Bureaucratic Investigations Fail to Connect Crooks to Assassination Attempt

October 21, 2024

In the last week, two investigative reports have been released about the July 13th assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Between these two reports it’s fair to say that the public is none the wiser because of the shoddy investigative work performed. One report merely explains what the public already knew and the second is insulting from the standpoint of what the investigators failed to investigate.

The first report, The Independent Review Panel, interestingly provided not one name of any law enforcement, FBI or Secret Service personnel involved in security on July 13th but did provide the name of the alleged shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks. How the Panel concluded that Thomas Matthew Crooks was the shooter is not part of the report. In fact, the Panel focused its investigation on the Secret Service failures on July 13^th and, of course, the public already is aware of the enormous Secret Service failures by virtue of shots being fired leaving one person dead and three others wounded including former President Donald Trump.

The second report, The Congressional Bi-Partisan Task Force Interim Staff Report: Investigating the Stunning Security Failures on Jul 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, is lacking on a number of levels and one can only wonder who, exactly, is leading this “investigation.”

In this Interim Staff Report, it is reported that “at approximately 1330, Crooks’ father gave him the firearm that would later be used in the assassination attempt…Crooks told his father that he was going to a local gun range as he had done many times previously.”

The problem with this statement is that the report also states that “the firearm was transferred to Crooks by his father the year prior.” If this is correct, why would Crooks need to ask his father for the weapon?  Further, the investigators fail to follow up or even mention what has been widely reported in the mainstream media, including CNN, FOX, and the BBC, that the father called the police hours before the shooting and was worried about his son and his whereabouts. Odd behavior from a father “who gave him the firearm.”

Moving on, the Interim Staff Report explains, “after rendering the scene safe, the FBI contacted the Butler County Coroner’s Office, and the coroner subsequently removed the body from the scene and conducted a death investigation.”  This statement could not have been more misleading if the Task Force staff had tried.

Recall that the Butler County Coroner arrived at the AGR building at midnight on the 14^th and was told to come back later. The alleged shooter’s body lay on the roof of the AGR building all night until the coroner returned to the AGR building after 6:00a.m. on the 14^th. This is not a small matter.

Who had control of the body while it lay on the roof for twelve hours? It is called chain of custody. When exactly was the body removed from the AGR building? Where are the coroner’s investigative notes? Given that the alleged shooter did not have any identification, how did the coroner ID the body? What method was utilized? Fingerprints? Did the coroner take photographs? Did the Task Force even ask the coroner for his investigative report? If the body was not seen by the coroner until 6:00a.m. the 14^th, why is the time of death noted at 6:25p.m. on the 13^th? Why isn’t the Task Force following up on this very bizarre situation with the custody of the alleged shooter’s body?  Providing a Preliminary Report that states “the coroner subsequently removed the body…” is disingenuous at best.

Moving on, the Task Force Interim Staff Report advises that the “autopsy was observed by the FBI and PSP (Pennsylvania State Police) personnel… and “the FBI and PSP concurred with the Butler County Coroner’s Office decision to release the remains to the subject’s family.”  So far it appears that the FBI controlled everything including the crime scene, the autopsy and when the body could be cremated. But the FBI’s control of the evidence gets better.

According to the Interim Staff Report, “a single entry wound on the upper left lip and a corresponding exit wound in the right lateral neck” was the single shot that killed the alleged shooter. The report further explains that “a small copper-colored metal jacket fragment was recovered from the upper right back during the autopsy…the FBI has possession of the fragment.”

Good to know that the FBI has in its possession the bullet fragment that was recovered from the alleged shooter’s body. Was any other projectile recovered from the body? Can the alleged fragment be matched to the reported sniper’s weapon? If not, were any bullets recovered from fireman Corey Comperatore or the two victims who were seriously wounded? Do those recovered bullets match the alleged shooter’s weapon? Did the Task Force investigators even make this inquiry? Apparently not.

So, the FBI controlled the crime scene, the autopsy, the cremation, and the ballistics. The FBI ironically also was responsible for releasing the crime scene to the property owners which “included cleaning the biological material from the AGR roof.”

The Task Force Interim Staff Report explains that “The FBI Laboratory Division successfully test fired” Crooks rifle, “concluding it was – and remains – fully operational” and “also positively matched all eight shell casings located on the roof with the subject’s rifle.” Fabulous! But what about the fired projectiles from the alleged shooter’s weapon…the bullets that will have rifling marks from the barrel of the weapon? Is there a match on those projectiles with the alleged weapon? Did the Task Force ask this question? The report is void of any information about this by the Task Force.

In addressing the gunshot wound to the head of the alleged shooter, the Interim Report explains “all reviewable evidence collected from the AGR roof and from the subject’s body are consistent with the round fired by the Secret Service sniper.” “Consistent with?” C’mon!  What evidence was collected and did the projectile match the sniper’s weapon? How hard can this be? Ask the question!

Finally, a toxicology report revealed “negative results for alcohol and drugs of abuse.” AbleChild finds the “drugs of abuse” comment interesting given that no specific information is provided for what tests were conducted and for what drugs. Were toxicology tests conducted for prescription psychiatric drugs? This information is of great interest, not only because the alleged shooter’s parents were mental health professionals, but too often prescription drugs are left out of testing. Recall the case of Nashville school shooter, Audrey Hale. It was reported that no drugs of abuse were found in her system then, later, it was revealed that Hale had been prescribed a cocktail of psychiatric mind-altering drugs. The toxicology tests are of great importance. Did the Task Force even make an inquiry about them? The report suggests it did not.

What has been gleaned from the Interim Staff Report is that the FBI controlled virtually every aspect of the investigation, and the public has yet to be provided any information about how the alleged shooter’s body was identified, whether any of the alleged shooter’s projectiles were recovered and match the alleged weapon, and whether the alleged shooter was taking any prescribed psychiatric drugs.

Of course, there are other issues like the white van that was found with explosive devices just outside of the rally and reported by the mainstream media, whether DNA and fingerprints of the alleged shooter were found on the alleged weapon and why are there no adult photos publicly available of the alleged shooter?

As a side note, AbleChild was interested in the alleged shooter’s employment at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The alleged shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, would have had a photo ID and would have had to pass a background check including fingerprints to obtain that employment. While reviewing the nursing center’s Facebook pages an interesting photo revealed a man with similar facial features as the alleged shooter. Could this single photo be the 20-year-old Crooks?  It would be extremely helpful to the public if someone from the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center could confirm or deny the identity of this person in this photo.  AbleChild did reached out to HR for comment, we never received a call back.

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