A new report claims that Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July, may have been aided by a “criminal network.”
Over seven months following the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, sources told The New York Post that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has obstructed investigative efforts into the motivation behind Crooks’ assassination attempt.
Doug Hagmann, a private investigator from Erie, Pennsylvania, told The New York Post that he believes Crooks was working with a “criminal network” at the time of the assassination attempt against Trump. Hagemann, who was hired by a private client to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt, also told the outlet that he believes the “criminal network” still exists and still wants to kill the 47th president.
According to The New York Post, Hagman has been investigating the assassination attempt alongside six other investigators for multiple months. The outlet noted that the investigators have interviewed over 100 individuals and have examined the geolocation information regarding the cellphones and tablets that were found at Crooks’ home, the rifle range where he practiced, Bethel Park High School, and the Trump rally location in Butler.
Hagmann told The New York Post that one of the electronic devices geolocated with Crooks at the time of the July 13 assassination attempt is still pinging at Bethel Park High School.
“We don’t think he acted alone,” Hagmann said. “This took a lot of coordination. In my view, Crooks was handled by more than one individual and he was used for this [assassination attempt]. And I wouldn’t preclude the possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him.”
Hagmann told The New York Post that he was escorted either by federal agents or private security officials to the Butler County line and told to leave the area two different times during his team’s investigation into the Trump assassination attempt.
“One can assist in an operation like this by omission or standing down,” Hagmann said. “There are people still out there involved in this case that need to be brought to justice.”
According to The New York Post, Crooks fired eight shots during his assassination attempt against Trump on July 13. The 20-year-old would-be assassin injured the president’s right ear, killed retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, and wounded two other rally attendees in the incident. Crooks was killed by a counter-sniper shortly after opening fire at the president.
