Thomas Matthew Crooks’ final cellphone search was for porn before shooting Trump, report says
Thomas Matthew Crooks’ final internet search on his cellphone before opening fire on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last Saturday was reportedly for pornography, according to the Daily Beast.
A senior law enforcement source told the outlet that online skin flicks were the last thing the 20-year-old gunman viewed before unleashing a hail of fire that killed one bystander and seriously wounded two others at a western Pennsylvania rally.
Crooks’ apparent target suffered a wounded ear.
It’s unclear what kind of porn Crooks allegedly viewed. The Daily Beast’s insider said “it’s not unusual” for people who commit these types of heinous acts to have an interest in explicit and often extreme material. Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza allegedly had an interest in pedophilia and possessed compact discs containing pornographic images.
Investigators reportedly learned about Crooks’ final search for porn after the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Virginia, examined the suspect’s encrypted Samsung cellphone.
Crooks’ phone also contained text messages from his parents who were trying to find out his whereabouts on the afternoon before his apparent assassination attempt on the 78-year-old Republican Party leader.
The gunman lived with his folks in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, roughly 50 miles from the event space where the rally was held. The source said Crooks’ parents thought he had taken an AR-15 style rifle to a local shooting range where he was a member.
ABC News reported Thursday it appeared that Crooks had posted an ominous warning that he might do something drastic on a gamers’ message board before he shot at Trump, but CBS News sources said the message appeared to be a fake.
While Trump escaped the attempt on his life, Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed in the deadly violence. A private funeral was held Friday near his hometown of Sarver.
The 50-year-old victim reportedly died shielding his family from bullets believed to have been fired from Crooks’ rifle.
Despite an exhaustive investigation, the FBI has not yet established a clear motive for the shooting.
