FBI Records Show Crooks Messages About 3D-Printed Parts

Newly disclosed FBI records show that Thomas Matthew Crooks exchanged messages about 3D-printed parts with an unidentified contact and had other communications whose meaning remains unclear before he attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The records also include drone images and flight data, but do not establish that any unidentified contact was connected to the attack or explain Crooks’s motive. In a message exchange dated February 9, 2023, an unknown contact asked Crooks whether he had 3D-printed parts. Crooks appeared to reply that he had completed them except for the fan blades. The surrounding context is incomplete, and portions of the messages are redacted. A separate chat thread, dated from May 21, 2023, to January 3, 2024, contains brief messages, strings of letters and repeated references to “red.” The other participant’s identity and potential responses are not disclosed, leaving the conversation’s meaning uncertain. Records also show an apparent exchange on Christmas Day 2022 in which Crooks and an unidentified person thanked each other for gifts. The gifts are not identified.