FBI releases new data on would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks' text messages to mystery person

X.com ^ | October 2, 2026 | Misty Severi

[ransomnote]

The FBI shared new information Friday pertaining to President Donald Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, releasing text messages he shared with an unidentified person related to a 3D printer he used to build a firearm. 

The information was released through a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request and contained text messages the bureau determined were "pertinent" to the investigation.

The 20-year-old fired on Trump in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a presidential campaign speech, grazing his ear, and seen live on TV. An attendee at the rally was killed while attempting to shield his family. Crooks, who fired his shots from a nearby rooftop, was shot dead almost immediately. 

Unredacted text messages were exchanged a year before the shooting, where the unknown contact texted Crooks in February 2023, asking “did you 3D print the parts?” to which Crooks replied that he did minus the "fan blades." 

 

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 202302; 202407; assassinationplots; crooks; dollypartoneatskids; drones; dutrolleatshillary

[Liz]

An oversized 3D-printed gun model next to a 3D-printer at Manhattan
DA Alvin Bragg’s office March 31. Pic---Chip Brownlee for The Trace

[smokingfrog]

You might be able to print a toy gun with that 3D printer.

[brownsfan]

You can be sure that if the trail gets close to someone of significance, it will magically go cold.

[gundog]

I wonder if the slide even moves. Looks like a plastic barrel. Fat Alvin won't need a recoil spring...good for one shot, if he can find a firing pin spring.

He should hold a presser and demonstrate just how dangerous that thing is.

[gundog]

I wonder if the slide even moves. Looks like a plastic barrel. Fat Alvin won't need a recoil spring...good for one shot, if he can find a firing pin spring.

He should hold a presser and demonstrate just how dangerous that thing is.

[bigbob]

You absolutely could machine all needed parts on a desktop CNC which are now selling for a little over $1K.

[Jeff Vader]

nope, 3d printed AR15 lower receivers (the serial numbered part) are indeed a thing

[Empire_of_Liberty]

O.K. I really do find this hard to believe, like Media hype.

Do you use lost wax to make something sturdy?

How many times could it fire?

The 3D “printer” is “printing” something. What? Plastic? What kind of plastic? A gun made out of milk jugs will be about as reliable as you think.

At least, that is the way it looks, to me.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting.

[nikos1121]

Excuse me but Patel and Bongino said he acted alone...

[skinny old man]

This is a distraction...

[daku]

They (fbi) can’t identify who crook was texting with ?
The fbi ?

[oldplayer]

“They (fbi) can’t identify who crook was texting with ?
The fbi ?”
_____________________________________________________

No. They are still trying to find the source of Hunter’s cocaine at the White House.

[PghBaldy]

First line attributes the info release to the idiots in the FBI... not true: The information was released through a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request

[piasa]

That may just be a photo of a random 3D printer in the NY office of Alvin Bragg for example only, and not actually be related to this particular case in PA.

[Jeff Vader]

I understand your skepticism and offer the following. I’m a retired aerospace engineer and lifelong firearms enthusiast.
The lower receiver on an AR15 does virtually nothing structural, that’s all done in the upper receiver which is not a controlled part. Lower houses the fire control group and a few other non-structural items. Th most highly loaded area would be the buffer spring housing threads and the design of these can be re-enforced easily enough.
Polymer lower AR15s have been a thing since the early 2000s when Cavarms made a whole bunch on them. The 3d printed ones use an ABS filament, the same material Cavarms used.

[thinden]

heads up, cletus

ty liz

[Empire_of_Liberty]

Thank you for the reply! It sounds like weight-reduction, then. Anything, to shave off a few ounces.

A filament does sound like a rather specialized (and expensive) printer, though.

For me, the key gift of 3D printing has always been in the creation of parts that are otherwise not creatable - Mobius components, and the like.

[Liz]

y/v/w