Would-be Trump assassin searched internet about JFK killer Lee Harvey Oswald, FBI director says
The Pennsylvania man who attempted to kill former President Donald J. Trump at an election rally July 13 used a laptop computer to search the internet for information on “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. House committee on July 24.Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, generally had a high level of interest in public figures but turned his attention in earnest to Trump around July 6.Wray’s statement about the Google search done on a laptop associated with Crooks was among the biggest disclosures to date about the shooting of Trump at the Butler Farm Show Inc. fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania.Crooks’ alleged search was a reference to gunman Lee Harvey Oswald and the shots he fired from the Texas School Book Depository at President John F. Kennedy as Kennedy’s motorcade rode through Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Kennedy died from wounds suffered in the shooting.Wray also told the committee that Crooks was flying a drone in the area of the Trump rally more than two hours before the shooting. A drone recovered from Crooks’ vehicle flew in an area approximately 200 yards from the Trump speaking stage for 11 minutes, starting around 3:50 p.m., Wray said.Crooks appeared to be live streaming video from the drone, Wray said, but he did not say whether anyone was watching the video stream.No still images or video from July 13 were recovered from the drone, he said. The FBI was able to “re-engineer” the drone’s flight path, Wray said.To date, the FBI has not found "any evidence" of coconspirators or others who might have assisted Crooks in his plan to attack the former president and his supporters, Wray said.Wray disclosed that the FBI recovered three “relatively crude” explosive devices: two from Crooks’ vehicle and one from the Crooks family residence.A transceiver recovered from under Crooks’ body on the roof of Building 6 at the American Glass Research complex north of the fairgrounds likely could not have detonated the devices found in Crooks’ auto, Wray said.The FBI has recovered a roughly five-foot ladder that Crooks purchased at Home Depot the morning of the shooting, Wray said. The ladder was not found on site or in Crooks' vehicle, Wray said.This is a developing story that will be updated as news unfolds.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The Pennsylvania man who attempted to kill former President Donald J. Trump at an election rally July 13 used a laptop computer to search the internet for information on “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. House committee on July 24.
Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, generally had a high level of interest in public figures but turned his attention in earnest to Trump around July 6.
Wray’s statement about the Google search done on a laptop associated with Crooks was among the biggest disclosures to date about the shooting of Trump at the Butler Farm Show Inc. fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Crooks’ alleged search was a reference to gunman Lee Harvey Oswald and the shots he fired from the Texas School Book Depository at President John F. Kennedy as Kennedy’s motorcade rode through Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Kennedy died from wounds suffered in the shooting.
Wray also told the committee that Crooks was flying a drone in the area of the Trump rally more than two hours before the shooting. A drone recovered from Crooks’ vehicle flew in an area approximately 200 yards from the Trump speaking stage for 11 minutes, starting around 3:50 p.m., Wray said.
Crooks appeared to be live streaming video from the drone, Wray said, but he did not say whether anyone was watching the video stream.
No still images or video from July 13 were recovered from the drone, he said. The FBI was able to “re-engineer” the drone’s flight path, Wray said.
To date, the FBI has not found "any evidence" of coconspirators or others who might have assisted Crooks in his plan to attack the former president and his supporters, Wray said.
Wray disclosed that the FBI recovered three “relatively crude” explosive devices: two from Crooks’ vehicle and one from the Crooks family residence.
A transceiver recovered from under Crooks’ body on the roof of Building 6 at the American Glass Research complex north of the fairgrounds likely could not have detonated the devices found in Crooks’ auto, Wray said.
The FBI has recovered a roughly five-foot ladder that Crooks purchased at Home Depot the morning of the shooting, Wray said. The ladder was not found on site or in Crooks' vehicle, Wray said.
This is a developing story that will be updated as news unfolds.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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