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The Unsettling Mystery of Thomas Matthew Crooks: Why the Silence Fuels Suspicion

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old engineering graduate, attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in July 2024, killing a firefighter and injuring others. Despite the FBI’s investigation revealing obsession in his digital trail, the motive remains unknown. Questions arise over the handling of evidence and communication, fueling public distrust.

Ashes
7–11 minutes
Screenshot of footage caught by FBI of Matthew Crooks

May 13, 2025

Imagine a quiet, bookish kid from a suburban Pittsburgh neighborhood, raised by two counselors, acing his engineering exams, and then—without warning—climbing a rooftop to fire eight precise shots at a former president. That’s the jarring reality of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. His attack killed Corey Comperatore, a beloved firefighter, critically wounded two others, and grazed Trump’s ear. Yet, nearly a year later, the FBI still hasn’t told us why he did it. The silence is deafening, and it’s no wonder people feel something’s off. Something stinks, and I’m doing my best to figure out what it is.It’s like a puzzle missing half its pieces. Let’s dig into why this information keeps entering the void, what it means, and how it’s stoking distrust.

A Kid Who Didn’t Fit the Mold

When I was in college, sure there were engineering students like Crooks—intense, focused, goofy. They were the ones building robots in their dorms, not plotting political violence. Crooks also an engineering student,. graduated high school with honors, won math awards, and earned an degree in May 2024. His parents, both counselors, were described as “normal” (ugh, there’s that word,) by neighbors. No red flags, no criminal record, just a kid who liked computers and was pretty introverted. So how does someone like that end up with a rifle, homemade bombs, and a plan to assasinate a high-profile figure like Trump?

The FBI states Crooks acted alone, but the “why” remains elusive. His digital trail—searches for Trump, Biden, and even the Kennedy assassination—shows he was idealizing something big. Yet, there’s no manifesto, no clear plan. It’s like he was trying to confuse us. We’ve all seen how isolation can twist a bright mind. Here’s a reminder to reach out, get out, go socialize. 

The FBI’s Black Box: Encrypted Accounts and No Answers

Here’s where it gets foggy. The FBI accessed Crooks’ phone and laptop quickly, finding searches that hint at obsession but not motive. They also found encrypted email accounts in Belgium, New Zealand, and Germany—standard stuff, not some hacker-level encryption. By August 2024, they’d cracked them, but as of January 2025, there’s no update on what they found. Nothing. It’s like waiting for a cliffhanger episode that never airs.

I’ve been on the phone before with tech support nightmares, and I know how frustrating it is when “we’re working on it” is all you get. The FBI’s silence feels like that, but with more to lose. These accounts could hold the key—maybe chats with fringe groups, extremist rants, or just a diary of his thoughts. Or maybe they’re empty, and Crooks was just a lone wolf with a grudge. But why not tell us? The longer they stay quiet, the more it feels like they’re hiding something—or worse, they don’t know what they’re looking at.

Higgins’ Bombshell: Cremation and a Vanishing Crime Scene

Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana congressman and former cop who’s not afraid to stir the pot. His August 2024 report for the House Task Force dropped a hot one: the FBI let Crooks’ family cremate his body just 10 days after the shooting, without telling the local coroner. When Higgins tried to examine it on August 5, it was gone. He called this “obstruction,” saying it blocked him from verifying the autopsy, which claims Crooks died from a single gunshot. As someone who’s watched too many crime shows, I get why this raises eyebrows—10 days is fast for a case this big.

Higgins didn’t stop there. He criticized the FBI for releasing the crime scene after three days and scrubbing forensic evidence from the rooftop where Crooks died. “Cops don’t do that, ever,” he wrote. It’s frustrating. Wiping down a crime scene before Congress can poke around? That’s on a whole other level. The FBI insists it followed “normal procedures,” [there’s that word again, “normal”] coordinating with the coroner and documenting everything. But the coroner’s confusion and those delayed autopsy reports don’t inspire confidence.

Higgins’ claims aren’t just some random complaints—they tap into something darker: what if the evidence is gone forever? Without the body or a pristine crime scene, we’re stuck trusting the FBI’s word. And in 2025, with trust in institutions wobblier than a bad Wi-Fi signal, that’s a tough sell.

Why the Silence Fuels Suspicion

Let me share a quick story. A few years ago, a friend’s Playstation was stolen, and the police took weeks to update him. Every delay made him wonder if they were even trying. That’s how this feels—each month without FBI answers makes you question their competence or, worse, their honesty. The encrypted accounts are a black box, and Higgins’ allegations about cremation and cleanup sound like someone tidying up before the guests arrive. It’s not hard to see why conspiracy theories are sprouting like weeds.

On social media, theories abound. Some even claim Crooks is alive, which is nonsense—his death is confirmed. But when the official story has holes, wild ideas fill them. Take Doug Haggman’s post February 2025 claim of a “criminal network” tied to Crooks. It’s unproven, and Higgins himself dismisses it, but it’s catnip for skeptics. Haven’t you ever fell down a rabbit hole before? Chasing theories that sound convincing until you check the facts. The FBI’s silence isn’t helping us stay grounded.

A Plausible Explanation: The Lonely Radical

So, what’s really going on? Let’s piece together a theory based on what we know, without veering into tinfoil-hat territory. Picture Crooks as a kid who never quite fit in—bullied, called “the school shooter” by classmates, eating lunch alone. I’ve known people like that, brilliant and solitary. His searches for depression hint at inner turmoil, maybe a cry for help his parents, focused on counseling others, to busy to notice him.

Now, add the internet. Those encrypted accounts likely led to dark corners—forums where anger festers, where violence is glorified. The 2019–2020 social media posts, if his, show a kid flirting with hate: antisemitism, calls for chaos. He wasn’t waving a flag for any cause, just soaking up rage. By 2024, he’s got an engineering degree, a knack for drones, and access to his dad’s guns. He practices at a shooting range, learns bomb-making online, and picks a target who’s impossible to ignore: Trump.

Why Trump? Maybe it wasn’t politics—Crooks’ mixed signals (Republican, Democratic donation) suggest he wasn’t a partisan. Maybe it was infamy, a twisted bid to be remembered, like the profiler Keith Howard suggested. The Kennedy assassination search shows he was studying Oswald. And the FBI’s weirdness—cremating the body, cleaning the scene—weren’t a conspiracy, just sloppy work under pressure, like forgetting to save a document before your laptop crashes. It looks suspicious, but it’s probably just human error.

Breaking the Silence: What We Need

The FBI’s tight-lipped approach isn’t cutting it. Here’s what could clear the air:

  • Spill the Beans on Those Accounts: Even if it’s just “we found nothing,” say it. Silence breeds doubt.
  • Own the Mistakes: Admit the coroner mix-up and early cleanup were missteps, not plots. Honesty builds trust.
  • Talk to Us More: Monthly updates, even vague ones, would keep us from spinning our own stories.

I’m not going to let myself waste away my thoughts for a full report anytime soon—cases like this can drag on, like the Las Vegas shooting’s two-year wait. But with Kash Patel taking over as FBI director in 2025, things might speed up. He’s got a reputation for shaking things up, and Trump’s own push for transparency could light a spark.

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t just about Crooks—it’s about a world where a lonely kid can turn a keyboard into a weapon. I’ve seen how social media can amplify anger, sucking users in. Crooks’ story is a warning: we need to spot these kids before they spiral, and we need systems that don’t let a rooftop go unguarded. For now, the victims—Comperatore’s grieving family, Dutch and Copenhaver healing, Trump carrying on—deserve more than silence. So do you.

What do you think? Is it just sloppy police work, or is there more to this? Drop your thoughts below, and let’s keep digging.

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