Why didn’t the FBI manage to find or share crucial details regarding Thomas Crooks, a potential assassin of Trump?
It raises a question: shouldn’t the FBI have been aware of Crooks’ concerning and rather noticeable social media presence before he opened fire on then-President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year?
Miranda Devine’s recent post hints at an inconsistency with former FBI Director Chris Wray’s comments, where he claimed Crooks was an enigmatic figure with minimal online visibility.
The methods employed by Devine’s sources—starting with Crooks’ phone number and following his accounts on various sites like YouTube, Snapchat, and others—seem like techniques that the FBI would be familiar with.
One has to wonder how federal authorities missed a YouTube account named “Tomcrooks2178,” active from January 14, 2019, until its suspension on July 14, 2024, the day after the Butler incident.
Federal agencies are reportedly tasked with monitoring social media for threats. Yet, did a post saying “MURDER THE DEMOCRATS” in all caps back in December 2019 not send out any warning signals?
In fact, Crooks got even more alarming in his posts following a shift in his political views. For instance, he suggested that “the only way to fight the government” was through terrorist-style attacks, targeting significant individuals like politicians or military leaders.
This kind of rhetoric, while not necessarily illegal, seems like the type of content that should be on the federal government’s radar—especially after Crooks’ attempted assassination.
It’s especially concerning that some of Crooks’ more alarming posts were noted by other users who even mentioned law enforcement in their comments, according to Devine’s sources.
Clearly, a thorough investigation is essential—not just concerning Crooks, but also looking into his potential collaborators, the FBI officials who seemed to have overlooked key signs, and the current FBI administration, which appears to be in disarray.
All these peculiar circumstances have led to a swirling mix of conspiracy theories, from the Secret Service’s claims about an unstaffed rooftop to Wray’s unusual testimony before Congress, stating Trump might not have even been shot.
The ongoing decline of the FBI, particularly since Robert Mueller’s post-9/11 “reforms,” has been a long-standing issue. The expectation was that Team Trump would rectify these flaws. Clearly, it begs the question: why does the agency’s progress seem so sluggish?
