THE MAN who tried to assassinate Donald Trump allegedly saved images of Kate Middleton on his phone before the attack, FBI agents revealed.
Princess Kate was reportedly among the public figures Thomas Crooks, 20, researched online while planning the shooting.
Crooks perched on a roof at a political rally led by Donald Trump and shot him through the ear in a shocking attempt on his life last Saturday.
Following a closed-door briefing with the FBI, US politicians told press how agents said Crooks had “scoped out” the rally venue beforehand.
They revealed how agents who scoured Crook’s devices, seized from his home, found searches for a member of the Royal Family.
It has since been revealed that the British Royal was Princess Kate, National Public Radio (NPR) reports.
The day after Crooks’ tried to kill Trump, Kate made her second public appearance in six months as she attended the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Investigators searching Crooks’ devices also found images of Trump and President Joe Biden, along with key dates for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Robert Wells, assistant director of the FBI counter terror division, said the shooting is being investigated as “an act of domestic terrorism”.
It has been claimed that Secret Service agents failed to properly secure the area ahead of the event, even after flagging the shooter’s perch as a security risk.
Pressure has been mounting for the head of the agency to step down following the biggest failure in presidential security for decades.
According to one US senator who was in on the briefing call with FBI agents, Republican John Barrasso, it was a “cover-your-ass” meeting.
Intelligence shared in the call suggests that the Secret Service was warned about a “suspicious person” an hour before Trump went on stage at the Butler rally.
Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office leading an investigation into the assassination attempt, said they are still trying to pin down Crooks’ motive.
He told NPR “We don’t have any kind of fidelity right now about the shooter’s action immediately prior to him engaging the former president.”
