FBI files turned over to the Senate show that Thomas Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump in Butler County on July 13, 2024, used a Snapchat account under the username “tom_crooks19,” along with an Amazon account and an encrypted email service called Mailfence.
The documents, first reported by the New York Post, show Crooks logged into his Mailfence account multiple times between April 15, 2024, and July 8, 2024. He also had a Gmail account.
Crooks killed one person and seriously injured two others during the attack.
Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack told Fox News Digital that the Snapchat account could still yield significant evidence, despite the app’s reputation for disappearing content.
“When you snap and that picture goes away that everything is gone, and that’s not true. When I’ve served search warrants, there’s been a treasure trove of information that has come back,” Pack said. “It’s not like some people think when you’ve snapped, and then it goes away, it’s totally gone. That’s not entirely the case.”
Pack said some elements of the account may not be recoverable, but added there’s a “good amount of information in there.”
Still, Pack said Crooks likely took precautions given that Snapchat isn’t fully encrypted.
“What you do see is a pattern of trying to hide things and using aliases. And, so, if he’s taking that much care to publicly not be seen picking up deliveries and those types of things, you have to assume he’s probably taken just as much diligence with his social media and with his digital footprint,” he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel testified Tuesday at a Senate Oversight Committee hearing that investigators found no evidence Crooks coordinated with anyone else.
“We found no evidence that that individual was literally even speaking to any other human being other than his parents, who he resided with,” Patel testified.
