The FBI revealed they found a social media account possibly tied to Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks that could shine light on the motive behind his assassination attempt.
So far very little has been uncovered about Crooks and what led to his shooting of Trump, which injured others and fatally wounded former firefighter Corey Comperatore on July 13.
The bombshell developments in the investigation into the assassination attempt at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally came during a Senate hearing Tuesday.
Congress dragged in the Secret Service’s new acting head Ronald Rowe and the number two at the FBI, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, to testify on the shooting.
Abbate revealed that at least one social media account on an unnamed platform believed to be associated with Crooks was discovered by the FBI. That account posted over 700 comments between 2019 and 2020, he added.
‘Some of these comments … appear to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence,’ Abbate said.
Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service, Ronald L. Rowe, Jr. and Deputy Director of the FBI Paul Abbate are sworn-in before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2024
He wouldn’t confirm the name of the social media platform until after his agents could prove with 100% certainty Crooks made the posts.
Abbate said the posts were ‘extreme in nature,’ but that the FBI is still determining whether the account actually belonged to Crooks.
He also disclosed that the agency is still working to identify and infiltrate Crooks’s various ‘encrypted’ accounts that could shine light on his motive.
That angered Sen. Lindsey Graham who wanted more information on his. motive.
‘So you’re telling me, the guy that took eight shots at the president, former president, has apps that we can’t get into, that may if you could get into [them] reveal some relevant information.’
‘That is correct, senator,’ the officials responded.
This concerned Graham who later pushed for better methods to infiltrate encrypted accounts.
‘We need a solution that provides lawful access,’ the officials noted, inferring current options only provide illegal entry into Crooks’s suspected accounts.
Thomas Crooks shown in his high school yearbook from 2020. Little is known about the reclusive shooter
Images show law enforcement approaching the building from where Crooks shot just minutes before he opened fire at the rally
Former President Donald Trump raises his fist after being shot in the ear by Crooks on July 13
In addition to the online account discoveries, the number two man at the FBI disclosed more about the timeline behind the assassination attempt.
‘Approximately 25 minutes prior to the shooting, the U.S. Secret Service command post was notified of a suspicious person,’ Abbate testified.
The Secret Service acting director also admitted he had no defense as for why the rooftop where Crooks fired shots toward former President Trump was left open.
‘I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots, and I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight.’
‘What I saw made me ashamed as a career law enforcement officer and a 25 year veteran with the Secret Service. I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,’ he told Congress on Tuesday.
Crooks fired eight rounds toward Trump, grazing him with a bullet in his ear.
‘When I laid in that position I could not, will not understand why there was not better coverage or at least somebody looking at that roof line when that’s where they were posted,’ Rowe said, noting that Crooks’ head would have been clearly visible from the unmanned rooftop.
Thirty seconds before Crooks fired his shots, local law enforcement had radioed to Secret Service warning about a man with a rifle on the roof. Around three and a half minutes before that, he’d been ‘observed on the roof.’
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appears before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on oversight of the Secret Service on July 23, 2024. She resigned the day after the hearing
Rowe said that since the shooting he’d implemented a number of changes at the Secret Service, including having security plans go through multiple supervisors before implementation, expanded use of drones, more resources for protective site communications and ‘expeditious’ approval of requests for personnel at protective sites with heightened security environments.
Rowe and Abbate spoke to the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees after their boss, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle submitted her resignation last week after a six-hour-long hearing where Republicans and Democrats accused her of stonewalling.
The FBI and Secret Service officials also disclosed a more accurate timeline of events leading up to the shooting.
Almost a week before the rally, Crooks scouted the site of the event, spending 20 minutes doing reconnaissance on the location, they shared.
Just a day before the shooting Crooks went to a shooting range to practice his shot.
The morning of the July 13 rally, Crooks again visited the grounds, the officials said.
Abbate and Rowe also disclosed Crooks’s activity on the day of the shooting and what authorities did in response.
Local law enforcement marked Crooks as ‘suspicious’ 90 minutes before he opened fire, the officials shared.
Secret Service was informed that the would-be assassin had a range finder 30 minutes before the shooting occurred.
Minutes later, just 20 before the shooting, the Secret Service counter sniper team was given a photo of the ‘suspicious suspect.’
Then, 3.5 minutes before Crooks opened fire, he was spotted on the roof.
The officials also disclosed that Crooks was seen with a gun on the roof 30 seconds before firing his first shot.
‘Within 15.5 seconds of his first shot, he’s neutralized,’ Rowe testified about how quickly Crooks was killed after opening fire.
Deputy Director of the FBI Paul Abbate testified that the agency is still working to crack encrypted online accounts related to Crooks
But prior to his first shot Secret Service was unaware of his location, the Secret Service acting chief added.
He noted that the counter snipers did not see him because he was initially hiding on the other side of the roof.
‘I believe he was obscured by that roof,’ Rowe testified.
