So Crooks was spotted early on with a rangefinder. I wonder if security had ever considered whether a rangefinder – in the absence of a weapon – would be allowed. At any rate, the officials who were alerted lost track of him. And in fact Crooks seemed to have been sighted several times by different officers, flagged as suspicious for different reasons each time, and lost by law enforcement. Did they communicate with each other? Did anyone ever realize this was the same person over and over? Did they have a clue what level of suspiciousness would be enough to stop the proceedings or delay them, until the suspicious person was identified and in custody or ascertained to be non-dangerous?

These reports only solidify my original notion that what went on in Butler, PA, last Saturday was a case of gross incompetence, terrible communication and coordination, stupidity, complacency, and lack of imagination.

We also have learned that Crooks’ parents had reported him missing hours before the shooting. They seem to have been alarmed:

His father told law enforcement he assumed his son had gone to the shooting range at the The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club to practice with his rifle and would be back by 1pm on Saturday, CNN reported. …

But as time went on he grew more concerned and phoned local law enforcement. …

Both of Crooks’ parents are behavioral therapists and Crooks’ father said he was baffled by his son’s actions.

That article also contains a pretty good timeline of Crooks’ movements and interactions with security.

I have a strong suspicion that Crooks revealed very little of his true self to his parents. He was a secretive cipher, quiet but with an internal life that finally exploded in the assassination attempt – which I see as his way to be famous and make history. We also have this from an ex-classmate, who says that Crooks didn’t like any politicians:

A former classmate of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks says the 20-year-old gunman once mocked him over his support of former President Donald Trump and had a general disdain for mainstream politicians across the political aisle.

“I brought up the fact that I’m Hispanic and, you know, I’m for Trump. And he said, ‘Well, you’re Hispanic, so shouldn’t you hate Trump?'” Vincent Taormina told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “No. He’s great. He was a great president. He called me stupid – or insinuated that I was stupid.” …

Taormina [said] that Crooks was usually quiet, except on certain topics that he seemed passionate about, including math and politics. And on those issues, he could be “smug [and] arrogant,” he added.

This fits exactly with my current theory, which is that Crooks had grandiose ideas about himself and that he committed the crime to overcome the fact that despite his great superiority he was still a nonentity. This is very similar to Oswald, who found that JFK was a target of opportunity due to the motorcade route but who had no special animus towards JFK but was hostile towards many public figures, including General Walker, whom he had tried to assassinate earlier. Oswald had a very firm sense of his own superiority but was also a failure and nonentity – and was a relatively young man as well, only just turned 24 years old.

Here’s an interesting video on security at Butler:

The post More on the shooter’s movements and possible motives appeared first on The New Neo.

Here’s the first article I’ve seen that attempts to track Crooks’ movements for the 24 hours prior to the shootings. It’s about what one would expect:

On Friday, Thomas Matthew Crooks visited the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club and practiced firing shots, a law enforcement official told CNN. …

Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, was also a member of the club, and the pair enjoyed going shooting there together, law enforcement said.

The club’s rifle range is about 200 yards long …

On Saturday morning, Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition at Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park. …

After his stop at the gun shop, Crooks went to a Home Depot, where he purchased a five-foot ladder. A receipt for the ladder was later found in his pocket. …

He used an AR-style rifle that was registered to his father. The weapon — as well as the over 20 other guns registered to Matthew Crooks — was purchased legally.

Investigators found an explosive device in Crooks’ car and a transmitter on his body, suggesting that he may have intended to stage a distraction during the shooting.

Crooks’ parents seem rather clueless about this – which makes sense if Crooks was the sort of quiet person who kept his mouth shut about what might be going on inside him, but apparently showed few signs of disturbance except social isolation.

As for motive, I don’t think it’s so puzzling at all. The motive was most likely notoriety. Crooks seems to have been a total nonentity, smart but making little to no mark on the world or anyone in it. Trump is probably the world’s most famous person. Whether Crooks hated Trump or not will never be known, although it’s probable that he did. But even without such hatred, the desire to go down in history as a mastermind assassin would be plenty enough motive to do this and to be willing to die in the attempt.

The post More on would-be-assassin Crooks appeared first on The New Neo.