Though they have not pinpointed a motive behind Donald Trump’s failed assassination attempt, investigators are examining a social media account with antisemitic and anti-immigrant posts that they suspect might be connected to the former US president’s would-be killer, according to the FBI deputy director, Paul Abbate.
Abbate on Tuesday appeared alongside the acting US Secret Service director, Ronald Rowe Jr, before a US Senate panel and said: “In about the 2019, 2020 timeframe, there were over 700 comments posted from this account. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature.”
While Abbate made clear that the account in question is believed to be associated with 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, he did not specifying which social media platform it was on.
“While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it important to share and note it today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect on the shooter’s potential motive and mindset,” he continued.
Trump, who has agreed to participate in a victim interview with the FBI regarding his assassination attempt, has routinely espoused antisemitic and anti-immigration rhetoric.
The Anti-Defamation League chief, Jonathan Greenblatt, and the White House both condemned him in 2021 and this year for, respectively, suggesting that Jewish people control Congress and the media and claiming that pro-Democratic Jews “hate Israel” as well as “hate their religion”.
Trump additionally has drawn criticism for his anti-immigration comments, including his accusation that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”.
Meanwhile, Rowe testified on Tuesday that he had visited and “laid in a prone position” on the roof of the warehouse complex in Butler county, Pennsylvania, from where Crooks fired at Trump during a political rally.
“What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe Jr said. “As a career law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.
“To prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future, I directed our personnel to ensure every event-site security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented.”
He also said that he directed the expansion of drones at protective sites to help detect threats on roofs and other elevated areas.
During his testimony, Rowe further revealed that the Secret Service had started providing protection to six additional high-profile figures, including Trump’s November presidential election running mate, JD Vance, and his family, as well as the independent White House candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.
“I have heard your calls for accountability, and I take them very seriously,” said Rowe, who stepped into his role after Kimberley Cheatle resigned as Secret Service director 10 days after the assassination attempt. “Given the magnitude of this failure, the Secret Service’s office of professional responsibility is reviewing the actions and decision making of Secret Service personnel in the lead-up to, and on the day of, the attack.
“If this investigation reveals that Secret Service employees violated agency protocols, those employees will be held accountable to our disciplinary process.”
Abbate and Rowe’s testimonies follow a recent New York Times report that found that a Pennsylvania officer had spotted Crooks 90 minutes before he opened fire – 30 minutes earlier than officials had previously said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC on Sunday, the lead sharpshooter on a local police department’s special tactical team assigned to protect the president said that he and his colleagues were supposed to get an in-person briefing with Secret Service agents before the rally. But sharpshooter Jason Woods said “that never happened”.
The ensuing shooting not only injured one of Trump’s ears – it also killed one rally-goer while wounding two others.
