On July 13 former President of the United States Donald Trump was shot in the upper right ear at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The incident resulted in the death of one audience member and critically injured two others.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the alleged shooter responsible for the attack. He was immediately "neutralized" by the Secret Service at the rally.
Crooks was wearing a "Demolitia T-Shirt," an official piece of merchandise from the popular YouTube creator Demolition Ranch's online store.
Demolition Ranch is a popular YouTube channel that creates content about firearms with a wide audience of 11.6 million followers.
Its description on YouTube describes itself as, "NOT YOUR AVERAGE GUN CHANNEL" and is run by Matt Carriker, "King of the Demolitia."
After the July 13 Trump rally, Carriker took to X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook in response to Crooks wearing the Demolition Ranch shirt.
He initially posted on Instagram and Facebook at 10:20 p.m. ET on July 13, captioning an image of what appears to be Crooks (now deceased) wearing the Demolition Ranch shirt, "What the hell."
At 7:57 a.m. ET on July 14, Carriker posted on X, confirming that "news stations" have been calling him and asking "if [he] ever spoke 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."
Later, at 6:29 p.m. ET, Carriker posted again on X, noting how it "sucks" seeing his name in articles related to the shooting, and promised that he "will make a public statement soon on [YouTube]:"
"Sucks seeing articles about this and they are naming 3 people… the shooter, trump… and somehow me. Will make a public statement soon on YT. Still just in disbelief honestly."
What Is Demolition Ranch?
Much of the appeal for fans of Demolition Ranch is Carriker's continual creativity with unique weapons and interesting concepts.
Demolition Ranch's most popular video (with 24 million views) is titled "How Deep into Dirt Will It Go?" and shows Carriker shooting different guns to see how far the bullets will go into the ground.
Long before this controversy, Carriker began Demolition Ranch in 2011 and has since begun running two spin-off channels: Vet Ranch which focuses on rescuing and treating homeless animals, and Off The Ranch, which features his family life.
Matt graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2008 and is a certified veterinarian. However, he hasn't practiced as a vet since 2018, focusing on YouTube.
During an interview with Texas Pride Trailers, Carriker discussed the origins of his YouTube career, emphasizing that he initially made videos for fun without any financial gain.
Despite failing his veterinary board exams due to his video-making distractions, he explained that he eventually passed, became a vet, and balanced his career with content creation.
Over time, he developed a successful YouTube presence, hiring a team to handle editing, which allowed him to focus on filming and spend more time with his family.
Finally, he mentioned the importance of passion in sustaining his YouTube career and his openness to whatever career paths his children might choose.
Outside of Crooks wearing a Demolition Ranch shirt, there's no other evidence connecting Carriker to the suspected shooter.
