The more we know, the more this looks to me like a suicide by cop that wanted (and failed) to leave a huge thing done so people remembered him.
He was a self proclaimed Pedo Hunter
I keep hearing this but what’s the source?
The only place I’ve seen that is screenshots of clearly fake Instagram account bios.
That explains his target
Zing!
Not even a zing, it’s a sad fact
That’s exactly what Trump heard on that stage.
Which is definitely why the media is posting his picture and personal details everywhere right? To make sure other people aren’t persuaded to seek fame in the same way.
The guy tried (and almost managed) to kill an ex-president and candidate for a second term. Of course the media is going to cover all the shit they can. It gives them clicks and that’s all that matter.
On the other handl, apparently, the guy had some mental health issues was bullied and honestly, what other outcome can you expect if not a very fast death when you try to do what he did in the way he did it?
Either he was out of his mind and was completely delusional, or was trying to leave the world with a huge kill in his name to be remembered.
Edit: typo
I absolutely agree, but I think it’s important to neither glorify nor demonize the attacker. This isn’t a route we should keep open to gain fame/infamy.
We shouldn’t demonize him, but we should be sober about him.
He was a loser who intended to make our country worse.
Highly skeptical on that worse part.
How so?
I’m also skeptical. Just like the candidate, I feel like this sort of behavior tends to be very self-centered. Maybe his action will leave the country worse off but I doubt he thought beyond himself, that he would do something significant and be remembered.
Worse how?
Had he been successful, the far right would likely start engaging in Timothy McVeigh style acts of terror.
Seeing that he failed, we will probably still get that, except they have Trump to be the general giving orders.
Look at all these down votes I have gotten for calling this kid a loser incel. Some of these down voters, considering the demographic of people who use Lemmy, are going to be the victims dying in the name of Trump’s revenge.
the far right would likely start engaging in Timothy McVeigh style acts of terror.
Sounds like they’re a dangerous bunch and 2nd Amendment people should do something about their leader.
You got downvoted for the make our country worse part. He would have made it better no matter how YOU want to view it. The racist rapist with 34 felonies is not only a terrible human being, he literally wants to be Hitler. Fuck that, and fuck anyone voting for him.
If there’s one guarantee in this world, it’s that shooting someplace up will always get your name in the news.
Although in the US it’s so common you’ll be forgotten in days unless the target is somebody famous.
Good. Let’s keep running that so the famous people are the ones getting shot. Not our nations children in schools 😊
Uh I think they’re just doing it for monies, dude
Welcome to late stage Capitalism.
You’re not wrong, but it can be put even more succinctly: “But, money!”
Here is my irresponsible speculation: kid did it to get back at his dad. Dad was a republican flying trump signs in the yard, mom is registered democratic. Kid grows up wearing hunting outfits to school, trying to get on the shooting team, getting bullied (even after that time he tried to fit in by getting on the antitrump bandwagon following j6), trying to be the version of manliness his conservative father believes in, seaking his father’s approval, and paying the price socially with his peers. But as much as he tries, and fails, to get dad’s approval, mom is always there for him. Mom is a dem, probably secretly, with dad forcing strict “traditional” family roles (hence the signs in the yard, mom probably didn’t agree with but was powerless to stop). Kid seems to fit the stereotype of young man, bullied in school, working a dead end job, few if any friends, no future to speak of, just generally mentally unstable, ripe for suicide by cop alreadt. Then something happens, dad hits mom, dad cheats on mom, dad screams at kid calling him a loser and also yells at mom for rasing a mommas boy, something like that. Kid snaps, betrayed by his father again, but also protective of his mom who was always there for him. Kid decides rather than killing his dad (either because of unshakable childhood fear, or a desire to cause more pain to his father then death would afford), he would kill something his dad loved more than anything, more than his dad loved his mom, and especially more than his dad loved him. He’d kill dad’s god king Trump, and go out along with him. His dad would lose his hero, and the world would know his dad was responsible because he failed as a father, and thus his father would be the greatest traitor to the Maga movement ever.
I base this on no evidence other than the couple of facts we know about voter registrations and the yard signs and the like. Again this is just my speculation, which it is completely irresponsible to engage in right now (fun though!).
Your chair must have massive armrests
Seems as reasonable as most other theories
really thought you were going to end that with the source of the truma being because in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell.
We really need users like that on Lemmy to replicate the positive aspects of the Reddit community that are worth bringing over. Something original to here, hopefully.
I base this on no evidence other than the fact that in nineteen ninety eight the undertaker threw mankind off hеll in a cell, and plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer’s table.
You should write… because you basically nailed a believable story here.
You are right, this post was incredibly irresponsible.
It very well could be that. It could also be a girl told him she’d let him touch her boobies for 10 seconds if he shot Trump.
Like you already said, you’re obviously speculating, but I think you might be onto something re: the dad. Dad trauma combined with suicidal ideation…it’s plausible and way more reasonable a motive than a lot of the stuff out there.
I’m confused.
With the timing, I think it’s stuff like the epstein news that broke something for him
The what? Epstein was years ago… has there been something new in the last few weeks?
Released court documents.
You know how some hunters want to hunt a particular majestic animal? Except for “majestic”, of course.
Maybe he missed on purpose and it was all a ruse to give trump a bump in the polls or demonize the Democrats?
You cant miss like that on purpose. If trump had moved slightly differently the shot would have hit. It was within inches
Dude could have been in a hero if he had better aim.
you know the more you say this the less Tenacious D we get?
Good.
Idk what made you so upset, but I am very glad it happened.
Stay mad.
Thanks I like this phrasing
Makes sense, most shooters show warning signs.
PFFFFF YOOO 💀😭
You ok?
I’m good, that was just one hell of a burn.
False flag is a possibility but the US has enough crazy for something like this to just happen.
Evidence or stfu
Here you go!
The State Of Mental Health In America
I’ll give you a freebie from it: over half of adults with a mental illness don’t receive treatment for it. Goooo USA!
Thanks for the evidence of the non-controversial, well established part of the comment
that’s the only part of the comment.
there’s crazy people. End of evidence.
what other part do you think exists?
Read the comment chain again. Use the context clues. I believe in you
Chill. Dude said it was a possibility.
I’m super disappointed in the dumb conspiracy theories being thrown around with no evidence among the left rn
if there was evidence, it wouldn’t be a theory, would it?
but it wasn’t even that. what’s disappointing are the right wing autists who don’t understand English, like you.
if there was evidence, it wouldn’t be a theory, would it?
that’s not how evidence works
what’s disappointing are the right wing autists who don’t understand English, like you.
Not sure why you think a rightist would be disappointed in the left acting afool. Try thinking critically next time. Nice ableism btw
Evidence for what? I didn’t state any fact. My comment was clear speculation
you want evidence that the USA has crazy in it?! what, are you new to this planet?
Yes, clearly i wanted evidence for the obvious fact and not the conspiracy theory
My theory.
Kid is queer or weird or something. Parents forced him to register Republican and were generally abusive
Sigh
Mine is that he wanted to kick start a civil war
My theory is that they are all crisis actors including a Trump body double.
Wow, this really makes debates easy!
The people are from the future and they were trying to prevent the destruction of world. Idk something like that
my theory is that nobody was even really there, no shooter, no cops, no trump, no supporters. a party city caught fire the next town over and it was just an extremely coincidental arrangement of bits of glitter in a really specific kind of dust storm that happened to highly resemble a trump rally, and some photographers showed up to document it. they snapped some pics and now don’t have the heart to tell everyone the winds died down shortly thereafter and they were standing in a glittery yet empty field.
hey, yeah, this is kind of fun
I just saw a headline on 1440 that the Secret Service around Trump had been increasing security due to an Iranian security threat and that this shooting may be related to that.
I don’t buy it, but do think it is a signal of where our next Middle East War will be.
Middle East III: Ayatollah We’d Be Back.
Because when the Ayatollah wants someone killed he picks a bullied kid who’s also a terrible shot. /s
These conspiracy theorists are so funny sometimes. “Some super bad or powerful person paid/arranged to have Trump killed!” If they’re that powerful, they seriously couldn’t hire anyone else? I mean, you could spend a few extra bucks and get someone that hasn’t been turned down by their local shooting team for being too bad of a shot. If they really wanted someone dead, they wouldn’t have hired a wish.com hitman.
Maybe he was a Buddhist? “If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A neighbor of the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump said there have been pro-Trump signs on display in the yard of his family’s home.
Authorities identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as the gunman who opened fired from a rooftop as the former president spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
He was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but records show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on January 20, 2021—the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
A neighbor in Bethel Park, the Pittsburgh suburb where Crooks lived, said they saw pro-Trump signs in the family’s yard as recently as a few months ago.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home less than a mile from his family’s house.
His father Matthew Crooks told CNN late on Saturday that he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” and would not speak publicly about his son until after he talked to law enforcement.
The original article contains 416 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 57%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
It is crazy how missing one shot could have changed the course of history. People are really trying to paint this guy as a leftist because of a donation lol.
The donation of a 69 year old man with the same name…
I’m pretty sure that’s not the case, I’ve seen the donation and registration myself and all details matched. So unless those details were altered by someone managing either of those two registries, it doesn’t seem like those were made by 2 different people.
Edit: that being said the donation is inconsequential at best, it could have been something like “donate and get a funny hat” or anything like this.
If you seen it “for yourself”, please provide the source.
I’ll let you know I actively despise you specifically for making my lazy ass repeat due diligence in verifying information for you. This is something you could have researched yourself using advanced modern technologies such as Google. Those materials are openly available, and if you distrust my opinion, then you should never trust any sources I provide instead of researching on your own. You’ll notice that all websites I’ll provide as sources end with “.gov”, which not only means those are somewhat legitimate, but also discoverable by most lazy of fucks. Oh well.
You can check the individual contributions here: https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Thomas+Crooks&contributor_zip=15102
You can check the voter registration status here: https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx
And if you use ActBlue donor data, ZIP code, and all other details we know about the shooter like their birth date and such, you will get this:
If you search on Google Maps for “USA 15102,” you will get sent to Bethel Park, PA 15102, which we know the shooter lived in. Here’s the “source” for that:
You might notice that on the donor registration there is a location of “PITTSBURGH, PA 15102” instead of Bethel Park, but as far as I understand the USA ZIP code system, that place doesn’t exist. 15102 points specifically to Bethel Park. You can try putting “PITTSBURGH, PA 15102” into Google Maps and you’ll be sent to Bethel Park. We can then double check if some parts of Pittsburgh are recognized as belonging under 15102 on the USPS ZIP Code Lookup Tool, instead of it being solely used for Bethel Park:
As you can see, it doesn’t seem to be the case. So, can anyone else living in Bethel Park with this same name be the person who made the donation? Sure, but the narrative that addresses differ or that the person from this address made multiple donations over the years is fake, as you can clearly see on the donor’s receipts, there being only one donation under that ZIP code and name. By the way, you might need to use a VPN to access the www.pavoterservices.pa.gov thing. I used Opera for that as it gave me a free one.
Ok. But I don’t use Google in this way. My search engine heads towards me and I live somewhere else. I’m checking the validity of your claim. I don’t see conclusive proof. The Thomas Crooks that made a donation does not have a middle name in his donation. From what I have seen that is the crux if the discussion.
It was made on January 21st, 2021… the day after Trump was inaugurated. Like you said, there’s no way to tie a motive or belief system to the small record, but it has definitely been food for thought, for journalists at least.
Not to be that guy but you meant “the day after Biden was inaugurated”
You can’t say this and not provide a source
Snopes already debunked.
Can you provide a source?
Considering that address match, and the fact that the location on the in-question FEC filing does not exist in Pittsburgh, evidence favors the conclusion that the shooter made the donation — not someone else with the same name.
So he spent $20 on trump signs. Are we in agreement he was a fucking Nazi dickwad as well?
To be fair, I think he was living with his parents so there’s no way to know who wanted them. Maybe they all did, maybe not.
Either way, from what I’ve heard it doesn’t seem like he was that political. It appears like he was just a kid who liked guns but was such a bad shot the shooting club at his school wouldn’t let him in. He then decided to immortalize himself as a presidential assassin, but instead immortalized himself as the terrible shot everyone thought he was.
They found themselves a useful idiot
He did it as a Tiktok challenge.
Who’s seen the new season of the boys
OK, so the signs were in his family’s yard. This means his parents were supporters and the kid grew up w/ conservative parents. My guess (and this is just a guess) is his actions were in part a rebellious act against his parents.
We really don’t have a lot of facts here. What we have so far:
- He ranted against paedophiles.
- He was a registered Republican.
- There were Trump signs in his (family’s) yard.
- He was bullied in school.
- A donation was made in his name for $15 to an Act Blue subsidiary.
- He was denied being on the rifle team due to his behaviour and his lack of skill with a rifle.
And that’s about it. Not much room to base your guess.
It’s just as likely that he bought into the notion that the elites are all a bunch of baby-eating, baby-fucking Satan worshippers, but NOT the notion that that only applied to the Left, and tried to remove a Right-Winger with a history of visiting powerful men and diddling kids on exclusive islands.
Some classmates said he took conservative positions in a history class and that he was definitely conservative.
is the rant against pedos credible? someone above said it was a fake IG post or something
facts arent facts just yet, me thinks
Except kids classmates and teachers say he was staunchly conservative.
He was a young man still finding his way. Even accepting the fact that he had conservative leanings, that doesn’t preclude the possibility of him doing something to lash out at his parents particularly if that something involved causing the death of a prominent “conservative” his parents hold dear. My presumption is that his conservative parents were strict and overbearing, which isn’t a stretch based on my own experiences.
This guy looks like a dorkier HP Lovecraft
Also
there have been pro-Trump signs on display in the yard of his family’s home.
Is a much different message than “signs in his yard.” Don’t worry though, I’m sure all of the kid’s life is being scrubbed by every agency in America and in sixty years we’ll know why he really did it.
Because of woke. And
Auntie FaAnne Teepha.Wasn’t she in final fantasy? Ann Elizabeth Tifa - I mean.
This guy looks like a dorkier HP Lovecraft
Kinda looks like fetal alcohol syndrome to me.
Coming into this comment thread relatively late, but I briefly wondered after reading the headline if this was a rebellion against the views his family instilled in him.
Obviously, it’s a heck of a rebellion if that idea holds even an ounce of water, but I could see rebelling against parents, coupled with the existential frustration that most folks feel about the current political situation, paired with the inexperience/poor decision making of youth, or even the beginnings of schizophrenia leading down this path.
Definitely filing that line of thought into the “complete speculation, and almost certainly not what really happened” bin, though.
