Thomas Matthew Crooks briefly appeared in a BlackRock ad but didn’t work for the company

FBI investigators say evidence so far shows shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks worked alone in his July 13 assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.

But the internet is swimming in conspiracy theories — and in one of these unfounded claims, the investment company BlackRock Inc. plays a central role.

"POV: when the dots connect themselves," read words atop a TikTok video shared on Facebook that shows a man walking down a street as he talks to a camera. Across the bottom of the screen, it says "BLACKROCK."

"You are telling me that the same company that owns the building that the person who was just laying down and took some shots off at someone to attempt to take their life very recently," the man in the July 20 Facebook video said. "Not only did that dude work for that company in the past, but that building he was on was owned by them?"

The Facebook video was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.)

The video’s assertions linking BlackRock to Crooks’ assassination attempt don’t align with the facts. BlackRock neither employed Crooks nor owned the Butler, Pennsylvania, building from which Crooks fired his AR-15-style weapon, killing one person and injuring three, including Trump.

BlackRock Inc. is a large financial investment management company headquartered in New York.

Crooks appeared in a BlackRock advertisement filmed at Bethel Park High School that featured an economics teacher talking about his retirement investments. The 30-second spot, which aimed to promote BlackRock’s work managing public teacher retirement accounts, included scenes from within the school. 

Crooks, who attended Bethel Park until his 2022 graduation, is seen in the video looking on as the teacher writes on a whiteboard. But no students spoke in the commercial. Following the shooting, BlackRock pulled the TV ad from circulation.

The company has repeatedly stated that Crooks was not paid for his involvement.

"In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks," BlackRock Spokesperson Christopher Berger told PolitiFact in an email. All of the company’s related footage was being shared with investigators, Berger said. Before he was killed by theSecret Service moments after the shooting, Crooks worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home in Bethel Park.

Investigators say Crooks fired from the rooftop of a building outside the rally’s grounds. According to Butler County public records, American Glass Research Inc., a subsidiary of Agr International, a plastics manufacturing company, owns the building

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First lady Jill Biden led a Cabinet meeting for President Joe Biden and her signature appears on presidential stationery.

The building was last sold Jan. 1, 2000, county records show.

Indicor acquired Agr International in March 2024. BlackRock reported a $478,458 loan to Indicor in September 2023.

"BlackRock Inc. does not own the building, nor have our real estate funds invested in the building," Berger said. He did not respond to a request for comment on BlackRock’s business interests with Indicor. Agr International and Indicor did not respond to interview requests.

A viral Facebook video claimed BlackRock employed Crooks and owned the building Crooks fired the shots from as he tried to assassinate Trump. Crooks appeared briefly in a BlackRock ad filmed at his school but was neither paid for the spot nor otherwise employed by the company. County records show American Glass Research, not BlackRock, owns the building from which Crooks took aim.

We rate this claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird and Staff Writer Loreben Tuquero contributed to this report.

RELATED: PolitiFact’s coverage of the Donald Trump assassination attempt