FBI: Gunman who tried to kill Trump expressed antisemitic views online

Deputy FBI director says social media accounts suspected of being linked to 20-year-old gunman who wounded former President Donald Trump pushed antisemitic, anti-immigrant themes.

By World Israel News Staff

The gunman and would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump appears to have espoused antisemitic and anti-immigrant views on social media, according to the FBI.

As part of the investigation into the attempted assassination of the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, federal agents have probed the social media footprint of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, the sniper who was shot and killed by security personnel after he wounded Trump in the right ear.

During a hearing with lawmakers Tuesday, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told Congress that the bureau has uncovered social media accounts likely used by Crooks which were used to spread antisemitic and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Abbate emphasized, however, that the accounts have not been verified as having been used by Crooks.

The accounts, which were found during efforts by federal investigators to clarify the gunman’s motive for trying to assassinate the former president, included hundreds of documented comments. Abbate did not disclose which platforms the accounts were found on.

“Something just very recently uncovered that I want to share is a social media account, which is believed to be associated with this with the shooter – in about the 2019, 2020 timeframe,” Abbate told lawmakers.

Abbate added that on that specific account alone “there were over 700 comments,” which, “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.”

“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.”