FBI: Trump Shooter Studied JFK Assassination
According to Christopher Wray's statement to Congress, Thomas Michael Crooks looked up information on Lee Harvey Oswald prior to his shooting of Donald Trump. Read the full article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Thomas Michael Crooks managed to fly a drone around the rally site without detection, Christopher Wray informed Congress.
Would-be assassin Thomas Michael Crooks did extensive research on the assassination of John F. Kennedy before opening fire on former President Donald Trump earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Crooks shot Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Firing from a rooftop that Trump’s Secret Service detail had inexplicably left unguarded, the 20-year-old gunman killed one person in the audience and injured two others before Secret Service snipers shot him dead.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Wray said that an FBI examination of Crooks’ computer revealed that he began researching the JFK assassination on July 6, the same day he registered to attend the Trump rally.
“He did a Google search for – quote – ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,’” Wray said, referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, the gunman accused of shooting Kennedy in 1963.
“That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind,” Wray added, noting that Crooks had become “very focused on President Trump and his rally” at the time.
Wray’s testimony shed little light on Crooks’ motivation. The FBI chief maintained that the shooter was not in contact with any accomplices or co-conspirators and did not speculate about his political leanings. Before becoming fixated on Trump, Crooks had conducted “a lot of searches of public figures in general,” Wray said, warning that “it is, quite frankly, a dangerous time to be a prominent public official.”
Wray did not comment on the specifics of Secret Service deployments at the rally or allegations that the agency had pulled some staff from Trump’s detail before the event. However, he revealed that Crooks had visited the site in Butler on three occasions and, on the day of the rally, “was flying the drone around the area” just two hours before Trump took the stage.
Republicans have fiercely criticized the Secret Service for failing to secure Crooks’ rooftop vantage point, despite it being around 150 meters from the stage, and for apparently disregarding reports of an armed Crooks crawling around on the roof minutes before opening fire.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, a day after telling the Oversight Committee that she took responsibility for the “most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.”
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
Would-be assassin Thomas Michael Crooks did extensive research on the assassination of John F. Kennedy before opening fire on former President Donald Trump earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Crooks shot Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Firing from a rooftop that Trump’s Secret Service detail had inexplicably left unguarded, the 20-year-old gunman killed one person in the audience and injured two others before Secret Service snipers shot him dead.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Wray said that an FBI examination of Crooks’ computer revealed that he began researching the JFK assassination on July 6, the same day he registered to attend the Trump rally.
“He did a Google search for – quote – ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,’” Wray said, referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, the gunman accused of shooting Kennedy in 1963.
“That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind,” Wray added, noting that Crooks had become “very focused on President Trump and his rally” at the time.
Wray’s testimony shed little light on Crooks’ motivation. The FBI chief maintained that the shooter was not in contact with any accomplices or co-conspirators and did not speculate about his political leanings. Before becoming fixated on Trump, Crooks had conducted “a lot of searches of public figures in general,” Wray said, warning that “it is, quite frankly, a dangerous time to be a prominent public official.”
Wray did not comment on the specifics of Secret Service deployments at the rally or allegations that the agency had pulled some staff from Trump’s detail before the event. However, he revealed that Crooks had visited the site in Butler on three occasions and, on the day of the rally, “was flying the drone around the area” just two hours before Trump took the stage.
Republicans have fiercely criticized the Secret Service for failing to secure Crooks’ rooftop vantage point, despite it being around 150 meters from the stage, and for apparently disregarding reports of an armed Crooks crawling around on the roof minutes before opening fire.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, a day after telling the Oversight Committee that she took responsibility for the “most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.”
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
