Thomas Crooks may have shared posts that were ‘extreme in nature,’ FBI says: ‘Antisemitic and anti-immigration themes’
Jul 31, 2024 10:55 AM IST
A social media account believed to have been Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ shared “antisemitic” ideas and embraced “political violence,” the FBI said.
A social media account believed to have been Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ shared “antisemitic” ideas and embraced “political violence,” the FBI has said. Investigators have identified an account that left about 700 comments online between 2019 and 2020, Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate testified before Congress on Tuesday, July 30.
Thomas Crooks may have shared posts that were ‘extreme in nature,’ FBI says (Bethel Park School District via AP)
“Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” Abbate said, according to New York Post.
“While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it important to share and note it today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect on the shooter’s potential motive and mindset,” he added.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive behind the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers after he wounded Trump and two other people at the Pennsylvania rally, and killed an attendee.
‘What I saw made me ashamed’
During the joint congressional hearing on Tuesday, where the discussion focused on the failures in protecting the former president, saw various law enforcement officials take the stand, including Abbate. Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe said that he was “ashamed” of the lapses due to which Crooks was able to climb the roof of a building and open fire.
“I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight,” Rowe said. “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 admitted.
Rowe said that he later visited the scene of the shooting and “identified gaps in our security,” following which he instituted “corrective actions” to ensure such a tragedy does not take place again.
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