(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The FBI has released another batch of records on alleged would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks, revealing some of his text messages, as well as photos he took with his drone in early 2024.
The FBI records on Crooks—who was killed after allegedly shooting at Donald Trump during his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania—also include messages indicating that he may have received a DHL delivery from Hong Kong in January 2023.
EXCLUSIVE: Judicial Watch obtained records revealing that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who shot President Donald Trump at a July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, used a drone to take photos in and around Pittsburgh in the months leading up to the assassination attempt.… pic.twitter.com/h3QMKTbjz1
— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) October 2, 2026
The texts include messages between Crooks and an unnamed associate, who reached out to him on Feb. 8, 2023: “what’s up tom! What you’ve been up to?”
Crooks replied that he was busy with school. He also apparently sent photos of something he made with a 3D printer. The photos weren’t included in the FBI records.
The texts indicate that Crooks’s associate, whom he may have known from high school, was attending the University of Pittsburgh. The two discussed how they were still living with their parents. Crooks said he was trying to save for an apartment, but that it was too expensive.
Another text thread appears at first glance to be gibberish being sent between Crooks and his unnamed associate/friend, such as “Hello,” “Hello red,” “Hello red,” “Hdudhdbdbbd,” “7888ejdj,” “Yolo,” and “Ddodjjf.” One twitter observed that the two may have been texting short-hand messages while playing video games.
The records also include photos Crooks allegedly took with his drone earlier in 2024, including images of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates stadiums.
Additionally, the records contain a message Crooks received in January 2023 from the delivery company DHS, saying, “DHL Express 2405984463 from Parcel from HK will arrive soon.” Judicial Watch, which obtained the records via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, interpreted the text as Crooks having received a package from Hong Kong.
Thomas Crooks may have received a package from Hong Kong in January 2023, according to the latest batch of FBI records obtained by @JudicialWatch
(Judicial Watch interpreted the "HK" in the below texts as "Hong Kong") pic.twitter.com/P1uH97KpDf— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) October 4, 2026
The records, which Judicial Watch published Friday, represent the ninth batch of documents released by the FBI on Crooks this year. So far, the FBI has released about 1,000 pages in total. However, the bureau has admitted that it holds roughly 75,000 pages of records on Crooks.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called on the FBI to release the entire fire immediately.
“These latest records reveal more pieces of the puzzle surrounding Thomas Crooks,” Fitton said in a press release. “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.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
