Tag: Thomas Matthew Crooks

Trump Gunman Had Michigan School Shooter’s Photo, Foreign Encrypted Apps, FBI Tells Congress

Just the News
Thomas Crooks and Ethan Crumbley (composite image)

While Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle frustrated lawmakers Monday with sparse details about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the FBI has disclosed to Congress that the shooter used three encrypted communications apps ostensibly tied to Germany, Brussels and New Zealand and also possessed an arrest photo of an earlier Michigan school shooter, Just the News has confirmed.

In multiple briefings, FBI leaders told lawmakers that the 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ primary cell phone has become an important focal point of the probe, including some 14,000 images that were found on it, according to multiple sources familiar with the briefings. The FBI has not issued an update on their findings to the public since July 14.

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Rep. Burchett Blasts Secret Service Director as ‘DEI Horror Story’

Peter D'Abrosca
Tim Burchett

In a testy hearing before of the House Oversight Committee on Monday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) slammed U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Director Kimberly Cheatle after the near assassination of former President Donald Trump on her watch. 

On July 14, Trump was hosting a campaign rally in Butler, PA, when shots rang out from a nearby rooftop, with only bullet grazing Trump’s ear and narrowly missing his head. 

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Oversight Hearing: Cheatle Says July 13 Was the ‘Most Significant Operational Failure of the Secret Service in Decades’

Admin
Kimberly Cheatle

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life.

On July 13, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Several bullets passed within millimeters of Trumps head, at least one grazing his ear. Two rallygoers were hurt, and Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, was tragically killed by stray bullets while shielding his wife and daughter.

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Secret Service Ditched Law Enforcement Meeting on Day of Attempted Trump Assassination, Senator Claims

Tom Pappert
Secret Service Snipers on a rootop

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) claimed on Saturday that the U.S. Secret Service did not attend a law enforcement meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, the date former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at a campaign rally.

Johnson told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that his team learned the apparent lack of attendance by the Secret Service from local law enforcement.

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Commentary: Cancel Culture Backfires on Its Leftist Makers After Trump Assassination Attempt Remarks

Admin
Donald Trump

by David Huber   In a perfect world, people like Alison Scott, a teacher in the Oklahoma-based Ardmore City Schools district would have the self-control not to post stupid stuff on social media after a U.S. presidential candidate is almost assassinated. The high school music teacher responded to a Facebook user’s post saying they were going to donate $500 to would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks for “tryin’ to save us,” according to a screenshot obtained by Libs of TikTok. “Same!” wrote the teacher. “Wish they had a better scope” — followed by an “oh well” emoji. Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters subsequently posted on X that the teacher’s comments were “unacceptable” and added: “We will not allow teachers to cheer on violence” against President Trump. Later the same day Walters posted “I have investigated it enough. I will be taking [the teacher’s] teaching certificate. She will no longer be teaching in Oklahoma.” As of Friday, the Ardmore school district website had a pop-window notice of a district news release which stated officials had started a “thorough and swift” investigation, and that the district “strongly condemns acts of physical violence and any words that seek to encourage it.” According to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, the Ardmore staff “Master…

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Man Who Tried to Kill Trump Flew Drone over Rally Hours Before Attempting Assassination: Report

Just the News
Thomas Matthew Crooks

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, was able to fly a drone over the rally grounds before Trump spoke, according to reports.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Crooks programmed a drone to fly over the Butler Farm Show grounds ahead of Trump’s rally. Officials told the outlet that he flew the drone over the area more than once.

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Zuckerberg Praises Trump’s ‘Badass’ Reaction to Getting ‘Shot in the Face’

Admin
Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had high praise for former President Trump on Thursday, calling his reaction to getting “shot in the face” one of “the most badass things” he’s ever seen.

Trump’s reaction, getting back to his feet, clenching his fist and yelling “fight, fight, fight” as blood dripped off his face, has become a much heralded and iconic moment not only in the United States, but throughout the world. 

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At Least Six Major Security Failures at Trump Rally Leave More Questions for Investigators

Just the News
Thomas Matthew Crooks

Less than five days after the failed assassination attempt on GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump, several questions still remain about how and why the shooter – Thomas Matthew Crooks – was able to gain access to the rooftop with an unobstructed view over the rally and the crowd. Six of the biggest security failures that reportedly occurred at the event raise even more questions for investigators.

The investigation into the assassination attempt that left one attendee dead, and three injured including Trump, is being led by the FBI. However, the bureau has remained relatively quiet on its probe, publishing only one update so far on Monday, July 15.

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Attempted Trump Assassin Thomas Crooks Reportedly Diagnosed with ‘Major Depressive Disorder,’ Hinted at Attack on Gaming Platform

Tom Pappert
Thomas Matthew Crooks

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper during his failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday, was reportedly diagnosed with major depressive disorder prior to his death.

It was also reported that Thomas Matthew Crooks foreshadowed his attack, which claimed the life Trump supporter Corey Comperatore and injured two others in addition to piercing the former president’s right ear, on the popular video game storefront and platform Steam.

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Secret Service Chief Faces Mounting Pressure to Resign

RealClearWire
Kimberly Cheatle

New allegations that Secret Service training resources were reallocated to “executive leadership bonuses” and DEI-prioritized recruitment are among the torrent of charges leveled against agency Director Kim Cheatle and other top officials in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Inside the main hall of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, Republicans Thursday night were enjoying a Make America Great Again lovefest. But on the outside perimeter of the convention center, anger was still spewing over an avalanche of negative information about the layers of Secret Service failures that led to a bullet piercing Trump’s right ear, just millimeters away from killing him, four days ago at a rally in Pennsylvania.

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University in Kentucky Suspends Instructor After ‘Offensive’ Trump Shooting Post

The Center Square
John James

A college in Louisville has placed an instructor on unpaid leave after posting on social media he wished the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump succeeded.

“If you’re gonna shoot, man, don’t miss,” John James wrote in all caps on a post discovered Sunday by Libsoftiktok. The statement was made above a screenshot of a news story on the Saturday shooting during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that left the former president and current Republican nominee injured after a bullet grazed his ear.

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Local Police Sniper Photographed Attempted Trump Assassin, Who Held Laser Rangefinder Prior to Shooting

Tom Pappert
Thomas Crooks

A sniper from one of the local law enforcement agencies providing assistance at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 14 saw Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter who was killed at the scene, and photographed the would-be assassin immediately prior to his attack, a Wednesday report claims.

The Pennsylvania publication Beaver Countian first reported on Monday it was a Beaver County police officer who warned his superiors of a man with a rangefinder, which is used to calculate distance when using a weapon, citing multiple local law enforcement sources who told the outlet “extremely poor planning” and a lack of manpower allowed the attempt on Trump’s life.

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Viral Video Shows Children in Uganda Recreating Assassination Attempt of Former President Donald Trump

Kaitlin Housler
Uganda Children Role Play Trump Assassination Attempt

A video of a group of Ugandan children recreating the moment former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt over the weekend has gone viral on social media.

The video, first shared by TikTok user @bloodoffical0, shows a group of school-aged children recreating the moment shots rang out at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, July 13.

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Biden’s Secret Service ‘Created the Conditions’ for Trump Assassination Attempt and Truth Must Be ‘Devastating,’ Argues The Federalist Co-Founder

Tom Pappert

The U.S. Secret Service last Saturday “created the conditions” for 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to climb onto the roof of a building and take aim at former President Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally “deliberately and with malice aforethought,” argued The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis, who led a series of criticisms against the agency on Tuesday.

Davis wrote in a Tuesday post to the social media platform X that the “security regime” created by President Joe Biden “deliberately and with malice aforethought created the conditions that led to an assassin shooting Donald Trump in the head.”

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Pennsylvania Shooter’s Neighbors Portray Detached, Reclusive Family

Jacob Grandstaff

Conversations by the Pennsylvania Daily Star with around two dozen neighbors near the house where Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump lived, painted a picture of a family that mostly keeps to itself and a young man who had little interaction with the neighborhood. 

Crooks lived on Milford Lane in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, in a modest, hilly, middle-class neighborhood with mostly single-story houses built in the 1950s. 

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Joins Push for Senate Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on Assassination Attempt of Former President Donald Trump

Kaitlin Housler
Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was among the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans who sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) requesting that he organize a committee hearing on the circumstances leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump over the weekend.

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Pennsylvania Rally Attendee ‘We Thought the Shooter Was in the Crowd’

Jacob Grandstaff
Butler, Pennsylvania Trump rally

An attendee at former President Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania told The Pennsylvania Daily Star that attendees feared the shooter stood among the crowd and felt relief only when Trump rose to his feet and raised his fist.

The attendee, who declined to be named, is from Scott Township, a suburb seven miles southwest of downtown Pittsburgh. He said he and his friends viewed the rally about 200 feet away, from Trump’s, left when Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate the former president.

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Trump’s Would Be Assassin Was a National Math and Science Initiative Student, Parents Both Worked in Mental Health Field: Report

Christy Kelly
Thomas Matthew Crooks

A campaign rally for former President Donald Trump faced a violent interruption due to an assassination attempt. The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The attack, which occurred just as Trump began his speech, killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and critically injured two others before U.S. Secret Service agents neutralized Crooks. Crooks had no social media presence, and very little is known about his life and possible motive.

According to state records, Crooks is a registered Republican but reportedly made a $15 donation to ActBlue as a 17-year-old after President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Despite this, the FBI has not identified any ideology that may have influenced his actions, as officials explained on a call with reporters.

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Trump Rally Attendee Confirms Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Candidate Dave McCormick ‘Definitely in the Line of Fire’ During Assassination Attempt

Tom Pappert
Brady Knox at the Donald Trump rally on July 13, 2024

An attendee who witnessed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his Saturday campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania told The Pennsylvania Daily Star that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick was “definitely in the line of fire” as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire before being killed by Secret Service.

Brady Knox told The Star he was seated in the second row, “about as close as you could possibly get” to the former president at just 15 feet away, when Trump’s supporters in the front rows began to take cover after the former president reached for his ear and ducked below the podium.

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Trump Rally Attendee Describes How Former President’s Fist Pumps Energized Crowd After Attempted Assassination

Tom Pappert
Brady Knox at the Donald Trump rally on July 13, 2024

An attendee who witnessed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his Saturday campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania told The Pennsylvania Daily Star that Trump’s fist pumps toward the crowd created a sense of calm in an audience that was on the verge of panic.

Brady Knox told The Star he was seated in the second row, “about as close as you could possibly get” to the former president at just 15 feet away, when Trump’s supporters in the front rows began to take cover after the former president reached for his ear and ducked below the podium.

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