FBI identifies Trump rally shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks <--- Thread is about the perpetrator, the crime, and the motivation, not Trump

@RocksInMyHead
I sincerely appreciate you for getting my attention about this thread. I am now following this thread and I shall make a few comments and posts in it.

The IbanezerScrooge said:

Did someone say "inflammatory and violent rhetoric"?

‘It’s Gonna Take a Civil War’: Trump Campaign Speaker Warns of Violence if Dems Win

At a rally in Ohio with J.D Vance, a GOP state senator said Trump victory in 2024 is the last chance to avoid bloody conflict

www.yahoo.com

I think we talked about calls for "civil war" in another thread, too.

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“I believe wholeheartedly, Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country,” said George Lang, a Republican state senator. “Politically, I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country and it will be saved. It’s the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.”

Lang later apologized after Harris’ team highlighted his remarks on a post on X.

“I regret the divisive remarks in the excitement of the moment on stage,” he said on the same social network. “Especially in light of the assassination attempt on President Trump last week, we should all be mindful of what is said at political events, myself included.”

Ceallaigh said:

There are several unanswered questions that aren't going away anytime soon. Like the sound of the gunfire that's supposed to be coming from crooks gun being inconsistent. In other words it sounds like two different guns being fired.

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The USSS marksman shot him right after he started firing. Perhaps that's the second gun you hear? Could also be echoes. I have not heard the clip though.

Ceallaigh said:

Then there's the open window in the building directly behind Crooks where a second shooter could easily have been stationed. Then there's the inconsistency of who if anyone was in that and or the other building and in the area.

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Miscommunications, lack of resources, and sheer incompetence seem to all be issues in this case, given what we know.

Ceallaigh said:

Then of course there's the time delay from when Crooks was first spotted as a sniper to when counter snipers took him out.

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It seems that they were unable to determine whether he had a gun. Looking at the angles and sightlines, that seems reasonable. He was right-handed and the sniper team was positioned looking at his left side. He was also shooting over the ridge of the roof, and so was largely out of view of the counter-sniper team

Ceallaigh said:

That's just a few things floating on the surface. It seems too much of a rabbit hole to have a simple answer.

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There are certainly questions outstanding, but nothing that can't have a simple answer. As pointed out elsewhere with this topic, it's human nature to want to ascribe meaning to significant/disruptive events. But just because you want there to be a reason, does not mean that there is one.

RocksInMyHead said:

@Vambram if you want to talk about Crooks and his motive (or lack thereof), you can do it here.

Sometimes the simplest answer is also the correct answer - there just isn't anything to release. Not everything is a big conspiracy. The information that has been released points to someone looking for fame rather than someone trying to make a political statement. Anything else is pure speculation.

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You could be right. Perhaps all Thomas Matthew Crooks wanted to do by assassinating Trump was to be famous. It is indeed possible that that is the correct answer. The reason why people are still speculating about his motives is because of the lack of solid evidence that is really showing that was Crooks' motivation. It has been reported that there are 3 encrypted accounts on his phone. But, has information been released as to what apps those accounts are? Surely, that is something that the FBI ought to at least inform the public about.


Also, I agree that there are serious questions regarding the failure, and the inability, of the Secret Service and local law enforcement to prevent that shooting from even taking place. I am sure those questions have been discussed multiple times in this thread, other threads, and of course all over the various cable news channels as well as in social media such as X, Tik Tok, Facebook, etc. In the thread about Secret Service Director Cheatle and "accountability" we have another discussion going on. But, I can go on over to that thread to weigh in over there about that particular topic.

RocksInMyHead said:

The USSS marksman shot him right after he started firing. Perhaps that's the second gun you hear? Could also be echoes. I have not heard the clip though.

Miscommunications, lack of resources, and sheer incompetence seem to all be issues in this case, given what we know.

It seems that they were unable to determine whether he had a gun. Looking at the angles and sightlines, that seems reasonable. He was right-handed and the sniper team was positioned looking at his left side. He was also shooting over the ridge of the roof, and so was largely out of view of the counter-sniper team

There are certainly questions outstanding, but nothing that can't have a simple answer. As pointed out elsewhere with this topic, it's human nature to want to ascribe meaning to significant/disruptive events. But just because you want there to be a reason, does not mean that there is one.

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You’re going to have to take it for granted that you're not the only objective thinker going over this. And that anything beyond a mundane generic scenario isn't necessarily the product of subjectivity seeking conformation bias.

Vambram said:

The reason why people are still speculating about his motives is because of the lack of solid evidence that is really showing that was Crooks' motivation.

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Speculating about motives is normal. It's the insistence that it must have been political, or that there must be some bigger explanation (without any solid evidence) that worries me. That takes people down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole very fast.

Vambram said:

It has been reported that there are 3 encrypted accounts on his phone. But, has information been released as to what apps those accounts are? Surely, that is something that the FBI ought to at least inform the public about.

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Why? What would you do with that information?

In a practical sense, most messaging apps now use end-to-end encryption. iMessage, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal - they're all encrypted. Knowing that he has Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Telegram (for example) installed on his phone tells us precisely nothing.

The IbanezerScrooge said:

Did someone say "inflammatory and violent rhetoric"?

‘It’s Gonna Take a Civil War’: Trump Campaign Speaker Warns of Violence if Dems Win

At a rally in Ohio with J.D Vance, a GOP state senator said Trump victory in 2024 is the last chance to avoid bloody conflict

www.yahoo.com

I think we talked about calls for "civil war" in another thread, too.

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Yes, that is inflammatory

the difference is, none of the Christian conservatives on this site are justifying that rhetoric or making excuses for it

I suggest you follow their example

RocksInMyHead said:

In a practical sense, most messaging apps now use end-to-end encryption. iMessage, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal - they're all encrypted. Knowing that he has Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Telegram (for example) installed on his phone tells us precisely nothing.

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I hope that the FBI will discover the messages on those encrypted apps upon his phone. In the past, I have used Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram. I haven't had any of those apps on my phone for a couple of years. Currently, my phone has GroupMe. If the FBI is able to break through the encryption upon the apps on Crooks' phone, I really, really do hope that the FBI shall honestly release relevant information regarding Crooks and his motivation for shooting Donald Trump.

Vambram said:

I hope that the FBI will discover the messages on those encrypted apps upon his phone. In the past, I have used Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram. I haven't had any of those apps on my phone for a couple of years. Currently, my phone has GroupMe. If the FBI is able to break through the encryption upon the apps on Crooks' phone, I really, really do hope that the FBI shall honestly release relevant information regarding Crooks and his motivation for shooting Donald Trump.

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I will put on my conspiracy theory hat for a moment just for fun (or maybe not)

Crooks was the "perfect shooter" in the sense that he seemingly had no motive, no political affiliations, leaned conservative (which is contradictory), was a total ghost online, and apparently acted alone

he also, conveniently, had some searches involving both Trump appearances and Biden

I always ask "who benefits from a given crime?"

very simple: the deep state, the DNC, and ultimately, Kamala Harris.

Scenario One: the assassination of Trump is successful. Biden stays in the race and wins the election. Why? Because Trump had not named a running-mate, and all the 200 million+ dollars in his campaign war chest would have gone back to the donors. The GOP would have no nominee, and no money. Six months after Biden is reelected, he steps down because of his health, and Kamala becomes president.

Scenario Two: the assassination is unsuccessful. Conservatives get blamed, but Biden still suffers in the polls. Dems use the opportunity to force Joe out of the race and coronate Kamala without an open convention or any input from voters (where we are now).

Scenario Three: the shooter goes after Biden instead, and succeeds. Kamala Harris becomes president

In every one of those scenarios, the DNC and deep state get what they want: Harris as president, or at least as nominee

Vambram said:

If the FBI is able to break through the encryption upon the apps on Crooks' phone, I really, really do hope that the FBI shall honestly release relevant information regarding Crooks and his motivation for shooting Donald Trump.

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I hope that they do too - but if they don't, will you jump to a conspiracy, or will you accept that they probably didn't find anything?

RocksInMyHead said:

I hope that they do too - but if they don't, will you jump to a conspiracy, or will you accept that they probably didn't find anything?

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If they say that they did not find anything relevant in Crooks' encrypted apps, then I will continue to have questions about what, or who, inspired him to shoot Donald Trump. However, I promise right here and now that I shall also move on and not let those questions change me at all.

A few people here have said that he just wanted to be famous (although I think infamous is the better word). I disagree. I think if he wanted to be infamous, he would have had a social media presence and/or left a manifesto.

Chesterton said:

A few people here have said that he just wanted to be famous (although I think infamous is the better word). I disagree. I think if he wanted to be infamous, he would have had a social media presence and/or left a manifesto.

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exactly

I was pointing this out a couple days ago: no manifesto, messages, letters, social media, etc. make this whole thing very unusual

So Gab, apparently a social media platform I never heard of, received a request from the FBI regarding Crooks....

Yadda yadda yadda...

He's a far left Biden loving lock-down/open borders supporting Trump hating leftie.


Take it with a grain of salt of course.