Thomas Crooks showed 'red flags' before Trump assassination attempt, FBI docs reveal
Newly released FBI documents show Thomas Crooks was "spiraling into a manic state" before the 2024 Butler rally shooting. A former FBI agent says the investigation should not be closed.
FBI documents reveal erratic behaviour in weeks before Butler shooting
Newly released federal documents show that Thomas Crooks, who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July 2024, displayed a series of disturbing behavioural changes in the weeks before the attack, foxnews.com reports.
Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital that the documents — turned over to the Senate and first reported by the New York Post — contained several clear "red flags" about Crooks.
"These are definitely examples of somebody who is mentally not stable and also somebody who was spiraling into almost a manic or delusional state," Gilliam said. "When you combine somebody who is delusional, somebody who's hearing voices and is having almost a manic type of episode... with potential influence either by persons that they're around or things that they see online... it's very possible that that is the large part of this equation that we just have not seen."
Gilliam added that the investigation into Crooks' motive "should not be closed."
Talking to himself, dancing through the night
Thomas Matthew Crooks was 20 years old and from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, when he opened fire at a Trump campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on 13 July 2024. He killed one attendee and seriously injured two others before being shot and killed by Secret Service agents.
According to the unclassified FBI memo, an individual close to Crooks — whose identity was redacted in the documents — described how his behaviour grew increasingly erratic after he completed community college.
"After community college, he would talk to himself more and more, moving his hands and speaking to himself... Sometimes Thomas would stay up dancing all night," the individual told investigators, noting Crooks "seemed to have endless energy."
When confronted about talking to himself, Crooks would acknowledge the habit but denied hearing voices. FBI notes quote the individual further: "THOMAS would be in [redacted] at night and it sounded like he was dancing and whispering each night. About two to three times each week, he would pace through [redacted]. When [redacted] confronted THOMAS about the pacing, THOMAS would say that he was bored and trying to entertain himself."
The same individual also told law enforcement that Crooks "got more agitated" as he aged.
Suspicious jug and unexplained explanation
A separate section of the FBI memo addresses a physical object that raised concern. While Crooks was described as "never into explosives," an unidentified individual confronted him about "a gallon jug of something that he said was used to clean the bed of his 3D printer."
The individual did not believe Crooks' explanation. According to the document, the person knew Crooks well enough to recognise when he was lying: "his ears would flame red when he lied." The exact timing of that confrontation was not specified in the released documents.
Firearms training and ammunition purchases
In the months leading up to the shooting, Crooks enrolled in firearm courses at the Keystone Shooting Center. He was also spotted at Keystone Armory in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, on 25 May 2024, accompanied by two men — described as a white male in his mid-thirties and an older white male with a grey beard, possibly a parent.
"The individual believed to be Crooks and the two other males can be seen wandering throughout the firearms store looking at various firearms," the FBI document stated. On that visit, Crooks purchased 20 rounds of Red Army 7.62x54R ammunition for $19.07.
The documents also reference a redacted individual, believed to be Crooks, who "purchased ammo online going site to site until he found one that would sell to him."
Coworker noted change in mood before attack
One of Crooks' coworkers told law enforcement that in the weeks before the shooting, he had "opened up a little more" and appeared more "excited about going to school." Crooks had been planning to attend Robert Morris University to study mechanical engineering, having already graduated with an associate degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County.
Senate hearing: no evidence of outside connection
FBI Director Kash Patel testified before a Senate Oversight Committee hearing that there is no evidence Crooks was connected to a broader network or acted on instructions from a third party. The investigation into his precise motive remains a subject of scrutiny among lawmakers and former law enforcement officials alike.
Gilliam, the former FBI special agent, maintained that the pattern of behaviour documented in the files — the sleeplessness, the self-talk, the erratic energy — points to a deteriorating mental state that should have been flagged earlier and warrants further examination.
The attack at Butler was one of two assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. Two men injured at the rally subsequently filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what they described as "preventable failures" by the Secret Service.
Source: Google News MT