Trump calls for FBI’s Wray to pay a price over Butler shooting response

Trump claims newly found information shows the Biden-era FBI mishandled the July 2024 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, and accuses former Director Christopher Wray of wrongdoing.

First Published: September 15, 2026, 11:37 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump accused the FBI under former Director Christopher Wray of mishandling the July 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, and said Wray should “pay a price.”

Trump wrote that information about the shooting was “missing, altered, corrupted, or gone” by the Time he took office. He said newly found material raised questions about why it went unseen. He framed the episode as a partisan effort to derail his campaign.

“This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed,” Trump wrote in the post.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Everybody knows the Crooked Joe Biden FBI didn’t do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA. By the Time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone. New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago? This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed. Dirty Cop Christopher Wray should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt, and certainly for the things he said. GOD BLESS AMERICA — MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Trump” on September 15, 2026 at 11:28 AM ET.

This is Trump’s 2nd message released today, and the last post was 2 hours ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 6 of his 580 posts over the last 30 days classified as Deep State posts.

The shooting occurred at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, when a gunman opened fire from a rooftop about 400 feet (about 122 meters) from the stage, hitting Trump’s right ear, killing a bystander and wounding two others, according to ABC News. FBI investigators conducted more than 100 interviews, searched the suspect’s home and vehicle and gained access to his cellphone as they searched for a motive, according to abcnews. The bureau identified the assailant as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, whom a Secret Service countersniper killed, according to abcnews.

Wray, then FBI director, told the House Judiciary Committee that Crooks had done a Google® search a week before the shooting asking “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” according to Public Broadcasting Service. Wray said the usual repositories of information had not yielded anything notable about motive or ideology, and that the FBI’s assessment continued to be that Crooks acted alone, according to pbs.

Trump’s post echoes complaints raised by congressional investigators. Rep.Pat Fallon, R-Texas, who headed a task force on the attempt, said the FBI withheld information from his panel and “stonewalled” the investigation, according to thenationaldesk. Fallon pointed to more than 700 social media comments the agency believed Crooks made around 2019 and 2020, which it had not shared with the task force, according to thenationaldesk. He said withholding that information was either “deliberate” or “incompetence” and that he would raise the matter with House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., according to thenationaldesk.

The Butler shooting was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, according to Public Broadcasting Service.Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, died at the rally, and two other men,David Dutch and James Copenhaver, suffered injuries, according to thenationaldesk.