FOIA Records Show Shooter Contacted Deputy, Device Found

Newly released investigative records reveal that the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally had prior email contact with a local sheriff’s deputy and was found with an unexplained electronic device. The heavily redacted documents, obtained by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, provide additional details about the chaotic response to the July 13, 2024, shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

According to an FBI electronic communication dated July 17, 2024, a female deputy from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office stated she exchanged two emails with Thomas Matthew Crooks prior to the incident. The deputy reported she did not initially recognize Crooks when his identity became public, but located the emails after being contacted by a reporter. The content and subject of those emails are redacted in the released records. The deputy stated she had no personal interaction with Crooks beyond these communications.

The records also include an interview summary with a medic from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, who described responding to the American Glass Research building where...