Thomas Matthew Crooks emailed a Butler County Sheriff’s deputy before he shot at Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on July 13, 2024, according to FBI records obtained by Judicial Watch.
The 48 pages, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, also reveal that a Washington County SWAT officer recovered a gray remote device with numerical push buttons and an antenna — along with a cell phone — from Crooks’ right pocket after he was killed.
The FBI redacted the content of those emails. The deputy told investigators she did not recognize Crooks when news broke. A New York Times reporter contacted her the following Sunday with questions, which led her to search her inbox. She found only two exchanges with Crooks, both on a subject the FBI also blacked out.
A Beaver County medic told the FBI she reached the roof of the American Glass Research building by collapsible ladder and declared Crooks dead at 6:25 p.m. She found him face-down, handcuffed with flex-cuffs, his rifle lying to his left.
A bomb disposal team came to the roof to examine the device. The medic and others were told to evacuate after a police canine alerted on the building below. Crooks’ body stayed on the roof.
Judicial Watch sued the FBI in July 2025 after the bureau ignored a FOIA request filed in July 2024.
“Our federal lawsuit continues to force the release of new information from the assassination attempt at the Butler rally,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said. “The American people deserve full transparency about Thomas Crooks, his contacts, and why key details about this case remain hidden nearly a year later.”
Earlier, Judicial Watch forced the release of a 911 call recording placed by Crooks’ father and FBI records showing law enforcement had broadcast radio warnings about a suspicious male before the shooting.
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