of the deceased shooter alongside the caption "What the hell."
The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by authorities at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, after firing at Trump. The former president was struck in his upper ear but otherwise came out of the attack without any serious injuries.
Following the shooter's death, social media was flooded with misinformation regarding both his identity and key parts of the event. One factor noticed by many, however, was Crooks' Demolition Ranch shirt.
Many pointed to the shirt as evidence that Crooks' politics were likely right-leaning. Although Crooks was a registered Republican, he also recently donated to a left-wing political action committee.
Carriker also revealed in a post on X that media outlets have been contacting him to learn whether he had any relationship with the shooter.
"Last night was crazy… I’ve got news stations calling me asking if I ever spoke with the shooter… what… the… hell," he said.
Yet the shirt might not be the greatest indicator of Crooks' views, some have argued.
Podcast host Robert Evans, for example, argued that Demolition Ranch is not a hyper-partisan channel by any means.
"For the record Demo Ranch is one of the more overtly apolitical Guntube brands," he wrote. "They don't in my experience go on long charged political rants. They're a big business not fringe weirdos."
Demolition Ranch has over 11 million subscribers on YouTube, where Carriker tests various guns in stunt videos like shooting solid blocks of metal with different calibers.
While little is known, supporters of Demolition Ranch are suggesting that the shooter wore the shirt in an effort to not stand out.
"I'm sure he did it to blend in!" one fan said on Instagram. "We have nothing against you Matt. We know you preach gun safety and never violence."
The assassination attempt has been widely condemned from across the political aisle. Regardless, the dialogue across the country has already been polluted by conspiracy theories, misinformation, and anger.
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