photo: Anna Money Tree (Getty Images)
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old man identified as the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last week, appears to have died on Valve’s PC ahead of time Information about the attack was posted on the game storefront Steam.
“July 13th will be my premiere, please watch it unfold,” Crooks wrote. According to Fox News The company said the information was shared during a private briefing with U.S. senators yesterday. It’s unclear when the news was posted, or what other types of news he might have shared on Steam. While little is known about Crooks or his possible motives, former classmates say He sometimes plays games in class.
Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On July 13, Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, resulting in the death of one attendee, serious injuries to two others, and bleeding from the 2024 presidential candidate’s ears. While the FBI investigation into the attack is still ongoing, New York Times and others reported that Crooks used his phone to search for Trump and President Joe Biden, as well as the location of the Democratic National Convention.
But so far, interviews more than 200 people A search of Crooks’ home and car did not appear to reveal his political ideology or a possible motive for the attack. The 20-year-old doesn’t seem to have left any footprints online, either. with discord statement Although he has an account on the gaming chat platform, he rarely uses it and has not shared anything about his political views or plans to attack the platform.
In the wake of mass shootings and other high-profile political violence, copycat accounts purporting to take on the names of shooters often appear on Steam and other gaming platforms. Valve has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to control Steamincluding neo-Nazi content and other hate speech on the platform, although there is no indication that anything Crooks wrote on the site fit that description.
