Pornography was the last search Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, made on his smartphone before he tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump last weekend, according to the FBI.
The FBI's Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Virginia, made the discovery after breaking into Crooks' encrypted Samsung smartphone, The Daily Beast reported Friday, citing an anonymous source.
The only other recent activity on the phone that the FBI discovered were texts from his parents asking where he was. The source said the parents thought their son had taken the rifle and gone to a shooting range where he sometimes practiced.
According to The Times of Israel, the FBI's Pittsburgh field office first obtained the device but could not gain access because the model was relatively new. The smartphone was then sent to the FBI's Quantico office, where agents, using technology from Israeli company Cellebrite, gained access to the smartphone within "40 minutes."
The FBI soon discovered that Crooks's last search was for pornography, but The Daily Beast's source said this was "not unusual."
The Daily Beast reported the FBI has largely completed its examination of Crooks' phone and is now working on his laptop, as well as a number of hard drives recovered from his bedroom at his parents' house. The agents are trying to find a motive behind the assassination attempt. So far, no clear motivation or psychiatric disorder has been reported.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that Crooks had more than one phone, according to the Times of Israel.
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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