The FBI told two Senate committees in a hearing Tuesday that it has identified a possible social media account "believed to be associated with" the Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks that reflects "anti-semitic" and "anti-immigrant" beliefs, suggesting for the first time a possible motive.
"Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature," FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told a combined hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.
"While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it important to share and note it today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect o the shooter's potential motive and mindset," he also said.
Abbate told Senate investigators that the social media account was used to leave about 700 comments online in 2019 and 2020.
If the account is proven to have belonged to Crooks, the evidence gathered from it would be the first suggestions of his potential motive to plan the assassination of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Though Crooks' attack on the former president was ultimately unsuccessful, he killed one rally attendee and seriously injured two others. Trump was struck by a bullet on his right ear and suffered a minor injury.
Abbate is testifying alongside acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
Related Story: Would-Be Trump Assassin Was on Law Enforcement Radar Nearly 100 Minutes for Shooting
