The YouTube influencer behind “Demolition Ranch” said he was “shocked and confused” to learn the 20-year-old accused of shooting at Donald Trump on Saturday and hitting three of his supporters was wearing a T-shirt bearing the name of his “firearm-centered channel.”
“I was watching a CNN article and it says three names — the shooter’s, Trump’s, and mine,” Texas veterinarian and online personality Matt Carriker lamented in a nearly six-minute-long YouTube video.
According to Carriker, alleged gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks appears to have ordered a $30 shirt from his company, as anyone else can from almost any apparel seller without being vetted.
“He bought a shirt online,” Carriker said. “And, unfortunately, wore it that day.”
Little is yet known about Crooks days after he was killed by Secret Service agents Saturday. A bullet he allegedly fired from roughly 160 yards away appeared to graze Trump at the start of an evening rally in Western Pennsylvania. Three bystanders were also hit in the firefight that left one man dead and two others seriously wounded.
Images of the alleged shooter showed him sporting “Demolition Ranch” apparel, which led media members and online sleuths to check out Carriker’s brand.
Carriker said he doesn’t discuss politics or condone violence on his YouTube program, nor does he appreciate the advertising Crooks brought his way by donning a “Demolition Ranch” shirt during his shooting spree.
“That sucked to see that,” he admitted. “That was rough.”
“Demolition Ranch” has nearly 12 million YouTube subscribers. Episode titles include “Is the AK-50 Any Good?” and “I Shot My Truck with a Tank…”
Explosive materials were later found in Crooks’ car, while more than a dozen guns were discovered at his family’s home in Bethel Park, Pa., according to NBC News.
