On July 13, former US President Donald Trump was shot in the upper right ear at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The incident resulted in the death of one spectator and the serious injury of two others.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the alleged shooter responsible for the attack. The Secret Service “neutralized” him during the demonstration.
Crooks was wearing a “Demolition T-Shirt” which was official merchandise from the popular YouTube channel Demolition Ranch’s online store.
Demolition Ranch is a popular YouTube channel that creates content about firearms and has a large audience of 11.6 million followers.
Its YouTube description describes itself as “NOT YOUR AVERAGE INTERNET 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 a Demolition Ranch shirt.
He originally posted on Instagram and Facebook on July 13th at 10:20 PM ET, adding a photo of what appears to be Crooks (now deceased) wearing a Demolition Ranch shirt. “What the hell.”
At 7:57 a.m. ET on July 14, Carriker messaged X and confirmed that “news stations” had called him and asked “if (he) ever talked to the shooter:”
“Last night was crazy… I’ve had news stations call me asking if I’ve ever talked to the shooter… what… the hell.”
Later, at 6:29 PM ET, Carriker posted X again, noting how it “crap” saw his name in articles about the shooting and promised that he “will soon make a public statement (YouTube):”
“I hate to see articles about this and they name 3 people… the shooter, trump… and somehow me. There will be a public statement on YT soon. Still just in disbelief honestly.”
What is Demolition Ranch?
A big part of Demolition Ranch’s fan appeal is Carriker’s constant creativity with unique weapons and interesting concepts.
Demolition Ranch’s most popular video (24 million views) is titled “How Deep into Dirt Will It Go?” and shows Carriker firing different weapons to see how far the bullets go into the ground.
Long before this controversy, Carriker started Demolition Ranch in 2011 and has since started running two additional channels: Vet Ranch, which focuses on rescuing and caring for homeless animals, and Off The Ranch, which features her family life.
Matt graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Veterinary Medicine and Biomedicine in 2008 and is a board certified veterinarian. However, he has not worked as a veterinarian since 2018, instead focusing on YouTube.
In an interview with Texas Pride Trailers, Carriker discussed the origins of his YouTube career, stressing that he originally made videos for fun without financial gain.
Despite failing his veterinary board exams due to the distraction of making videos, he explained that he eventually passed, became a vet and balanced his career with content creation.
Over time, he successfully developed on YouTube by hiring a team to edit, which allowed him to focus on filming and spend more time with his family.
Finally, she mentioned the importance of passion in maintaining her YouTube career and her openness to the career paths her children choose.
Outside of Crooks wearing a Demolition Ranch shirt, there is no other evidence linking Carriker to the suspected shooter.
