Freshly released FBI records provided to the Senate indicate that Thomas Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, was linked to a Snapchat account.
The documents, first reported by the New York Post, state that FBI investigators identified a Snapchat profile believed to belong to Crooks under the username “tom_crooks19.”
During the July 13, 2024, attack targeting Trump, Crooks killed one person and critically wounded two others.
Investigators also found an Amazon account connected to Crooks, according to the FBI files. The records further show that he used Mailfence, an encrypted email provider, and logged into that account several times from April 15, 2024, through July 8, 2024. He also maintained a Gmail account.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pa., attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally before Secret Service agents shot and killed him. (Associated Press; News Media)
Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack told News Media that the Snapchat account could prove to be a potential “treasure trove” of evidence in the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt.
“People think that once you send a Snap and the image disappears, everything is gone. That’s not true,” Pack said. “When I’ve executed search warrants, a treasure trove of information has come back. It’s not as if something is completely erased just because it was sent through Snapchat.”
Pack said some material from Crooks’ Snapchat activity may no longer be retrievable, but he believes investigators could still find “a good amount of information” in the account data.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is escorted off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents after a bullet grazed him during a July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Still, Pack said Crooks may have exercised caution while using Snapchat, noting that the platform is not fully encrypted.
“What you do see is a pattern of trying to hide things and using aliases. And, so, if he’s taking that much care to publicly not be seen picking up deliveries and those types of things, you have to assume he’s probably taken just as much diligence with his social media and with his digital footprint,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna MoneymakerGetty Images)
FBI Director Kash Patel testified Tuesday at a Senate Oversight Committee hearing that there’s no evidence that Crooks was linked to anyone else.
“We found no evidence that that individual was literally even speaking to any other human being other than his parents, who he resided with,” Patel testified.