Thomas Matthew Crooks warned of his intentions on networks days before attack on Trump
The Butler shooter posted a message on the online platform Steam, according to what investigators have leaked to congressmen.
Thomas Matthew Crooks warned on networks about his intentions to perpetrate an attack. That's what investigators have discovered after analyzing the computer of the 20-year-old who shot Donald Trump during the Butler Pennsylvania rally.
According to Fox, a group of congressmen held a meeting with those responsible for the investigation this Wednesday. During that meeting, the congressmen were informed of these details by the investigators.
According to this information, Thomas Matthew Crooks wrote a public message on the Steam platform. "July 13 will be my release, watch it unfold," Crooks signed off. Steam is a platform for buying video games where users can also communicate with each other.
According to the same sources, no further clues were found to make it clear what Crooks' political ideology was. However, some searches about political events were found on his computer. Crooks searched for the dates of the Democratic National Convention, information about the July 13 rally in Butler and about the two leading candidates for president.
Investigators discovered that Crooks had two cell phones. The primary phone was recovered at the scene along with a remote transmitter. A secondary cell phone, which had only 27 contacts, was found at his home. The FBI is in the process of locating and interviewing those individuals.
The shooter was spotted by authorities 26 minutes before shooting
According to local station WPXI, Crooks was spotted at least twice by members of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit approximately 26 minutes before he fired shots at the former president and the crowd at the Pennsylvania rally.