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Revealed: First pics of AR-15 that Thomas Crooks used to shoot Donald Trump, as FBI reveals how he concealed it in backpack
New York Post ^ | 28 August 2024 | Chris Nesi

Posted on 08/28/2024 6:54:58 PM PDT by Spktyr

The FBI has released the first photos of the AR-15 rifle that Thomas Matthew Crooks used in his attempt to kill former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last month. The images show that Crooks — a 20-year-old gun nut — broke down the semi-automatic DPMS DR-15 rifle into two pieces and stowed it in a black SwissGear backpack as he made his way through the Butler, Pa. rally crowd. A closer look at the weapon reveals an approximately three-inch chunk missing from the gun’s buttstock, which could be where the police sniper’s bullet struck before the Secret Service sniper finished Crooks off with a headshot. “Thomas Crooks’ rifle broken down as was likely done for transport and the backpack recovered onsite,” The FBI captioned the bombshell new image. A separate photo showed the rifle fully assembled and positioned next to a ruler, which pegs its length at around 36 inches from stock to barrel. The gun’s receiver has been scrawled with some white markings, which the FBI notes it had drawn on the weapon. It was known from previous reporting that the rifle had been purchased by Crooks’ father a decade ago. The agency also released images of two improvised explosive devices in the trunk of Crooks’ car — with the receiver enabling remote detonation set in the “off” position. The bureau said the devices had “several problems with the way they were constructed.” One of the homemade bombs was built inside what looks to be a green ammo can, a wire leading out the back is haphazardly taped to the side of the container and connected to a small device that appears to be equipped with a small antenna. The trunk also contains another backpack, a laptop bag, and a spray bottle filled with a clear liquid.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aeroprecision; ar15; assassination; assassinationattempt; assassinationplot; attempt; banglist; bombs; crooks; fbi; handguard; ieds; j13; remote; remotebombs; remotedetonator; rifle; thomasmatthewcrooks; trump; trumpshot
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To: DesertRhino

They couldn’t have shipped it with that handguard. It didn’t exist at the time it was originally manufactured and sold.

MLOK doesn’t exist commercially until 2014.
The original purchase of the DPMS rifle was in 2013.

Now, unless someone has a time machine...


21 posted on 08/28/2024 7:19:17 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

A FAL paratrooper with the stock folded would be shorter than this taken apart.


22 posted on 08/28/2024 7:21:52 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Spktyr

The optics look really wrong. Most such red/green dots have low level of magnification and a 2 to 5 MOA accuracy. I am not sure of the particular brand, but I am still surprised someone wanted to use this rig for a sniping function.

That he hit Trump’s ear is amazing.


23 posted on 08/28/2024 7:23:48 PM PDT by Robert357
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To: Spktyr

They ship complete uppers with M-loc.


24 posted on 08/28/2024 7:24:45 PM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI. )
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To: Spktyr

2014... that’s when it was bought.


25 posted on 08/28/2024 7:26:27 PM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI. )
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To: Spktyr

I think this is the upper…

https://www.aeroprecisionusa.com/m4e1-threaded-16in-556-mid-length-complete-upper-atlas-rone


26 posted on 08/28/2024 7:28:25 PM PDT by ARW
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To: Spktyr

Hmmm...so he’s supposedly a gun nut, but is going to take a precision shot at 100+ yards with a red dot? Not even a magnifier. Sure, it’s doable, but one would think that a gun nut would realize what the right tool for the job would be, and that would be a scope with magnification. I mean you can go to Palmetto State Armory and buy a functional LPVO scope for a few hundred bucks.

Let’s also thank our lucky stars that he didn’t have the sense to aim for center mass. Or maybe he did and he was just that bad of a shot.


27 posted on 08/28/2024 7:32:30 PM PDT by voicereason (When a bartender can join Congress and become a millionaire...there’s a problem.)
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To: Spktyr
The original purchase of the DPMS rifle was in 2013.

The complete rifle? Maybe he purchased the lower in ‘13.

28 posted on 08/28/2024 7:32:41 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: hinckley buzzard

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

I’m surprise didn’t talk about rifling and whether it was 1:10, 1:9, 1:8

Posobiec, talking to Tucker Carlson, said he got info from Sen Johnson. Said that the rifle was iron sights, what he called “boot camp shot”. I don’t remember him saying that the rifle had an optic.

Could it be that Sen Johnson was fed bad info from the Fed’s or “lacking candor”?


29 posted on 08/28/2024 7:35:44 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: ARW

Ok. Geeking out a little. That previous link was to an aero upper with the picatinny seamless between the handguard and upper reciver. So it’s not the right one. I think this is it…

https://www.aeroprecisionusa.com/ar15-complete-upper-w-no-forward-assist-16-5-56-mid-length-barrel-15-m-lok-atlas-r-one-handguard-anodized-black

A $500 upper is expensive when value ones can be had for $250 or less.


30 posted on 08/28/2024 7:37:27 PM PDT by ARW
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To: Spktyr

The pic I saw last week showed a solid buttstock with a chunk taken out where the cop first hit it. This one has a different buttstock.


31 posted on 08/28/2024 7:38:01 PM PDT by jaydubya2
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To: Spktyr

I’m guessing that a countersniper’s bullet is responsible for that missing piece of the stock.


32 posted on 08/28/2024 7:38:06 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: jaydubya2

It looks complete when collapsed...unless you look closely.


33 posted on 08/28/2024 7:39:26 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: ARW

I see a forward assist on the crime gun.


34 posted on 08/28/2024 7:43:59 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: gundog

Sure enough. Still, definitely a full aero precision upper with a Holosun AEMS red dot. Looks like the fbi blurred out Holosun on the side of the optic.


35 posted on 08/28/2024 7:51:08 PM PDT by ARW
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To: gundog

Planned...intentional...blown...coverup in full swing.


36 posted on 08/28/2024 7:54:40 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp??)
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To: Spktyr

I want to know what FBI agent trained him to use the weapon at that gun range you all frequent, the same one Crooks chose out of the blue to show up at.


37 posted on 08/28/2024 7:55:24 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: hal ogen

Yeah. Not sure what to make of pics of the body on the roof. If that’s what they’re pics of.


38 posted on 08/28/2024 8:01:20 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Spktyr

And very, very far from a precision long range tool.
Looks more like what a teenager would think looks “tactical”


39 posted on 08/28/2024 8:02:17 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (I don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. i don't think he knows what he said either)
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To: ARW

“aero precision upper with a Holosun AEMS red dot”

Basically a 100 yard weapon, if that.


40 posted on 08/28/2024 8:05:35 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (I don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. i don't think he knows what he said either)
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