A former classmate of Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, has come forward with claims that Crooks openly mocked him for supporting President Trump.
Though Crooks was reportedly registered as a Republican, this does not necessarily indicate his true political allegiance. Many liberals registered as Republicans during the primaries to support Nikki Haley and sabotage Trump. Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, meaning independents and Democrats must switch parties to vote for the Republican nominee.
Additionally, Crooks made several small donations to ActBlue and the Democratic National Committee.
Vincent Taormina, an ex-classmate of Crooks, shared his interactions with him.
Taormina described Crooks as a quiet individual unless discussing subjects he was passionate about—politics being one of them. He revealed that Crooks had a strong dislike for politicians, particularly those who ran for office in 2016.
“He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we’ve had… It was Bernie Sanders, Hillary, and all of them. He showed that he disliked all of them. Did not like any of them.” Taormina said.
“I brought up the fact that I’m Hispanic and I’m for Trump. He said, ‘Well, you’re Hispanic, so shouldn’t you hate Trump?’ I was like, ‘No, he’s great. I mean, he’s a great president.’ He called me stupid or insinuated that,” Taormina said.
Taormina said Crooks was a “know-it-all” who would dominate political conversations with an arrogant and smug demeanor.
“He was a know-it-all. Once again, if he was passionate about something, he would just talk, talk, talk, and act like he knew everything, especially politics-related. He would say it in a tone that was like, “I’m better than you,” in a type of way. Meanwhile, it’s like, “Dude, we’re in the same classes. You know what I mean? We’re talking about the same stuff here.” Whenever it comes to politics, at the end of the day, I can agree, you can agree, you can disagree, I can disagree,” Taormina said.
According to Taormina, Crooks was part of a group of friends known for their reclusive behavior and irregular school attendance. The group allegedly threatened to carry out a school shooting during their freshman year.
“Everybody was saying it was Thomas who made a threat, and it was that friend group,” Taormina recalled. “Everyone was mainly blaming the friend group, but a name that kept coming up was Thomas.”
Taormina stressed that Crooks was not severely bullied in school and was not a loner, contrary to earlier reports, adding that the signs were there and that his erratic behavior was overlooked by those around him, particularly his parents, who were both counselors.
“The signs were there, and somebody definitely had to look out,” Taormina said. “Somebody, whether he was talking to somebody, or somebody either just didn’t realize and just overlooked it, somebody should have known because he was not a loner… how do you not see that warning sign?”
Watch:
JUST IN: Former Thomas Crooks classmate says Crooks was a known Trump hater and was a “know it all.”
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 17, 2024
The FBI still doesn’t know what Crooks’ motive could have been.
Hispanic classmate Vincent Taormina recalled a political disagreement he had with Crooks after he told him that… pic.twitter.com/LzgnohInnw
Here is Taormina again, from another interview, reiterating that Crooks was not a supporter of President Trump and, in fact, didn’t like any politicians:
A @SPECNews1BUF exclusive: We hear from Thomas Matthew Crooks’ former classmate Vincent Taormina who recalls an 8th grade convo with him.
— Viktoria Hallikäär (@ViktoriaKrista) July 15, 2024
“He was like, ‘Well…and you like Trump?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘Well, that’s- that’s a little stupid, isn’t it?” pic.twitter.com/tbtS5Q547h
