Thomas Matthew Crooks, who opened fire in an assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, exchanged a series of unusual, cryptic text messages in the months before the attack, records obtained by Judicial Watch show.
“Did you 3D print the parts?” an individual identified by the FBI as an “unknown contact” asked Crooks in a Feb. 9, 2023, message.
“Yes, except for the fan blades,” Crooks replied.
“Woah that looks cool,” the contact responded. The person also asked about the “parts” mentioned in a separate Crooks message that was redacted by the FBI.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a 2024 campaign rally before being shot and killed by Secret Service agents. (Obtained by News Outlet)
The records also contain another exchange involving Crooks and a second redacted individual. Between May 21, 2023, and Jan. 3, 2024, Crooks sent the person a string of peculiar one- and two-word messages.
The messages included “Hello … Hello red …Hello red … Hdudhdbdbbd … 7888ejdj … Yolo … Ddodjjf … 890 … Hdjd … Djdj … red … Yup red … Hello … Jhhhuuh … Hhdj … Jjjjjjjjjjjj … Hello red … Red red.” The FBI redacted any responses from the other party, according to the released documents.
The FBI records obtained by Judicial Watch also include a notification from shipping company DHL concerning a package Crooks received from Hong Kong.
The document release contains 40 drone photographs taken by Crooks between Feb. 6 and Feb. 27, 2024. The images included PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium, the respective home venues of Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates and the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
Crooks’ interest in 3D printing had previously been reported by the New York Post, which reviewed documents obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to records obtained by Grassley, Crooks had earlier tried to use a 3D printer to make a Glock 19 handgun. His father, Matthew Crooks, described the effort to investigators.
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“Using carbon fiber plastic, a dryer and a toaster oven, Thomas did once create a Glock 19,” Matthew Crooks told investigators.
The family of Thomas Crooks leaves the house in Bethel Park, Penn., on Thursday, August 1, 2024. Crooks died while attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump in Butler on July 13. (Derek Shook for News Outlet)
Matthew Crooks told investigators he feared the homemade firearm could explode and therefore prohibited his son from using it, according to records reviewed by the Post.
The shooting at the Trump rally failed to kill then-candidate Donald Trump but left two civilians dead. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old fire chief, was killed instantly while shielding his family from the gunfire.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
James Copenhaver, a 76-year-old veteran, was struck in the triceps and midsection. The gunshot wounds damaged vital organs, including his kidneys and colon.
Copenhaver was released from the hospital one week after the attack but continued to experience complications from his injuries in the years that followed. He died from those complications on Sept. 23, 2026.
James Copenhaver prior to an interview in Pittsburgh, PA, U.S., July 8, 2025. (David Dee Delgado for News Outlet)
“These latest records reveal more pieces of the puzzle surrounding Thomas Crooks,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “The FBI should stop the slow drip of heavily redacted records and immediately provide the full investigative record — especially since the death last week of James Copenhaver, who was severely injured from being shot during the assassination attempt on President Trump.”
