From Fox News: The digital trail of President Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks tells “quite a different story” than the FBI’s congressional statements about the 20-year-old, New York Post columnist Miranda Devine told “America Reports” Monday.
“We were sort of led to believe that Thomas Crooks was really a ghost, that there was no motive that could be ascertained from his online accounts,” Devine discussed. “And yet a source has provided us with a lot of information from 17 different online accounts that Thomas Crook had.”
In an op-ed Monday, Devine demanded a “better explanation” from the FBI and Secret Service about what led Crooks to attempt to assassinate Trump over a year ago in Butler, Pa.
On July 13, 2024, Crooks fired off eight shots from a rooftop at Trump during his rally, killing 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comparatore and hitting Trump in the ear. He also injured two rally attendees.
In her op-ed in the New York Post on Monday, Devine said, “We are all owed a better explanation from the FBI and Secret Service about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump 16 months ago at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.”
“There is something very wrong with the official story and that invites conspiracy theories. The president demanded answers months ago. A man was murdered. What is going on?” she demanded.
FBI Director Kash Patel appeared to slam suggestions last week that the FBI hadn’t properly investigated the case, and wrote on X:
The FBI’s investigation into Thomas Crooks identified and examined over 20 online accounts, data extracted from over a dozen electronic devices, examination of numerous financial accounts, and over 1,000 interviews and 2000 public tips.
The investigation, conducted by over 480 FBI employees, revealed Crooks had limited online and in person interactions, planned and conducted the attack alone, and did not leak or share his intent to engage in the attack with anyone.
However, Devine wrote in her op-ed on Monday:
Thanks to an enterprising source who uncovered Crooks’ hidden digital footprint, we can see that Abbate misled Congress by omission, because he left out an entire section of Crooks’ online interactions from January to August 2020 when he did an ideological backflip and went from rabidly pro-Trump to rabidly anti-Trump and then went dark, never seeming to post again.
Among the 17 accounts uncovered by our source were ones on YouTube, Snapchat, Venmo, Zelle, GroupMe, Discord, Google Play, Quizlet, Chess.com and Quora.
The online interactions from when Crooks was ages 15 to 17 give us a better understanding of his evolution into an assassin, and invite more questions about what — or who — reversed his ideology.
“The danger Crooks posed was visible for years in public online spaces,” says the source. “His radicalization, violent rhetoric and obsession with political violence were all documented under his real name. The threat wasn’t hidden.”
She also wrote:
The official narrative claimed he acted alone and without a clear motive, ideology or digital footprint.
Yet the source found reams of information that shows Crooks “was not simply some unknowable lone actor … He left a digital trail of violent threats, extremist ideology and admiration for mass violence. He spoke openly of political assassination, posted under his real name and was even flagged by other users who mentioned law enforcement in their replies. Despite this, his account remained active for more than five years — and was only removed the day after the shooting.
Devine revealed that over the years, Crooks did a complete 180 on his political leanings, from being pro-Trump in 2019 to later becoming extremely critical of Trump, until he tried to assassinate him in July 2024.
Devin also revealed a strange connection between Crooks and Charlie Kirk’s assassin Tyler Robinson: they both had a bizarre interest in “furries” and exploring gender identity. She wrote:
He described himself with the pronouns “they/them” on the platform DeviantArt, which is one of the biggest online hubs for “furry” art and the “furry” community. (A furry is someone who has an interest in anthropomorphized animal characters, often as a sexual fetish.)
Two accounts linked to Crooks’ primary email were found on DeviantArt, under usernames “epicmicrowave” and “theepicmicrowave.” The account suggests he had an obsession with scantily clad cartoon characters sporting muscle-bound male bodies and female heads.
CLICK HERE to read the full op-ed posted by journalist Miranda Devin. WATCH BELOW as she shares more details in a Fox News interview on Monday:
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet reacted to the report, writing, “WOW. President Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks was entertaining a furry fetish, just like Tyler Robinson. He also used they/them pronouns on social media profiles. This is beyond correlation, this is a five alarm fire. Important reporting from @mirandadevine.”
WOW. President Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks was entertaining a furry fetish, just like Tyler Robinson. He also used they/them pronouns on social media profiles.
This is beyond correlation, this is a five alarm fire.
Important reporting from @mirandadevine. pic.twitter.com/zjpgUD9hh0
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) November 17, 2025
Also on Monday, Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) posted a glowing tribute to transgenders.
Kolvet responded, “We find out that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was into furry fetishes and identified as they/them, and as if on cue, AOC decides to celebrate the trans community for their “courage, and beauty.””
We find out that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was into furry fetishes and identified as they/them, and as if on cue, AOC decides to celebrate the trans community for their “courage, and beauty.” pic.twitter.com/SWqfYXdTCs
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) November 17, 2025
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