The 20-year-old man who tried to murder him Donald Trump looks like he posted anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant content online as a teenagera senior FBI official said today, testifying at a Senate hearing.
Possible motive of the perpetrator
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abati revealed the existence of this account on a social networking site, dating back to 2019-20.
At the time, Thomas Crooks, the teenager who opened fire at a Trump campaign rally, was believed to be 15 or 16 years old. This information is one of the first public insights into the attacker’s possible motive.
“Something that was recently discovered that I want to share is an account on a social media site that is believed to be linked to the perpetrator and that dates back to 2019-20,” Abati told senators. More than 700 comments were posted to the account. “Some of these comments, if they are attributed to the perpetrator, appear to express anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant themes and embrace political violence and are described as extreme,” he added.
The timeline of the attack
Crooks shot Trump with an AR-15 rifle on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding him in the ear. One Trump supporter was killed and two others were wounded in the shooting. Secret Service snipers killed Crooks a short time later.
Officials describe Crooks as new lonelywithout close friends and with a social network limited to immediate family only.
Then came the dismissal
The Trump assassination attempt led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was under pressure from both sides. Her successor, acting director Ronald Rowe, said today that he had gone to Butler and climbed onto the roof of another building near the one from which Crooks fired.
“What I saw makes me ashamed,” he told a joint meeting of the Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees. “After 25 years in the Secret Service, I can’t justify why that roof wasn’t guarded,” he added, saying steps had been taken to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
According to Rowe, before launching his attack, Crooks flew a small remote-controlled plane near the assembly area. However, authorities were unable to locate him because the drone’s tracking system was not working properly.
AMP Source