Thomas Matthew Crooks hated all politicians, may have sought to also target President Joe Biden and other political figures, including Donald Trump after researching for DNC and RNC events with a former classmate saying that the would be assassin disliking all politicians and previously threatening to shoot up school.
The FBI during a congressional update on Wednesday said alleged Donald Trump shooter had searched for upcoming DNC events along with image of President Joe Biden on his cellphone, along with saying that they couldn’t prove that the shooting was ideologically motivated. The statements come amid a former classmate saying that Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, hated all politicians.
Vincent Taormina speaking to FOX News said Crooks was ‘passionate’ about politics but hated ‘all’ politicians.
‘He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we’ve had. He did not like our politicians,’ Taormina told the outlet.
JUST IN: Former Thomas Crooks classmate says Crooks was a known Trump hater and was a “know it all.”
The FBI still doesn’t know what Crooks’ motive could have been.
Hispanic classmate Vincent Taormina recalled a political disagreement he had with Crooks after he told him that… pic.twitter.com/LzgnohInnw
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 17, 2024
Trump shooter disliked all politicians (alluding to flawed political system)
He said in 2016 — when Crooks would have been about 16 years old — that he ‘disliked all of them.’
Taormina did not specify when he spoke to Crooks about Donald Trump but said, ‘I brought up the fact that I’m Hispanic and, you know, I’m for Trump. And he said, ‘Well you’re Hispanic, so shouldn’t you hate Trump?’
Taormina said he responded that Trump was a great president, with Crooks mocking him in return, ‘insinuating that I was stupid.’
‘He was a know-it-all,’ he added. ‘He acted like he knew everything, especially politics-related.’
‘He was real smug, arrogant whenever he was talking…It got under my skin a lot,’ Taormina added.
Was shooter indifferent to which political figure he took down?
He said Crooks was not a loner or bullied as per previous reports and had a friend group who were ‘definitely the type, and they did, make threats to shoot up our school.’
To date, investigators have not found evidence of a particular ideology Crooks held, saying during a Wednesday congressional update that he had written on a gaming platform called ‘Steam’: ‘July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds,’ Crooks is alleged to have written. However, come Thursday, FBI investigators revealed that the Steam account was fake.
Investigators also reportedly found a few internet searches by Crooks in July of ‘Trump,’ “Biden,” “when is DNC convention,” and “July 13 Trump rally,” along with photos of several political figures on one of two cellphones he possessed.
The searches allude to the notion that Crooks may have been apolitical and may have been merely searching for a high profile public figure to ‘take down’ and indifferent to his victim, as long as it brought him a kind of notoriety and legacy as bestowed upon mass shooters.
Crooks primary phone was recovered from the scene along with a remote transmitter (detonator).
