FBI officials told Congress on Wednesday that the 20-year-old who shot at former President Donald Trump may have posted a warning on Steam before the attack — but CNN is now reporting that investigators think the account is fake.
Investigators at the bureau “gained access” to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone earlier this week and have been combing through it to determine his motive and put together a timeline of events. In a briefing with members of Congress on Wednesday, FBI officials said Crooks had used his phone and other devices to search for information about and images of Trump and President Joe Biden — and that he left a cryptic message on Steam announcing the shooting, according to reports by the New York Times and ABC News.
“July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds,” reads the message, which investigators told Congress was posted by Crooks. But the FBI has since “revised its assessment,” according to CNN’s Sean Lyngaas.
The Verge has reached out to the FBI and to Valve, which owns and operates Steam, for comment.
Crooks also searched for dates of Trump’s public appearances and of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to multiple reports. In addition to Trump and Biden, Crooks looked up multiple prominent figures, including FBI director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and a member of the British royal family, two officials with knowledge of the situation told the New York Times.
Crooks’s phone is “one of several devices” law enforcement has obtained and is scanning, sources told ABC News. Investigators are also reviewing Crooks’s mail and shipping history after finding three explosive devices connected to him, according to a federal law enforcement memo obtained by the New York Times. Crooks received multiple packages over the last several months, some of which were marked “hazardous material.”
So far, none of the information law enforcement has obtained on Crooks points to a clear motive. Per the New York Times, Wray noted that there was an absence of “any political or ideological information” in Crooks’ home.
On one call with members of Congress, Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, told legislators that the agency had made serious “mistakes,” according to the New York Times. It looks like the FBI, which is still early in its investigation, may have made some as well.
