(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force investigating the Trump assassination attempt wrote to the Butler and Alleghany County coroners on Wednesday, demand to receive by Friday the autopsy records for alleged shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The Task Force’s demand comes amidst controversy about Crooks’s autopsy.
As Headline USA has reported, the FBI released Crooks’s body for cremation just 10 days after the July 13 shooting, before it could be examined by Congress or other independent investigators.
According to Task Force member Rep. Clay Higgins, no one—including the county Coroner, law enforcement, and county sheriff—knew Crooks’s body had gone missing until he tried examining it on Aug. 5. Higgins also said in a preliminary report last month that the FBI scrubbed the crime scene of biological evidence.
Furthermore, Crooks’s body was reportedly kept on the rooftop until 6 a.m. the day after the shooting. There, Butler County coroner William F. Young III allegedly examined Crooks’s body before sending him to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner for the autopsy.
The coroner, Young, released a one-page report on Aug. 2, but has suppressed the underpinning records—including exam photos, toxicology reports and scene images.
Headline USA has two outstanding records requests for Crooks’s autopsy records: one against Butler County and one against Alleghany County. And now, the Task Force wants those same records.
I'll give the Task Force credit: The Butler Coroner told me he has no records of the decision to send Crooks's body to Alleghany County, so the Task Force requested a description of any oral decisions that were made
I wonder if they're paying attention to my appeal! https://t.co/z8MwlvB80E pic.twitter.com/7QxT4qnezW— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 4, 2024
Specifically, the Task Force has requested the coroner’s report, the autopsy report, the toxicology report for Crooks, as well as all notes, photographs, and recordings of the coroner’s initial investigation of the scene of death and Crooks’ body. The Task Force also requested a list of entities and officials who examined Crooks, and all documents referring or relating to the recovery of Crook’s body from the roof of the American Glass Research building.
Finally, the Task Force wants all documents referring or relating to the release of Crooks’ body from the coroner’s jurisdiction. In Headline USA’s records request, Butler County coroner Young said no records exist of the decision to send Crooks to Alleghany County—but the House Task Force, to its credit, asked for a description of any oral decision that was made about the transfer.
Along with the autopsy records, the House Task Force also sent letters on Wednesday to Butler Township Police Department, the Butler County Sheriff’s Department, and both the Butler County and Beaver County Emergency Services Units—asking for transcribed interviews with the personnel involved in the July 13 deadly Trump rally. The names of the people the Task Force wants to interview are redacted.
Looks like we're not going to find out the identity of the mystery Butler County sniper today. The House Task Force requested to interview the Butler and Beaver law enforcement from the Trump shooting, but redacted their names "to protect the privacy of law enforcement officers." pic.twitter.com/Z3bFCdkX5s
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 4, 2024
FBI Response
Meanwhile, the FBI has pushed back against the accusations that its handling of Crooks’s body and the crime scene was nefarious.
“The FBI did release the crime scene at the Butler Farm grounds, as well as the AGR complex to the property owners in a timely fashion.
In fact, we released these sites on a rolling basis—but only after completing a thorough processing of each location, exhausting all efforts to collect any items of evidentiary value,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office, said at a press conference last week.
“Regarding the cleaning of the AGR roof, the FBI followed established evidentiary policies and procedures for the return of crime scenes to the property owner. This included cleaning the biological material from the AGR roof, only after ensuring we collected all relevant evidence,” he added.
As for the autopsy, Rojek said releasing the body before Congress could examine it was also standard operating procedure.
“The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police then concurred with the Butler County Coroner’s Office decision to release the remains to the subject’s family,” he said.
“I want to stress that it is not standard procedure or practice for the FBI or any law enforcement agency to request that the coroner or medical examiner maintain indefinite custody of a deceased subject’s body once the investigative purposes of our agency and our partner agencies are completed.”
Additionally, Rojek said Crooks’s toxicology report revealed negative results “for alcohol and drugs of abuse”—he didn’t mention psychotropics or other potential drugs.
Higgins responded to the FBI’s press conference immediately last week, reiterating his criticisms against the bureau.
Once again, the FBI is lying. It is 100% NOT “standard procedure” to cremate a body at the center of a major criminal investigation BEFORE a following investigative authority has had an opportunity to examine that body, when the FBI is VERY MUCH AWARE that a following… pic.twitter.com/z8W2G1B0k4
— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) August 29, 2024
“Once again, the FBI is lying. It is 100% NOT ‘standard procedure’ to cremate a body at the center of a major criminal investigation BEFORE a following investigative authority has had an opportunity to examine that body, when the FBI is VERY MUCH AWARE that a following investigative authority is coming right behind them. Same thing with a crime scene,” he said.
“The FBI is acting like they’re royalty. They. Are. Not. But that’s all right, it’s cool. Best served cold, actually. I’ll have these oppressors of truth before Congress.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
