Trump shooter’s rifle club defends its culture: “That’s not us”

A gun club based in a dense forest on the outskirts of Pittsburgh found itself in the national spotlight after one of its members attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday.

The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club condemned the “senseless act of violence” in a statement on Sunday and acknowledged that the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was a member.

The extent of Crooks’ involvement with the club is unknown. In interviews this week, the president, a former employee and a former member defended the club’s reputation as a safe environment with a family-friendly culture that emphasizes the importance of gun safety.

Bill Sellitto, the club’s president, said in a phone call Tuesday that violence is “not part of our culture.”

“What happened on Saturday was horrific. We’re just sick about it,” he said. “I mean, that’s not who we are. I don’t know what else to say. It’s affecting the club. A lot of us have had very few hours of sleep in the last three days.”

Located on 180 acres at the end of a half-mile road, about a 30-minute drive from the Crooks family home, the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club is one of the larger gun clubs in the area, says Charles Rondinelli, a freelance writer who has written several columns for gun enthusiasts at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

“It’s a very nice club,” he said. “But all the clubs around here are very nice, as far as I know. They promote healthy shooting.”

The club has about 2,200 members, Sellitto said. Families with children, women and young adults make up a large portion of the paying customers, he said, without giving specific numbers.

He said five law enforcement officers train at the facility and many of their members are also members of the club.

People join for a variety of reasons: to practice before deer hunting season, to shoot clay pigeons at one of the 13 lighted skeet and trap ranges, or to participate in one of the leagues. A “great” archery program draws many kids, Sellitto says, some of whom compete in the area.

The club also offers a 200-meter shooting range and describes its “club rifle discipline” on its website as “a very active and varied facet of our club.” Parents and children have the opportunity to shoot together in the small-bore rifle team.

Daneen Barone Shelton, 64, of West Mifflin, remembered how safe the club was when she worked there as a teenager.

“It was a family-friendly place. My whole family was there shooting,” she said.

Her nephew, 38-year-old Michael Barone of Clairton, left the club because he needed training for his job with the police, which the club did not allow him to do.

“They are a safe club,” he said, adding: “They adhere very strictly to all the rules.”

Barone said he knew the matter involving Crooks “had nothing to do with the club.”

“The club is a good club,” he said.

Crooks was shot and killed by at least one member of the Secret Service shortly after he opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler. Trump, who said he was hit in the ear, was treated at a local hospital and released.

The motive for the shooting, which left one bystander dead and two others injured, is still unclear. More than a dozen weapons were found during a search of the Crooks family home, four senior officials said.

Gun sales are high across Pennsylvania. The state ranked fourth in the nation for the most guns sold last year, with 841,523 guns sold, behind California, Florida and Texas, according to SafeHome.org, which compiled data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The website estimates that nearly 300,000 total sales were made in Pennsylvania from January to April.

The state reports that there were over one million firearm licenses and just over 10,000 sporting firearm licenses in Pennsylvania as of July 1. As of the most recent census in 2020, the state had a population of just over 13 million.

Rondinelli said Western Pennsylvania has “always been a shooting area.”

“There used to be a lot of organized shooting here, but that was maybe 30, 40, 50 years ago. But the shooting culture is still alive,” he said in a phone call on Wednesday. “There are still quite a few organized shooting competitions here in various areas. There are organized leagues.”

Sellitto said one of the club’s goals is to teach safe firearm handling at a young age. The club hosts a free youth day in the summer where children can learn the rules of proper firearm handling “and we show them the sports of shooting and archery,” he said.

“It’s a community thing. We work hard to teach children how to handle firearms responsibly,” he said.

Sellitto said the club tries to be a “community organization,” but he fears its connection to Crooks could have unintended consequences.

“I have a feeling we’re going to be the bad guys in all of this,” he said. “And you know, we’re not.”