The parents of 20-year-old Thomas Crooks had pleaded with local authorities to find their “missing” son shortly before he positioned himself on a roof and attempted to assassinate President Trump on Saturday. This shocking revelation raises further questions about how and why authorities failed to intercept him.
Fox News reported on Wednesday that both parents are cooperating with the FBI as they lead the investigation into Crooks’ motive for the shooting spree, though it remains unclear what they told authorities beforehand. The disturbed recent high school graduate managed to fire eight rounds from a high-caliber rifle stolen from his father before being shot and killed. The Bureau is also investigating why a local police officer retreated after confronting Crooks seconds before the shooting started.
Meanwhile Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has defended the agency’s decision not to place an agent on the roof where Crooks had a direct line of sight to the stage where Trump was standing, incredibly, citing the danger of the “sloped roof.” This shocking excuse was given, despite the fact that the counter-snipers who took Crooks out were, themselves, positioned on a sloped roof.
Watch:
Fox News: Shooter’s parents called the cops on day of PA rally
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 17, 2024
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The picture surrounding Crooks’ motive became even murkier on Wednesday after neighbors told Fox News that the household never had a Trump yard sign, refuting earlier claims that Crooks lived in a “MAGA household.” Neighbor Amy, who declined to give her last name, spoke alongside Holly, a local GOP captain, saying, “I give out the signs, and I’ve never given one to that house, I’ll tell you that.”
Despite being a registered Republican, Crooks recently made a small donation to a progressive political action committee supporting Joe Biden’s reelection.
“I walk by here all the time, other neighbors do,” Amy added. “You will not find one neighbor that will confirm or ever say they saw those signs in the yard.”
“I’m on a Republican committee here in Bethel Park,” Holly said. “I’m a committeewoman, and I door-knock everywhere: for [2022 U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet] Oz, for [2022 gubernatorial nominee State Sen. Doug] Mastriano, for Trump, for all of them,” she said. Amy added that her Republican canvassers know which houses to target for outreach based on the town’s voter lists.
“I know who the Republicans are. I mean, he’s not on the list,” she said. Records obtained by Fox show that Crooks’ mother is a registered Democrat and his father is listed as a libertarian. “I drive up and down this street all the time because it’s the way we get out to go to the main road,” she said, “and I never saw him out.”
Neighbors go on record saying Crooks never had Trump signs in his yard as claimed early on. His mother is also a registered Democrat. https://t.co/35a3fefNxM
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 17, 2024
