Investment Giant BlackRock Pulls Ad Featuring Trump Rally Shooter

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who shot at former president Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, had briefly appeared in a 2022 advertisement for BlackRock Inc, the world's largest money manager.

The ad, filmed at the Bethel Park High School in Pennsylvania, featured Crooks and several other unpaid students in the background, said the investment giant in a statement. Crooks graduated from the school in 2022.

🚨Trumps Shooter “Thomas Mathew Crooks” was featured in a BLACKROCK COMMERCIAL in 2023!!! pic.twitter.com/fdbkfHOS04

— The Real World Fan Page (@BeOutTheMatrix) July 15, 2024

BlackRock said it has pulled the ad but the video will be available to authorities. The ad, however, is being widely shared by social media users.

"The assassination attempt on former President Trump is abhorrent. We're thankful former President Trump wasn't seriously injured, and thinking about all the innocent bystanders and victims of this awful act, especially the person who was killed," the company added in its statement.

BlackRock, whose earnings figures are expected today, has faced scrutiny after shooting incidents since some of its index funds own shares in gunmakers.

Trump Assassination Attempt

Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday after a gunman opened fire at him at a rally in Pennsylvania ahead of the Presidential elections. The attack left him with a bloodied face as the former president said the bullet pierced his "upper part of right ear".

A bystander died in the attack while shielding his family and Crooks - a registered Republican - was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

Trump, whose Republican candidature will be finalised today, shared a message of unity after the attack and said Americans must not allow "evil to win". "It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening," he said on social media.

Biden, too, appealed to the nation to "lower the political temperature" in a rare Oval Office address. "Politics must never be a literal battlefield, God forbid a killing field," he said.

The US markets are expecting Trump trades to gain momentum after the attack. It has already been pinning hopes for the return of Republicans, especially after Biden's poor performance in last month's debate. Those trades are likely to take deeper hold as the attack sparks a wave of sympathy and support for Trump.