Thanks to Judicial Watch, we've seen the release of more of the FBI documentation around the attempt on President Trump's life at Butler, Pennsylvania during the 2024 campaign. Some of the released information involves the testimony of members of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks' family, while other is some information about text messages sent by and to Crooks in the weeks leading up to the attempt.
A lot of the messages have to do with 3D printing. And some of this released information is just... strange.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter in the assassination attempt at President Donald Trump's Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on July 13, 2024, sent a series of strangely coded text messages in the months leading up to the shooting, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch.
"Did you 3D print the parts?" an individual the FBI described as an "unknown contact," messaged Crooks on Feb. 9, 2023.
"Yes, except for the fan blades," Crooks responded.
"Woah that looks cool," the unknown contact replied to Crooks, also asking about the "parts" in response to a Crooks message which the FBI redacted.
It's unclear what's meant by "fan blades," as there's nothing in any known weapon that could be described thusly; but a comment from Crooks' father did imply that Crooks attempted to make a Glock handgun with a 3D printer.
Crooks had previously attempted to use his 3D printer to create a Glock 19 handgun, his father, Matthew Crooks, told investigators, according to the documents obtained by Grassley.
"Using carbon fiber plastic, a dryer and a toaster oven, Thomas did once create a Glock 19," Matthew Crooks told investigators.
Those materials and tools, of course, would not have allowed Thomas Crooks to build a complete, functional Glock pistol. The Glock is known for its polymer frame, which can be duplicated using a 3D printer with the proper materials. Also, the frame is the part of a firearm that is serial numbered and regulated, requiring a background check and the federal Form 4473 to purchase.
Assembling a working handgun would have required Crooks to have obtained the steel barrel/chamber, as well as springs and other metal parts. While those parts are not regulated like the frame or a complete firearm, neither can they be produced with a hobbyist's 3D printer.
But here's where things get really bizarre.
Another series of messages between Crooks and a redacted second party display a series of odd one- or two-word messages Crooks sent the contact between May 21, 2023, and Jan. 3, 2024.
"Hello … Hello red …Hello red … Hdudhdbdbbd … 7888ejdj … Yolo … Ddodjjf … 890 … Hdjd … Djdj … red … Yup red … Hello … Jhhhuuh … Hhdj … Jjjjjjjjjjjj … Hello red … Red red," Crooks' messages read. The FBI redacted any potential response from the other party, according to the documents.
Other information Judicial Watch received from the FBI documents included a notification from shipping company DHL about a package Crooks received from Hong Kong.
The document release also included 40 drone photos Crooks took between Feb. 6, 2024, and Feb. 27, 2024, which included photos of PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium, where the MLB's Pittsburgh Pirates and the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers play, respectively.
From Hong Kong?
The more we learn about this case, this attempt on the life of a former president and then-current presidential candidate, the stranger it all starts to look. Thomas Crooks was clearly unbalanced, but then, we knew that; anyone who tries to assassinate a public official would, by necessity, have to be coming unglued in one sense or another. And Thomas Crooks clearly was that. But what we still don't know is whether he had any help from any unknown (so far) third parties — or what was in that parcel from Hong Kong.
Stay tuned.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats desperately try to stop it.
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