Thomas Matthew Crooks
The Secret Service
Screwed Up Big Time
Thomas Matthew Crooks
The One They Don't Show
( unsourced )
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Who is Matthew Thomas Crooks and why did he shoot President Trump
Two Sunday's ago, I published "Unthinkable," about the threats made against Donald Trump's life. Last Sunday, I published "Shooting Donald Trump," about the assassination attempt. This week, I'm focusing on what we have learned since.
The Grace of God
The immediate aftermath of the shooting was marked by screams, people scrambling for cover, and a swift response from security personnel. Within minutes, law enforcement officers silenced Crooks, preventing further bloodshed. Emergency responders quickly attended to the injured, and the area was cordoned off as an active crime scene. The nation watched in horror as news of the attack spread like wildfire.
If that assassin’s bullet had been a few millimeters to the right, our country would have found itself in an unprecedented crisis. The leading candidate for the office of POTUS, the former-president of the United States, the man who has been slandered by his political opposition more than any figure in our lifetime, would have been murdered on national television.
What would have come next? It is almost impossible to imagine.
The shooting marked the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since a gunman wounded then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981. It came as the deeply divided nation was locked in a contentious and polarizing campaign and amid concern over a growing threat of political violence.
It's been eight days, now, and the nation is still searching for answers. We are left with nothing but questions.
Who is Thomas Matthew Crooks?
Who Thomas Matthew Crooks was depended on who Thomas Matthew Crooks was with. This classmate has been widely quoted as describing Crooks as being "bullied every day."
On the other hand, this classmate thought Crooks was arrogant, aggressive and a know-it-all.
At the technical school that Crooks attended, his classmates remembered Crooks as quiet, but would open up and was "cool" and "friendly."
And boastful!"
Crooks was a normal, bright teenager. He was uncomfortable and stand-offish with some people and congenial with others. He was a nerdy kid, and therefore busy with what he was thinking about, rather than what other people were thinking.
Here's the thing. Looking at Crooks behavior during high school is totally irrelevant to Thomas Matthew Crooks, in 2024 -- a couple of years have passed, and it's pretty clear that there have been some changes made.
Somebody or something got into this kids head. Who or what that is, is unknown at this time and the message we're getting from government is Trump is alive, Crooks is dead, so, let's move on.
Why did Crooks do it?
We’ve learned from news reports that Crooks was on law enforcement’s radar for three hours before the shooting and the Secret Service designated Crooks a threat 10 or 20 minutes before Trump took the stage.
The FBI released the following timeline:
4:30 PM -- Crooks first identified as a person of interest.
5:30 PM -- Crooks spotted with a rangefinder.
5:52 PM -- Crooks spotted on the roof by USSS.
6:02 PM -- Trump takes the stage.
6:12 PM -- Crooks fires first shots.
6:13 PM -- Crooks is shot 26 seconds later.
In addition to bringing explosives, a detonator, a ladder, a range finder, a backpack and an AR-15-type rifle to the rally, while finding a way to sit atop a one-story building 130 yards from the podium, the 20-year-old without a social media footprint apparently had air superiority.
Law enforcement officials have reported that Crooks was able to fly a drone on a programmed flight path, getting aerial footage of the rally site hours before the event on July 13. Officials noted due to the predetermined path, Crooks could have flown the drone more than once in order to research and scope the area.
The day before the shooting, Crooks went to the sportsman’s club and practiced on the rifle range. On the day of the attack, he purchased 50 rounds of 5.56mm ammo for his rifle from a local gun shop and drove alone to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the Trump rally, according to investigators.
Witnesses and law enforcement officials say Crooks walked around for at least a half-hour before climbing onto the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was speaking.
It is fair to ask how Crooks was able to walk up to the building the LEO used as a staging point, carrying a 10 or 12 foot ladder, walk right past them with it and climb up onto the roof while carrying an AR-15?
Crooks also had explosives in his Hyundai Sonata, which was parked next to the rally. Investigators found no online search history of Crooks researching how to assemble homemade explosives. So where did the bombs come from -- and what was their purpose?
So, now we have explosive devices -- and out of nowhere, we have another vehicle -- "the suspect's van."
How does one person drive two vehicles 40 miles from his home to the site of the rally? Was the shooter acting alone -- or did he have help -- we'll never know.
People who knew the shooter told investigators that they never heard him talk about politics or ideology. His computer didn’t have any ideological information -- an absence that was notable in this case. A search of his cell phone, meanwhile, showed a snapshot of live online coverage of Trump’s Pennsylvania rally taken at 6:01 p.m. the day of the shooting. It also had pictures of guns and U.S. government figures, as well as content related to a mass shooting in Michigan.
There has been no public disclosure that the shooter left any writings, suicide note, social media screed, or any other indicator explaining his reasons for targeting Trump.
The authorities can tell you what Crooks did. They are unable to tell you why and they are unable to tell you if he acted alone. So far, they haven't got a clue, but there is one thing we can count on. We will be inundated with misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation to make the waters as murky and muddy as possible.
Secret Service
The Secret Service is in deep sneakers. There's no other way to put it.
Secret Service and local officers knew there was an armed threat, but they let the former president step on stage like a sitting duck. There is a Secret Service protocol that requires the protectee to be evacuated immediately if there’s an armed threat. Evidently, the team on site didn't get the word.
Why?
Because most of the security personnel working Trump’s event were not Secret Service agents but, instead, were "unprepared and inexperienced" Department of Homeland Security agents who were temporarily assigned by the DHS and "unfamiliar with standard protocols."
Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to DHS Secretary Mayorkas:
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event. For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”
FBI
Fortunately for the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, Christopher Wray's Federal Bureau of Investigation is the responsible investigative agency.
The FBI said the day after the assassination attempt that the shooter acted alone (they always say that).
The latest information to leak out includes revelations the FBI is going through two cell phones, a laptop and some USB drives belonging to Crooks. From the same sourcing they are saying that Crooks conducted online surveillance of Trump and several other public officials for several months.
Six days after the assassination attempt, the FBI has mostly finished looking at Crooks’ phone and is now focused on his laptop and hard drives that were found in his bedroom. They have not released any information on what they have found, but if the past is any predictor of the future then we'll never get to know what is on Crooks' laptop and USB drives.
The FBI is looking into the possibility that Crooks was focused on a mass-casualty event -- and that Trump’s rally close to his home in Pennsylvania was simply a convenient target.
The details the FBI are leaking are creating a narrative of gross incompetence as an explanation for what happened -- "mistakes were made" -- but, at this point, the public isn't buying anything they hear.
There are currently several "conspiracy theories" making the rounds on social media and a couple of them have some merit. We will have to watch to see if any of them get legs, but right now, the feds appear to want to "turn the page" on this one.
Summation
The Secret Service allowed the former and future president to be shot in the head on live television, but what they’re really upset about right now is mean tweets about their squad of Lady Ghostbusters C-team rejects tasked with protecting Trump.
Everybody that was involved in the protection detail that day mailed it in.
The bottom line is, Crooks was "on site" for at least three hours before the shooting. We know the Secret Service knew about Crooks a full hour before he fired the first shot.
He flew a drone. He had a range finder. He carried an AR-15, and a ladder over a mile. They are telling us that this kid with the physique of a World of Warcraft addict somehow Jason Bourned an entire Secret Service detail? He was on a rooftop a mere 131 yards away from President Trump. Police were told by members of the public that Crooks was on the roof with a weapon.
It just doesn’t add up.
The whole thing crumbles on one fact. The Secret Service knew the shooter was on the roof 10 minutes before Trump took the stage. None of the rest of it should have ever happened because Trump should never have been allowed on stage.
The Deep State can't allow that to be the final story. We will have to wait some more, until they tell us what they tell us.
Don't expect it to be 100%, but I will be posting "updates" in the Comments section. So check back after a few days.
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