FACT CHECK: Viral Facebook video incorrectly claims BlackRock owns the building from which the shooter targeted Trump

A viral video shared on Facebook claims investment company BlackRock owns the building from which Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at 2024 Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump during his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Verdict: False

The claim is false. Butler, Pennsylvania property records show American Glass Research, not BlackRock, owns the building.

Fact Check:

Crooks conducted a Google search asking how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was from President Abraham Lincoln when he killed him ahead of the Trump rally shooting, according to Fox News. The revelation was made by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray during a Wednesday testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, the outlet reported.

The Facebook video, which has garnered nearly 76,000 likes as of writing, claims BlackRock owns the building from which Crooks shot at Trump during his July 13 campaign rally. The video opens with a clip of a man instructing viewers “not to let your guard down” and “listen to this” before transitioning to another man who claims BlackRock owns the building from which Crooks shot at Trump.

“Whoa, you’re 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… Not only did that dude work for that company in the past, but that building he was on was owned by them,” the man says. Besides Facebook, the claim has also circulated on TikTok.

The claim is false. On July 15, Technical.ly reported Trump’s campaign rally took place at the Butler Farm Show grounds, with the shooter firing at him from the roof of a nearby building “outside of the security perimeter.” According to the outlet, the roof was “about 148 yards away” and is “one of two labs on the headquarters of a company called American Glass Research.” The article does not mention BlackRock at all.

A keyword search lists 625 Evans City Road as the address for the Butler Farm Show grounds, with the American Glass Research building located at 603 Evans City Road. The website for American Glass Research corroborates the address and lists AGR International at 615 Whitestown Road, which is also in Butler, Pennsylvania. American Glass Research is a division of AGR International, according to the same website. (RELATED: Did The Trump Shooter Post ‘July 13 Will Be My Premiere’ On Steam?)

Likewise, Google Maps shows the farm grounds and the AGR International building are within a short distance of each other. In addition, Butler, Pennsylvania property records indicate American Glass Research is the owner of the AGR International building located at 615 Whitestown Road.

Furthermore, BlackRock has neither referenced the claim on its website nor its verified social media accounts. Check Your Fact also did not find any credible news reports to support the claim. Actually, the opposite is true. On July 23, Lead Stories reported the claim was false.

A BlackRock spokesperson denied the claim’s validity, according to the outlet.

“This is completely false. BlackRock Inc. does not own the building, nor have our real estate funds invested in the building,” the spokesperson said.

BlackRock provided the same statement to Check Your Fact when contacted for comment.

Although BlackRock does not own the building from which Crooks fired at Trump, Crooks appeared in a 2022 BlackRock advertisement that was filmed at his high school, according to CBS News. The company has since pulled the ad, the New York Post reported.