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Trump rally shooter identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man (www.nbcnews.com)
submitted 4 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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The FBI identified the shooter, who is dead, as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. A motive was not clear.

…

Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively well-to-do city in the southern reaches of greater Pittsburgh. The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania voter records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican, though it was not clear from the records when that was put in place.

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[-] tillary@sh.itjust.works 39 points 4 months ago

Feel like I'm gonna be posting this a lot today. Pennsylvania uses a closed party primary voting system. If you're a liberal voting in the primaries, it made the most sense to register Republican in Pennsylvania to vote for someone like Nikki Haley if you despise Trump. Don't want to say this is what happened, just that we shouldn't jump to false flag conspiracy conclusions right now.

[-] jeffw@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I remember canvassing for Bernie back in 2016 and I knocked on a few doors of people who said “oh sorry, I switched to Republican to try to block Trump”. This is completely anecdotal evidence but it does happen. It’s rare though.

Edit: did a touch of cyber stalking… dad is a registered libertarian, mom is a democrat

[-] tillary@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago

Yeah, just one of those stupid games we have to play until we get with the times and implement a ranked choice voting system...

[-] EnderWiggin@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

He was registered back in 2021. Not sure this has much bearing on the 2024 primaries. He could have been a right leaning person who didn't like Trump. Those people exist. Basically, most libertarians.

[-] Dran_Arcana@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Those people exist

can confirm; am a small government fiscal conservative who thinks gays are people.

[-] EnderWiggin@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Hey you. I like you.

[-] kescusay@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago

This is important to know, but at the same time, the majority of registered members in both parties in Pennsylvania voted for the front-runner, and given his youth (20), the primary was his first election involving presidential candidates.

We need to wait until the facts about him come out. Very little is currently known beyond the party registration and the YouTube gun channel.

[-] mctoasterson@reddthat.com 7 points 4 months ago

This is the right answer. It is entirely possible and feasible to register as a party you don't agree with for strategic reasons such as voting in primaries for important state offices etc. Millions of people do this across various states.

[-] ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 4 months ago

And just because he was registered as Republican, doesn't mean he was necessarily a Trump supporter. After all, those Lincoln Project guys had to come from somewhere.

[-] takeda@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

He appears to be more of a libertarian.

[-] JeSuisUnHombre@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago

Sauce?

[-] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 months ago

He was wearing a t-shirt of a far-right militia group and owned an AR rifle. Does that sound like a Democrat?

[-] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 months ago

Demolition Ranch doesn't really mention their politics. And there are plenty of Democrats that like guns.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

far-right militia group

LMFAO! Somehow every word in that phrase is wrong.

I vote straight D, and among a shitload of other guns, I have an AR-15. Now what?

[-] Supermariofan67@programming.dev 2 points 4 months ago

far-right militia group

Source?

Last I heard it was a completely apolitical YouTube channel merch

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 28 points 4 months ago

I guarantee you that MAGA people will claim that he registered as a Republican as part of a big conspiracy that involves Biden personally sending him to kill Trump (which they won't realize is arguably acceptable unless he is impeached and removed from office according to SCOTUS).

[-] jeffw@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago

Already came out that he donated to a liberal group once. They will latch onto that

[-] takeda@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yeah, single donation of $15 on January 20th, 2021 for voter turnout PAC.

You don't think he was one of the Republicans that were outraged after January 6th?

Everything we know about him so far, screams "libertarian".

[-] jeffw@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Dad and sister are registered libertarians. Mom is a registered dem. Take from that what you will. I’m sure we’ll learn more about him in the coming days and weeks.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

Sure, but even if that didn't come out, he'd be a secret librul.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

Yeah, it doesn't matter if he donated or not. He's a deep state operative or RINO, or a secret librul, or you name it.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

They already latched on to spouting BS that about him attending BLM protests and going all the way cross the country to Seattle to come to CHOP.

[-] HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago

Turns out the only good republican was a dead republican.

[-] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 4 points 4 months ago

I am interested to see how the unanimously in favor of this voting pattern that I’m currently seeing will change, as the Americans wake up.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

He was a registered Republican but he also gave $15 to The Progressive Turnout Project which is a Democratic run group.

Honestly, it kind of seems like if he didn't do this, he would be a mass shooter. He was constantly bullied and was a quiet loner.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/07/14/thomas-crooks-trump-rally-shooter/74397935007/

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

this is speculation but

disillusioned youth, no prospects, small hope in progressive cause (probably Bernie), gets screwed by the party, gets further disillusioned, sees TFG, thinks it's good to have an outsider to show these establishment politicians what's what, registers republican, gets easily reeled in to the far right pipeline, becomes interested in Q stuff, gets obsessed with pedophilia and Epstein, sees recent Epstein revelations about TFG, ends up where too many people end up in the US: full of anger and hate with easy access to guns.

could be far off, but i wouldn't be surprised.

[-] WanderingVentra@lemm.ee 9 points 4 months ago

What's TFG?

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

the former guy. the orange turd. the fascist orangutan. the bitch baby.

[-] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Cheeto-Benito Mango-Mussolini.

[-] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

That Fucking Guy

https://youtu.be/UdnuYuV2zA4

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 5 points 4 months ago

Honestly that is an extremely common path. Mussolini took that route. He was a socialist that was pissed about the lack of progress so he went far right in the other direction.

[-] Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Different Thomas Crooks.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Same zip code and age. Do you have evidence that it is a different person?

[-] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Different zip and city it seems

Pittsburgh vs New Bethel

And no middle names, just Thomas Crooks

[-] Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml 9 points 4 months ago

So, this is 100% speculative rambling at this point, but as a gut feeling on my part that can be proven wrong: I get the feeling it might have been someone from a Republican family, possibly shitty family psychology-wise, registered as Republican for his families sake but got f'd up by the pressure within his personal relationships and the state of the world, who radicalised himself on the internet.

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

“Damn Ashley didn’t want to date me after I told her I believed in Trump… I’ll show him”

Something like that?

[-] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Thank goodness Republicans have made it so anyone can get a gun at any time for any reason. /s

[-] And009@reddthat.com 2 points 4 months ago

20yr old 'man', he was a kid. Say it like it is.

this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
160 points (95.5% liked)

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