FBI identifies Trump rally shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks <--- Thread is about the perpetrator, the crime, and the motivation, not Trump

[essentialsaltes]

Liars and trolls overwhelm social media after Trump rally shooting​

While GOP delegates gather in Wisconsin, social media platforms are stoking false narratives amid the most divisive presidential campaign in recent history. Some of the biggest have backed away from moderating content, partly out of concern about drawing blowback for removing too much. Sites once lauded as places for views to be exchanged have increasingly become echo chambers for those with like-minded political views serving up falsities to bolster shared beliefs.

Key speakers — including potential vice-presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — took to social media to blame the assassination attempt on President Biden’s campaign.

The conspiracy theories bubbling up on social media since Saturday’s shooting in Butler, Pa., have given conservatives and liberals alike a lens through which to explain and process such a catastrophic event, said Dannagal Young, a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware who studies conspiracy theories.

“The kind of content that goes viral is the content that is moral and emotional,” regardless of accuracy, and it can drive people to political extremes, Young said.

“Time to get to work[,] meme army,” said a post on the pro-Trump message board Patriots.win. The post included a cartoon comparing Trump’s reaction to the shooting with an onstage fall by Biden last year.

 

[ozso]

Liars and trolls overwhelm social media after Trump rally shooting​

While GOP delegates gather in Wisconsin, social media platforms are stoking false narratives amid the most divisive presidential campaign in recent history. Some of the biggest have backed away from moderating content, partly out of concern about drawing blowback for removing too much. Sites once lauded as places for views to be exchanged have increasingly become echo chambers for those with like-minded political views serving up falsities to bolster shared beliefs.

Key speakers — including potential vice-presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — took to social media to blame the assassination attempt on President Biden’s campaign.

The conspiracy theories bubbling up on social media since Saturday’s shooting in Butler, Pa., have given conservatives and liberals alike a lens through which to explain and process such a catastrophic event, said Dannagal Young, a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware who studies conspiracy theories.

“The kind of content that goes viral is the content that is moral and emotional,” regardless of accuracy, and it can drive people to political extremes, Young said.

“Time to get to work[,] meme army,” said a post on the pro-Trump message board Patriots.win. The post included a cartoon comparing Trump’s reaction to the shooting with an onstage fall by Biden last year.

Whatever the left doesn't want said about it is lies, trolling and conspiracy theories from fascist ____phobe racist deplorable cult members.

 

[Landon Caeli]

As I mentioned later, the local police would know there were supposed to be Secret Service snipers on surrounding roofs, that was the jurisdiction of the Secret Service...so they would likely have been slow to respond to civilian reports of "guy with rifle on the roof." It was the rooftop Secret Service snipers who took Crooks out.

Whose ladder did Mr. Crooks climb up to get on that roof? The Secret Service's? I wonder if they leaned it against the building and then like got the munchies and totally 'spaced it off'.

...Realistically, there should have never been a ladder left unattended near any buildings. "Professionals" out in the field ought to know that.

 

[Landon Caeli]

"The coming revolution will be bloodless... if the left allows it."

Conservatives say that begging left-wing revolutionaries not to shoot us in the head when they wage war against regular Americans and their families.

...We hope in earnest that the left allows their revolution to be bloodless.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I didn’t say it was a conspiracy theory, but it does lead to some pretty extreme conclusions.

Any policy disagreement can lead to extreme conclusions, though.

For instance, suggesting that voter ID laws should be in place, leading people on the other side of the fence to the conclusion that people are trying to unveil "Jim Crow 2.0".

That’s an artifact of technology. By 2000, right-wing media had been in full swing for several years and the internet was taking off, which allowed the crazy stuff to spread faster than when it was spread in print. Limbaugh spent years in the 90’s pushing the claim that the Clintons had Vince Foster (and others) killed.

If this is just about saying "who technically started it" in terms of "who said a mean thing first"...fine you can pin that on early 90's GOP members' name calling and an AM radio show if that somehow makes anyone feel better?? (although, if we're setting that bar that low, we could probably go much further back than 1990)

But the impactful/significant escalation occurred in the early 2000's during George W Bush's tenure when half of the population thought it was acceptable to suggest that the president they didn't like was "in on" the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


To use an analogy.

If Bob calls Steve a bad name, and Steve responds by setting Bob's car on fire, and then Bob retaliates by setting Steve's car on fire as well.

Sure, technically "Bob started it" with name calling, but Bob's initial actions certainly don't represent the most concerning milestone in the escalation pattern.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Whose ladder did Mr. Crooks climb up to get on that roof?

I don't know that this perfectly answers the question, but another data point.

Secret Service did not sweep building where shooter was perched​

The US Secret Service did not sweep the building from which the shooter in Saturday’s attempted assassination was perched, but instead leaned on local law enforcement to conduct security at that location.

The spokesman added that there was supposed to be local law enforcement posted in that area, but it is not clear where that post was supposed to be located.

The Secret Service regularly and successfully works with local law enforcement agencies to assist with securing events, as is the case in Milwaukee where the Republican National Convention is about to kick off.

 

[Merrill]

The left is putting out conspiracy theories that

a) the shooter was a "pedophile hunter" who wanted to kill Trump
b) the whole thing is a false-flag, staged

anyway ...

if we assume what we are being told by the FBI and others is true, that:

1. The shooter seemingly had no political or ideological motive, and that his politics were unclear
2. That classmates remember him as being relatively conservative in high-school
3. That he has virtually no social media or Internet footprint whatsoever, and that a discord server he had was taken down months ago--but contained no political content
4. No manifesto, notes, letters, or any kind of self-promotional material were found in his house
5. That this guy is a complete ghost
6. No evidence of insanity

THEN:

He did not act alone

These are the hallmarks of someone covering his tracks before a crime to protect the others who were involved.

A couple possibilites:

1. He was recruited online to commit the crime. Someone found a young loner who knew how to shoot, was not political, but badly needed money. The person who recruited him also gave him details as to where to set up and how to avoid detection. There could be 250k in BTC and a burner phone with Telegram on it inside some safety-deposit box somewhere.

who would recruit him? People working for Zelensky are the primary suspects imho. No one in the world stands to lose more if Trump is reelected.

2. The shooter was radicalized at Community College. There isn't any evidence that he belonged to Christian or pro-life groups, etc. He wasn't a college republican. Whatever group he was involved in was off-campus, and doesn't want their involvement known.

who would do this? ANTIFA --that organization exists to spread chaos and confusion in order to undermine the state. The shooter could have been in private contact with them.

Now all of this is speculation until we have more details and evidence

but the FBI/CIA could simply scrub everything and issue a report that says "we have no idea why the shooter targeted Trump. Nothing to see here"

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

I don't know that this perfectly answers the question, but another data point.

Secret Service did not sweep building where shooter was perched​

The US Secret Service did not sweep the building from which the shooter in Saturday’s attempted assassination was perched, but instead leaned on local law enforcement to conduct security at that location.

The spokesman added that there was supposed to be local law enforcement posted in that area, but it is not clear where that post was supposed to be located.

The Secret Service regularly and successfully works with local law enforcement agencies to assist with securing events, as is the case in Milwaukee where the Republican National Convention is about to kick off.

And they apparently were since it's been reported that local PD encountered the shooter on the roof before the attempt. Too late it seems.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

a) the shooter was a "pedophile hunter" who wanted to kill Trump

Pretty sure that one isn't so much a conspiracy theory, but more a meme or a jab. It's in bad taste for sure, but it's no wonder to me why the right doesn't "get it." It might be intentional though, because it certainly is a ludicrous suggestion.

 

[RDKirk]

The left is putting out conspiracy theories that

a) the shooter was a "pedophile hunter" who wanted to kill Trump
b) the whole thing is a false-flag, staged

anyway ...

if we assume what we are being told by the FBI and others is true, that:

1. The shooter seemingly had no political or ideological motive, and that his politics were unclear
2. That classmates remember him as being relatively conservative in high-school
3. That he has virtually no social media or Internet footprint whatsoever, and that a discord server he had was taken down months ago--but contained no political content
4. No manifesto, notes, letters, or any kind of self-promotional material were found in his house
5. That this guy is a complete ghost
6. No evidence of insanity

THEN:

He did not act alone

These are the hallmarks of someone covering his tracks before a crime to protect the others who were involved.

A couple possibilites:

1. He was recruited online to commit the crime. Someone found a young loner who knew how to shoot, was not political, but badly needed money. The person who recruited him also gave him details as to where to set up and how to avoid detection. There could be 250k in BTC and a burner phone with Telegram on it inside some safety-deposit box somewhere.

who would recruit him? People working for Zelensky are the primary suspects imho. No one in the world stands to lose more if Trump is reelected.

2. The shooter was radicalized at Community College. There isn't any evidence that he belonged to Christian or pro-life groups, etc. He wasn't a college republican. Whatever group he was involved in was off-campus, and doesn't want their involvement known.

who would do this? ANTIFA --that organization exists to spread chaos and confusion in order to undermine the state. The shooter could have been in private contact with them.

Now all of this is speculation until we have more details and evidence

but the FBI/CIA could simply scrub everything and issue a report that says "we have no idea why the shooter targeted Trump. Nothing to see here"

So, in the face of zero actual data, you've woven an entire vest from the empty space of button hole.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

So, in the face of zero actual data, you've woven an entire vest from the empty space of button hole.

lol, I totally mis-read that at first glance.

 

[essentialsaltes]

if we assume what we are being told by the FBI and others is true, that:

1. The shooter seemingly had no political or ideological motive, and that his politics were unclear

They have only said no apparent motive has been discovered (yet). If he didn't leave a note entited "Why I did it" it may take some time and investigation.

THEN:

He did not act alone

FBI's initial conclusion is that he did act alone.

Trump rally suspected gunman acted alone, FBI says​

The FBI officials, in a call with reporters, said the investigation was at an early stage and that they had not yet identified an ideology associated with the suspect. They said finding the motive behind the shooting was one of their priorities.

 

[Larniavc]

was able to beat the most pristigious, highly trained law enforcement agency in the world.

Bold assumption there. When it comes to highly trained I'm not sure 'American' is the auto complete answer.

 

[Larniavc]

that was legally purchased by his father, Matthew Crooks.

I wonder if this will make anyone rethink have guns in the house?

 

[RDKirk]

lol, I totally mis-read that at first glance.

Some pastor back in the 1800s spoke of people who "...find a button and weave an entire vest behind it."

In this case, there wasn't even a button.

 

[ozso]

I wonder if this will make anyone rethink have guns in the house?

99.9% of gun owners will never have their kid take their gun and try to assassinate someone with it.

 

[Larniavc]

That's about the most preposterous thing I've heard.

Maybe not. In the past people have tried to spark a 'race war' by killing the right person. Can you imagine the amount of armed and angry people if Mr Trump were removed from the census? Americans have a proud and noble tradition of shooting people who make them angry.

It's stochastic but it makes sense.

 

[RDKirk]

I wonder if this will make anyone rethink have guns in the house?

If you have an older teen male...that's something to consider.

I've written a post today about the critical danger of young male adults today. Since then, I've discovered reasons why the situation is even worse than I originally pictured.

 

[essentialsaltes]

A spokeswoman for the Community College of Allegheny County also confirmed that he graduated from that institution in May after earning an associate degree in engineering science.

Paige Updegraff, 20, said she went to school with Crooks and was in classes with him, including a health class and a P.E. class. She said he had a “quiet, raspy voice” and mainly hung out with and spoke to a couple of other boys.

Updegraff says [his group] were interested in the military and ROTC as a way to get into college, and they sometimes wore clothing that showed off their interest in the military.

“I would almost put money on the fact that I probably had seen him wear a Trump shirt or something along the lines of that beforehand, which is why this is so shocking to me,” she said.

Updegraff said she believes Crooks transferred to the Bethel Park School District in eighth grade and that he was a part of a class that received special instruction and often caused trouble for their teacher because of material they looked up on the internet.

“They would have videos of video games that were a little too graphic or a little too gory or something that they were looking up on [the teacher's] computer,” she said.

 

[durangodawood]

99.9% of gun owners will never have their kid take their gun and try to assassinate someone with it.

Sure. But kids can get ideas all on their own, and use whatever is at hand.