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A shooting range, a gun store, and a ladder purchase: Tracking the Trump rally gunman’s movements leading up to his attack
CNN ^ | July 15, 2024 | John Miller

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: assassinationattempt; failedassassin; shooter; thomasmatthewcrooks; trumpshooter
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"That suggests the gunman may have been planning to set off an explosion remotely, and investigators are considering the theory that he may have been planning a distraction during the shooting."

"It’s unclear how Crooks assembled the explosive devices found in his car. Investigators parsing through his online search history haven’t found any indication of him researching how to make home-made explosives, law enforcement officials said."

So many questions. Who could have taught him how to make IEDs? Who knows how to make such devices? Who has helped other would be kidnappers or assassins?

I guess we will never know.

1 posted on 07/16/2024 4:01:53 AM PDT by edwinland
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To: edwinland

How in the Hell can a guy walk even near the rally carrying a ladder and a weapon and nobody stops him!


2 posted on 07/16/2024 4:08:46 AM PDT by Brandonmark (November 2024 cannot come soon enough!)
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To: edwinland

“As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination“

Assassination IS the motive in the shooting or otherwise killing of a, in this case, ex president and politician. That’s the definition of the word.


3 posted on 07/16/2024 4:10:25 AM PDT by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: Brandonmark

It gets more and more improbable each day that “missteps” on the part of the SS and law enforcement allowed him to get on that roof and fire at the President.

And if it was sheer incompetence, how is the pepsi woman still at her post?

She should go back to protecting carbonated soft drinks.


4 posted on 07/16/2024 4:13:41 AM PDT by dp0622 (Tried a coup, a fake tax story, tramp slander, Russia nonsense, impeachment and a virus. They lost.)
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To: Brandonmark

and how, exactly, would he know which building would be unguarded without prior knowledge. pretty sure he didn’t wander around with a ladder and a rifle checking out rooftops. can’t be convinced this wasn’t an inside job. “IF you come at the king you best not miss” applies.


5 posted on 07/16/2024 4:15:20 AM PDT by Qwapisking ("IF the Second goes first the First goes second" L.Star )
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To: edwinland

A 5 foot ladder doesn’t get you on top of that roof.


6 posted on 07/16/2024 4:16:51 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: fatima; Fresh Wind; st.eqed; xsmommy; House Atreides; Nowhere Man; PaulZe; brityank; Physicist; ...

Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest. FReepmail me to be added to the list...

Temporarily filling-in for lightman, while he's teaching others how to smash PA's demonKKKrat voting poll fraud and corruption, on Monday -- Thursday.

7 posted on 07/16/2024 4:17:05 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: Brandonmark

And the shooter’s parents he lived with had no idea about anything going on in his life and no clue he was making bombs and messing around with explosives, all this and they are both counselors/ therapists/ shrinks. Did they prescribe him drugs?


8 posted on 07/16/2024 4:17:34 AM PDT by Blue Highway
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To: edwinland

As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination?
Just what plant are the so called investigators from?
The constant drumbeat by most all talking heads on the fskenews has been Trump bad, did you think derangement syndrome or worse.
Track covering ongoing.
cnn, what would you expect?


9 posted on 07/16/2024 4:18:19 AM PDT by Recompennation (Don’t blame me my vote didn’t count)
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To: edwinland

The kid obviously deleted his search history & scrubbed social posts.


10 posted on 07/16/2024 4:18:43 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Brandonmark

How can he transport the ladder I see posted in pictures in a Hyundai Sonata?

The article claims Crooks bought a 5 ft ladder but that aint a 5 ft ladder I see in the pics leaning against the bldg. I dont even know if a 5ft ladder could fit into a Sonata.


11 posted on 07/16/2024 4:18:57 AM PDT by texanyankee
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To: dp0622

Has Pepsi woman even made an appearance yet? A statement at least? Why aren’t people protesting in front of her home?


12 posted on 07/16/2024 4:19:43 AM PDT by Blue Highway
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To: edwinland
So many questions. Who could have taught him how to make IEDs? Who knows how to make such devices? Who has helped other would be kidnappers or assassins?

Iranian and other Islamists that hate Israel and America creating suicide terrorists
13 posted on 07/16/2024 4:20:04 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 ( The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: PIF

The kid didn’t SCRUB his social media......but I BET that the LEFT did!!


14 posted on 07/16/2024 4:22:22 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: edwinland

I saw a photo of that ladder and it was an 8’ fiberglass model that go for $300. I thought that was kinda weird to spend that much on a ladder for a one way trip. Why didn’t the cop use the ladder to get on the roof?


15 posted on 07/16/2024 4:23:02 AM PDT by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: edwinland

So much evidence yet the motive is still on the loose.


16 posted on 07/16/2024 4:23:26 AM PDT by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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To: Blue Highway

WHY hasn;t the PARENTS BEEN INTERROGATED???


17 posted on 07/16/2024 4:23:29 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Blue Highway

Pepsi woman. LOL.

Her statement was along the lines of we will investigate blah blah...

Pepsi woman.

That one will make me chuckle to myself throughout the entire day today :)


18 posted on 07/16/2024 4:23:42 AM PDT by dp0622 (Tried a coup, a fake tax story, tramp slander, Russia nonsense, impeachment and a virus. They lost.)
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To: texanyankee

NOW it sounds like he had HELP! SS??? LOCAL POLICE??? BLACKROCK people??


19 posted on 07/16/2024 4:25:16 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: texanyankee

I said the same thing last night and got crap from a freeper (@pres raygun) when Iv questioned that that ladder wasn’t 5 feet in the pictures, and there’s no way a 5 foot ladder even fits in a Hyundai Sonata. Total BS coverup story that’s got more holes than Swiss cheese


20 posted on 07/16/2024 4:25:41 AM PDT by Blue Highway
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