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The FBI missed multiple attempts to stop Thomas Crooks, the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, says a former assistant director of the Bureau.
Chris Swecker told The New York Post that Crooks’ extensive history of violent rhetoric and political threats online should have alerted the FBI to the danger he posed.
He said that if even “half” of Crooks’ reported digital footprint turns out to be true, the FBI will have missed multiple opportunities to nip his assassination attempt in the bud.
“It’s clear that he was popping off on the social media sites and saying things that should have garnered attention,” Swecker, who served in the FBI for 24 years, said.
“That constitutes a miss on the part of the FBI.”
Swecker rated the FBI’s handling of the investigation into the assassination attempt “C-.”
Crooks posted dozens of disturbing messages advocating violence. He wrote “KILL DEMOCRATS” and said members of “the Squad”—the leftist political grouping that includes Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez—should face swift execution.
He also commented: “The only way to fight the gov is with terrorism style attacks, sneak a bomb into an essential building and set it off before anyone sees you, track down any important people/politicians/military leaders etc and try to assassinate them.”
Swecker added that it was clear former FBI director Christopher Wray wanted to portray Crooks as a far-right extremist and a lone gunman, without investigating potential links to other individuals or groups.
“A little bit of transparency goes a long way in these types of investigations,” said Swecker.
“There was a bias in the FBI towards right-wing extremists. And if there was a right-wing extremist ideology, that got surfaced real quick in any of these shootings. But if there was a left-wing extremist ideology driving it, it was glossed over.”
Crooks’ online posts suggests a dramatic swing into an anti-Trump political stance in late 2019 or early 2020.
Swecker called on current FBI Director Kash Patel to release all the files related to Crooks as soon as possible.
“They ought to come out with the full motivation—that’s not classified—and then let’s get it out there,” he said.
“And I think we’ve got to use the opportunity to teach and educate the public about the threats on social media and the internet.”
Swecker also warned that the Crooks case showed hostile nations could easily radicalize individuals on the internet and incite them to violent crimes. “We know ISIS has done that, and they’ve done it effectively. They’ve radicalized people on the internet. Why wouldn’t Russia or China or Iran or any of our enemies do just the same thing?”
