For Thomas Crooks, the suburban Pittsburgh nursing home where he served meals and washed dishes for $16 an hour was another solitary corner of a nearly invisible life. He was polite but distant, a former co-worker said, ate lunch alone in the break room and rarely spoke with anyone.
But as western Pennsylvania geared up last week for the boisterous spectacle of hosting a rally for former President Donald Trump, Crooks approached his bosses with a request, law enforcement officials said: He wanted to take Saturday off.
He told them he had something important to do.