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Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter in the assassination attempt at President Donald Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on July 13, 2024, sent a series of strangely coded text messages in the months leading up to the shooting, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch.
“Did you 3D print the parts?” an individual the FBI described as an “unknown contact,” messaged Crooks on Feb. 9, 2023.
“Yes, except for the fan blades,” Crooks responded.
“Woah that looks cool,” the unknown contact replied to Crooks, also asking about the “parts” in response to a Crooks message which the FBI redacted.
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Another series of messages between Crooks and a redacted second party display a series of odd one- or two-word messages Crooks sent the contact between May 21, 2023, and Jan. 3, 2024.
“Hello … Hello red …Hello red … Hdudhdbdbbd … 7888ejdj … Yolo … Ddodjjf … 890 … Hdjd … Djdj … red … Yup red … Hello … Jhhhuuh … Hhdj … Jjjjjjjjjjjj … Hello red … Red red,” Crooks’ messages read. The FBI redacted any potential response from the other party, according to the documents.
Other information Judicial Watch received from the FBI documents included a notification from shipping company DHL about a package Crooks received from Hong Kong.
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The document release also included 40 drone photos Crooks took between Feb. 6, 2024, and Feb. 27, 2024, which included photos of PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium, where the MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates and the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers play, respectively.
Crooks’ affinity for 3D printing had been previously reported by the New York Post, after the outlet reviewed a series of documents obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
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Crooks had previously attempted to use his 3D printer to create a Glock 19 handgun, his father, Matthew Crooks, told investigators, according to the documents obtained by Grassley.
“Using carbon fiber plastic, a dryer and a toaster oven, Thomas did once create a Glock 19,” Matthew Crooks told investigators.
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But, fearing the gun would explode, Matthew Crooks forbade his son from using it, according to records obtained by the Post.
Crooks’ assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump, while unsuccessful in killing Trump, resulted in the deaths of two civilians. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old fire chief, died immediately while shielding his family from bullets.
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James Copenhaver, a 76-year-old veteran, was shot in the triceps and the midsection, receiving injuries to vital organs including his kidneys and colon.
Though Copenhaver was released from the hospital a week after the shooting, he dealt with complications from the injuries in the ensuing years. On Sept. 23, 2026, he died due to those complications.
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“These latest records reveal more pieces of the puzzle surrounding Thomas Crooks,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement. “The FBI should stop the slow drip of heavily redacted records and immediately provide the full investigative record — especially since the death last week of James Copenhaver, who was severely injured from being shot during the assassination attempt on President Trump.”
