Thomas Matthew Crooks: FBI Recovers Guns, Explosive from Late Trump’s Shooter
The United States of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) said it discovered a little more than a dozen guns in the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the late shooter in last Saturday’s Donald Trump assassination attempt.
This is as investigation continued on the bloody incident which marred the Republican Party frontliner’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In an update, the FBI said it has gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone, laptop and other electronic devices.
The late shooter was a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – about 35 miles south of Butler, where Trump was holding his rally.
“FBI technical specialists successfully gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone, and they continue to analyze his electronic devices,” the agency wrote in a press release.
Fox News reported that the weapon Crooks used, a DPMS AR-15 5.56, is also now at the FBI’s forensic labs in Quantico, Virginia, along with his phone, laptop and at least one Improvised Explosive Device from his car.
Crooks, 20, fired on Trump while perched on a nearby building rooftop outside the rally’s security perimeter, before being killed by the Secret Service, according to law enforcement officials.
“The FBI is focused on the gunman, his motive, any potential associations, building a timeline of events, and related matters, while the Secret Service is conducting a separate review of its security protocol. Chairman Green is pleased to know the FBI has so far conducted nearly 100 interviews, and has access to the gunman’s phone.
“Chairman Green was assured by EAD Wells that the FBI intends to be transparent with Congress during its investigation. Chairman Green intends to schedule a site visit, if possible, once the scene has been processed, and looks forward to being briefed by USSS as soon as possible, as do Committee Members.” – said a House Homeland Security Committee Spokesperson
The FBI said it conducted nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement personnel, event attendees and other witnesses. It has also received hundreds of digital media tips, which include photos and videos taken at the scene.
The agency began its investigation into Crooks and the shooting shortly after the Saturday attack. Agents went to Crooks’ home and the home of his parents on Sunday and Monday. They are investigating the incident as an assassination attempt and possible domestic terrorism.
ABOUT THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022.
He was registered to vote as a Republican, according to a listing in Pennsylvania’s voter database that matched his name, age, and a Bethel Park address that law enforcement was searching Saturday night and is linked to Crooks in public records.
This year’s presidential election would have been the first he was old enough to vote in.
Federal Election Commission records show that a donor listed as Thomas Crooks with the same address gave $15 to a Democratic-aligned political action committee called the Progressive Turnout Project in January 2021.
Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before speaking about his son.
After being killed at the scene, Crooks didn’t have any identification on his body, so agents had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said at a press conference.
