- Trump rally shooter briefly featured in BlackRock ad from 2022, the company said.
- Thomas Matthew Crooks “appeared in the background” during the commercial and was not paid, according to BlackRock.
- Crooks can be seen in a 30-second commercial that focuses on AP Economics teachers at Bethel Park High School.
BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, said Sunday it has removed one of its 2022 ads featuring Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old man identified by authorities as the man who shot and wounded former President Donald Trump.
The company told Bloomberg and Reuters that Crooks was a student who appeared in the ad and was not paid for his appearance.
“In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students appeared briefly in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and that year reportedly received a $500 award from the National Math and Science Initiative.
BlackRock did not provide further information about the footage to the two news outlets but told Bloomberg it would remove the ad from circulation and provide the clip to authorities.
The company also called the assassination attempt on Trump “abhorrent.”
Crooks appears briefly in a 30-second BlackRock TV ad featuring an AP Economics and Honors teacher at Bethel Park High School. In the clip, Crooks is seen in the classroom and appears to be talking to the teacher.
BlackRock’s press team did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of regular business hours by Business Insider.
Authorities said agents shot and killed Crooks after he fired at Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. Trump later said he was hit in the ear by at least one bullet, causing bleeding.
The FBI has designated the incident as attempted murder.
BlackRock, which oversees about $9.1 trillion in assets, is expected to release its Q2 earnings on July 15.
