The FBI has accessed and is analyzing the contents of the cell phone of the suspect in the shooter at a Donald Trump rally. stated in a press release The shooting on Monday afternoon left one spectator dead, left President Trump bleeding from one of his ears and is being investigated as an assassination attempt.
Authorities are trying to determine a motive for the attack at a Trump rally on Saturday, but no clear picture has emerged yet. The gunman, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed in the incident.
Federal agents said Sunday they had obtained Crooks’ phone but had difficulty circumventing the password protection to access the data inside. Agents then sent the phone to a lab in Virginia, where they were able to access it, according to an FBI press release.
As investigators and media begin to piece together the truth about the attack, relatively little is known about Crooks. Unlike many other recent assassination plots and mass shootings, Crooks did not have a readily available statement or record of the attack. Crooks is a registered Republican who has donated $15 to Democratic groups but has not been very active online.
It’s unclear how authorities gained access to Crooks’ phone or what device he used. Law enforcement has battled tech companies in the past over access to customers’ personal information during investigations, including a high-profile dispute between the FBI and Apple after the 2015 San Bernardino, California, mass shooting. Citing privacy and security concerns, Apple refused a request to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the gunmen. The FBI eventually turned to a small Australian hacking company I managed to break into the phone.
The FBI said Monday that agents had accessed Crooks’ cellphone and had completed interviews with about 100 law enforcement officials, event attendees and other witnesses. It also said it had completed searches of the suspect’s vehicle and residence.
