The Trump shooting: what happened and what’s next

FBI director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday that the person who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump searched the web for “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” one week before the rally shooting, as reported by The New York Times.

Investigators recovered the search from a laptop linked to 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, which refers to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald. “That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind,” Wray said during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. “That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.”

The FBI used an unreleased tool from the Israeli mobile forensics company Cellebrite to unlock the Trump rally shooter’s phone — and opened it in less than an hour, according to reports from Bloomberg and The Washington Post.

Investigators at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office first tried to open Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone with a Cellebrite tool but weren’t able to break into it. The phone was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, on Sunday, where agents called Cellebrite’s federal team, people familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg. Cellebrite sent the FBI an unreleased tool that’s still in development, which was able to unlock Crooks’ phone in 40 minutes.

FBI officials told Congress on Wednesday that the 20-year-old who shot at former President Donald Trump may have posted a warning on Steam before the attack — but CNN is now reporting that investigators think the account is fake.

Investigators at the bureau “gained access” to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone earlier this week and have been combing through it to determine his motive and put together a timeline of events. In a briefing with members of Congress on Wednesday, FBI officials said Crooks had used his phone and other devices to search for information about and images of Trump and President Joe Biden — and that he left a cryptic message on Steam announcing the shooting, according to reports by The New York Times and ABC News.

The fallout from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally over the weekend is seeping into even the most tangential circles — in this case, the print-on-demand custom sticker industry.

This week, Sticker Mule, a popular option for companies, creators, event organizers, and others wanting branded merchandise, shared a long message expressing support for Trump.

Just two days after the attempted assassination at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the FBI announced it “gained access” to the shooter’s phone. The bureau has not disclosed how it broke into the phone — or what has been found on it — but the speed with which the agency did so is significant, and security experts say it points to the increased efficacy of phone hacking tools.

In a call with reporters on Sunday, the bureau said field agents in Pennsylvania had tried and failed to break into Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone. The device was then sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

News moves fast following shocking events. But the hustlers trying to make a quick buck might move even faster.

Within hours of a shooter attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday, countless products emblazoned with an image of Trump, bloodied and fist raised, were for sale on e-commerce platforms. A shirt on Temu with an image from the rally and the words “TRUMP BULLETPROOF” is for sale for $9.59. (One person died at the rally and two were critically injured.) On Amazon, many of the top-selling men’s novelty T-shirts are nearly identical: some version of an image of Trump at the rally, alongside phrases like “FIGHT!” and “NEVER SURRENDER.”

The FBI has successfully broken into the phone of the man who shot at former President Donald Trump at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“FBI technical specialists successfully gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone, and they continue to analyze his electronic devices,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.

The person who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a rally on Saturday had a Discord account — though it was rarely used — according to the company.

“Discord removed the account according to our off-platform behavior policy and we are assisting law enforcement in their investigation,” Clint Smith, chief legal officer of Discord, said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s account was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views, but with the investigation ongoing, we are not able to share any additional information at this time.” Discord didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about how it traced the account and what communities the account was part of.

Investigators are working to break into the phone of the man who shot at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. The shooting is being probed as an assassination attempt.

The FBI said in a statement that it had obtained the shooter’s phone “for examination.” Officials told reporters in a conference call on Sunday, as reported by The New York Times, that agents in Pennsylvania were unable to break into the phone. It’s been shipped to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia, where the FBI hopes to get past the phone’s password protection, the Times reported.

Conspiracy theories about the shooting at a rally for Donald Trump began surfacing on X shortly after the news broke this afternoon, with the platform promoting topics including “#falseflag” and “staged” to users. X owner Elon Musk has staunchly advocated for “free speech” on social media platforms — which can include misinformation like the above.

After the shooting, Musk posted that he would “fully endorse” the former president. Bloomberg reported yesterday that Musk donated to a super PAC supporting Trump, giving a “sizable amount” to reelection efforts. Musk has taken on increasingly conservative views in recent years, promoting the “great replacement” conspiracy theory and endorsing support for white pride. His support adds to a growing rank of powerful voices in Silicon Valley that are promoting his campaign.