A Texas YouTuber who runs a popular gun enthusiast channel is distancing himself from the gunman who opened fire on former President Donald Trump during a rally Saturday in western Pennsylvania.
Photos verified by NBC News showed the shooter, identified by law enforcement as Thomas Matthew Crooks, wearing a Demolition Ranch shirt on the day of the shooting. The images began circulating after Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, was killed by at least one Secret Service sharpshooter.
In a nearly six-minute-long video Monday, Matt Carriker, who runs the YouTube channel Demolition Ranch, said: “We were shocked and confused to find this out. The shooter who tried to assassinate Trump was wearing merch from my channel, wearing a Demolition Ranch T-shirt. And that sucked to see that.”
“Yeah, that was rough,” he added.
Carriker said he keeps politics out of his videos and does not support violence on his channel.
“This channel was never meant to incite violence or hate,” he said. “It never has, it isn’t and it never will be a channel that does that. I don’t want any violence or hate anywhere around me.”
The YouTuber, who has more than 11 million subscribers, said it is impossible to vet everyone who purchases one of his shirts, explaining that they are made in his hometown and are shipped all over the world. The shirts sell for about $30.
“I wish I could. I would love to keep people like that from buying, wearing, being associated with that article of clothing. I wish he couldn’t get a shirt, but it happened,” he said, adding, “To see my name next to the shooter’s name, ugh it sucks. And I wish I could keep that from happening.”
