The FBI had possession of would-be assassin Thomas Crooks’ cell phone at least 24 hours before the social exile used an AR-style rifle to wound President Trump, kill a 50-year-old father of two, and injure two other spectators at the president’s campaign rally last Saturday, a source in General Eric M. Smith’s office told.
Shortly after the shooting and identification of the suspect, the FBI announced it had executed a search warrant on Crooks’ home and found his phone and computer, as well as suspicious “devices,” according to the agency’s website. On Monday, an updated post said experts at the FBI’s Quantico headquarters had “successfully gained access to” Crooks’ phone and were analyzing electronic devices.