Posted on 07/16/2024 4:01:53 AM PDT by edwinland
In the 48 hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks made a series of stops in and around his suburban Pittsburgh hometown.
On Friday, he went to a shooting range where he was a member, and practiced firing, a law enforcement official told CNN. The next morning, Crooks went to a Home Depot, where he bought a five-foot ladder, and a gun store, where he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, the official said.
Then, Crooks drove his Hyundai Sonata about an hour north, joining thousands of people from around the region who flocked to Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He parked the car outside the rally, with an improvised explosive device hidden in the trunk that was wired to a transmitter he carried, the official said. Then, investigators believe, he used his newly-bought ladder to scale a nearby building, and opened fire on the former president.
As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination, they are scrutinizing Crooks’ movements before the attack and trying to piece together a timeline of his actions leading up to it.
Yet nearly 48 hours after the shooting, investigators are struck by the lack of leads they’re finding about Crooks’ mindset and possible motives. Even after successfully breaking into his phone and searching his computer, scouring his search history and bedroom, and interviewing his family and friends, agents still haven’t found evidence that would suggest political or ideological impetus for the shooting, law enforcement sources told CNN.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
The article states:
It’s not clear whether Crooks used the ammunition or the ladder that he bought on Saturday during his attack later that day.
Maybe the ladder in the photo was propped against the building before Crooks arrived, and when Crooks saw it, he didn’t bother carrying his own ladder over there?
Just trying to make sense of it all.
*****************************************
I’m also trying to understand this. It’s obvious we don’t have all the facts and some of the “facts” we have may be BS. Perhaps the ladder in the photograph was one used by police AFTER the assassination attempt?
Yeah, he has the stoner-doper-meth-head look. His mother was likely one too which means his dopamine receptors are baselined to drug addiction. He would have been easy to control and direct but unreliable. Stoner ear gauge sewn up to match Crooks. Being in drug withdrawal would explain his shooting everywhere.
The Crooks alibi stinks too with the media saying he was a terrible shot, etc. to match the druggie’s poor performance. Definitely 2 different ppl from the pics imo. Crooks is probably in witness protection, in another country.
I read the sniper who took out the shooter was fired for disobeying no shoot.
Also heard a ‘sniper team’ was in the ground floor of the shooter’s building. K, so why tf is a sniper team on the ground floor of a building in LOS of the dignitary?
“When did that ladder get there and who put it there: after the shooting, or before?”
From what I’ve read, the ladder was there before the shooting.
“Those ladders are heavy! There’s no way that scrawny 20 year old basement boy carried that, and his shooting gear from the van to the building,& set it up without being seen.”
______________________________
Agreed, that ladder was already there.
“The one in the picture looks like it’s aluminum.”
_________________________________________
Aluminum rungs, red fiberglass risers, plastic top platform.
See my post 98 with the image. In you can supposedly see crooks talking to an officer, but what I noticed most was that this is on the opposite side of the building from where the ladder was, and behind the small child to the right of the officer and crooks, you can see an ac unit that looks like you could use it to climb on to the roof of the small connecting corridor between the buildings. If that is crooks, he was scoping out his roof access since he doesn’t appear to have his ar15 at that time.
Lying about him buying a 5 foot ladder?
You have some detailed story on the ladders that the rest of us don’t know.
The media is saying a five foot ladder. The pictures show it’s closer to 10 feet or possibly a little taller. Who is lying? The media or the picture?
Did you read post 54?
Why would you think that saying he bought a 5 foot ladder has anything to do with the 12 foot ladder against that building, or that that the 12 footer was there before the shooting, we don’t know the details about any ladders or even how he got on the roof.
We don’t even know that he took the ladder to the rally, you are creating a story in your head.
The media is saying that the assassin bought a five foot ladder at Home Depot the day before the shooting.
The kid did? I’m betting he was “erased” by the government sometime before this incident.
Good lord man, read post 54, we all know that.
Drink some coffee or something and start reading the posts you are responding to.
“Why would you think that saying he bought a 5 foot ladder has anything to do with the 12 foot ladder against that building,...”
Because the ladder in the photos and video is obviously not five feet tall, but more like 10 to 12 feet.
Again, are you going to believe what the media feeds you are the what the photos show?
It makes no sense that LEO would place the ladder in a narrow alley way that is partially hidden by tall shrubbery.
I’m not doubting your guess but I’m just looking at the overall moment
It could be that the ladder was in place so that a law enforcement officer could use it to gain access and post on the roof. For whatever reason, assuming an officer was assigned to that post, the officer never took position. The punk shooter simply stumbled upon the ladder an took advantage. It seems crazy, but from what we are reading this whole security situation was a real cluster of incompetence.
I’m counting 8 steps in the pic from post 44. In my quick and non scientific search on Home Depot and Lowes, a typical 8 ft ladder will have 7 steps, a 10 ft ladder will have 9 steps, 12 ft ladder will have 11 steps etc.
Safety labels clearly warn not to use the top step, which is why the local cop decided not to pursue the shooter and potentially save a President's life, not to mention the slight angle of the roof would be tricky, especially in the hot sun.
Well it would give quicker access to both the left and right buildings, and also it goes to a flat roof rather than one with a slight pitch, and the height of the ladder just gets there, where the roof of the main building I think is a little bit higher. At this point I think crooks used the ac unit on the other side of the building next to another joining corridor that had a lower roof than the main buildings. The guy in my post 98, was not crooks but a guy alerting LE to someone being on the roof. In this video of crooks on the roof, but the LE guy and the guy in my post 98 can be seen again, LE closer to the beginning and the other guy sitting on left of video towards the end. That is not crooks, I believe that this guy told the cops someone was on the building. Take a look at this video of crooks on the building, in it you can also see the cop moving to the right, and also towards the end you can see the guy in this photo sitting down on the left side. This guy probably helped save Trump in a small way.
https://news.sky.com/video/trump-rally-shooting-moment-gunman-takes-position-on-roof-minutes-before-attack-13178272
In reference to your post #54, it makes little sense for any LEO to choose that spot to place a ladder to gain access to the roof. It’s out of the way & one has to maneuver the ladder thru that shrubbery.
There are easier access points for that size of a ladder.
Overall, as usual, there’s too many questions & we as Americans likely won’t hear the truth about what led up to the shooting.
The SS is at this moment trying to generate a believable story before releasing anything.
Feels exactly like the Las Vegas shooting. Tons of omission and then misinformation and then retracted info and then more BS. Rinse and repeat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.