Trump was struck in the ear, while retired firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed protecting his family. Two other rallygoers were seriously wounded.
Law enforcement killed Crooks on the rooftop from which he fired.
More than two years later, Americans are still learning what investigators found on the would-be assassin’s electronic devices.
FBI Flags Messages With Unknown Contact
The latest records were obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit after the FBI failed to respond to a July 2024 records request.
The newly disclosed material consists of 249 pages.
That represents only a tiny portion of the evidence surrounding the investigation. The Justice Department has indicated that the complete investigative file contains approximately 75,000 pages.
Among the documents is a July 18, 2024, review of messages recovered from Crooks’ Samsung cellphone.
The FBI identified certain communications as relevant to its investigation, including a February 2023 conversation with a person whose identity remains unknown.
One portion of that exchange immediately stands out.
“Woah that looks cool,” the unidentified individual told Crooks after apparently receiving something from him. Whatever Crooks originally sent is redacted from the public records.
The contact then asked a revealing question.
“Did you 3D print the parts?”
Crooks responded several hours later.
“Yes, except for the fan blades.”
What exactly Crooks manufactured is not revealed.
The available documents reportedly show the pair subsequently discussing coursework at different colleges, but the records do not establish whether the printed components involved a firearm, the 3D printer itself, or something completely unrelated.
That missing context is particularly noteworthy because investigators later learned Crooks had experience manufacturing a firearm with a 3D printer.
Crooks’ Father Told Investigators About Homemade Glock
Earlier investigative information supplied to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley included an account from Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks.
According to his father, the future Trump shooter had previously manufactured a Glock-style firearm.
“Using carbon fiber plastic, a dryer and a toaster oven, Thomas did once create a Glock 19,” Matthew Crooks told investigators.
The elder Crooks said he personally fired one round from the homemade weapon.
He apparently wasn’t impressed with its safety.
According to his account, he became concerned that the frame could explode and refused to let his son fire the gun.
That history gives the newly released 3D-printing conversation added significance, although the FBI records made public so far do not establish that the February 2023 messages concerned a weapon.
Christmas Gifts Exchanged With Another Mystery Contact
Another conversation raises different questions.
Records covering a December 2022 exchange show Crooks communicating with an unidentified individual about Christmas presents.
“Thanks for the gifts,” the person wrote.
Crooks answered:
“Your welcome. Thanks as well.”
What the two exchanged remains unknown.
The documents do not describe the gifts, and the identity of the individual communicating with Crooks is redacted.
FBI Found Months of Bizarre Messages
An additional FBI record dated July 19, 2024, documents a lengthy conversation between Crooks and another redacted recipient.
The communications stretched from May 21, 2023, through January 3, 2024.
Crooks’ outgoing messages are unusual.
They include apparently random phrases and strings such as “Hello,” “Yolo,” “890,” “Hdjd,” “Djdj,” “red,” and “Hello red.”
Other entries consist almost entirely of seemingly nonsensical combinations of letters.
One reads “Hdudhdbdbbd.”
Another says “7888ejdj.”
Yet another simply reads “Jjjjjjjjjjjj.”
What those messages meant — if anything — is impossible to determine from the released material.
That’s because the incoming side of the conversation has been completely redacted.
The public therefore cannot see what Crooks was responding to, what relationship he had with the recipient, or why investigators considered the exchange significant enough to document.
Drone Records and Hong Kong Shipment Also Examined
The newly released files provide additional glimpses into the enormous investigation launched after the Butler shooting.
Investigators recovered 40 images and eight flight records associated with a drone used by Crooks.
The images were reportedly captured in the Pittsburgh area between February 6 and February 27, 2024.
Most significantly, investigators also documented a drone flight in Butler on July 13 — the same day Crooks attempted to kill Trump.
The records additionally contain DHL notifications connected to a shipment originating in Hong Kong.
The publicly released material does not, however, establish that the shipment had anything to do with Crooks’ assassination plot.
Investigators also found political text messages on the device, including campaign fundraising solicitations connected to then-Senate candidate Raphael Warnock.
Again, their presence alone does not establish a connection to Crooks’ motive.
Major Questions Remain Unanswered
The FBI ultimately conducted an enormous investigation into Crooks, his devices, his activities, and his background.
Yet the latest disclosures demonstrate how much of that investigation remains outside public view.
Americans can now see that investigators flagged communications involving 3D-printed components, unidentified contacts, unexplained gifts, strange text exchanges, drone activity, and other material.
What the records don’t provide is equally important.
The identities of several contacts remain concealed. Large portions of conversations remain blacked out. The precise significance of some exchanges isn’t explained.
And with the broader investigative record reportedly stretching to roughly 75,000 pages, these 249 pages represent only a fraction of what federal investigators collected.
More than two years after a gunman climbed onto a rooftop and came within inches of potentially changing American history, the slow release of those records ensures that questions surrounding Thomas Matthew Crooks — including who he communicated with before the attack and why some of those communications mattered to investigators — are not going away anytime soon.
