Staff Reports
FBI Director Christopher Wray recently shed some light on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, as if the nation needed any more grim reminders of the times. During a congressional hearing, Wray revealed some eyebrow-raising details about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin, and his rather peculiar internet history leading up to the July 13 incident in Pennsylvania. While everyone is scratching their heads wondering about Crooks’s motivations, at least Wray has managed to provide some entertaining insights into the mind of a would-be killer.
It’s truly fascinating how much time Crooks spent researching the JFK assassination just days before deciding to allegedly take a shot at Trump. On July 6, the same day he registered for Trump’s rally, Crooks made a thoughtful inquiry into how far Lee Harvey Oswald was from JFK when he pulled the trigger. It’s hard not to laugh at the irony; it appears like he was philosophizing about assassination as a career choice. This was revealed for the first time at the hearing, which made for a far more enlightening session than the one preceding it, where the Secret Service director found herself facing bipartisan calls for her resignation due to a lack of answers about security failures.
Meanwhile, it seems like the FBI is enjoying some good old-fashioned bipartisanship, with lawmakers softening their criticism of Wray. This isn’t just a regular hearing; it’s a showcase of investigative prowess versus security botching. With Crooks’s drone antics—the kind of amateur hour that makes film students look like expert directors—Wray explained how Crooks used his drone to surveil the rally venue. Isn’t it comforting to know that while some criminals are forgoing all the high-tech tools of deceit, Crooks opted for the family drone? A criminal mastermind, he was not.
#ICYMI: Key takeaways from FBI director hearing after Trump assassination attempthttps://t.co/z1EB4aNdyg
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 24, 2024
The tingling suspense doesn’t stop there. Reports suggest that Crooks didn’t actually need the ladder that he possessed for climbing onto the roof where he fired upon the rally crowd. Somehow, he was able to employ some “mechanical equipment” instead. It just goes to show—the equipment included in Crooks’s arsenal was far more advanced than his planning. Speaking of planning, it’s also revealed that he was an enthusiastic gun owner, getting his hands on an AR-15 from his father. Perfectly normal, right? What better way to bond with Jr. than by facilitating his shooting hobby just days before he makes a complete mess of it all?
Despite all the reveals, the big question still lingers: What drove Crooks to attempt such a heinous act? Wray described him as a “loner” with a fixation that remains a riddle wrapped in mystery. The FBI is still digging through encrypted materials belonging to Crooks to try and make sense of his deranged thinking. Apparently, this search is almost akin to attempting to critique the plot of a particularly nonsensical Netflix series.
Democrats also used the hearing to take jabs at Project 2025, a conservative policy initiative expected to shape the next Republican president’s agenda. Rep. Hank Johnson raised concerns about the project, casually tossing around false claims that it would put “38,000 MAGA loyalists” in the FBI, as if it weren’t just a plan laid out on paper and instead a Hollywood blockbuster script. As expected, Republicans quickly dismissed these absurd suggestions as a distraction from the real issues of national security and law enforcement. If only the Democrats could focus on actual threats instead of imaginary ones conjured up from conspiracy theories.
