Investigators working to determine a motive behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump found a message posted to the gaming platform Steam that they believe was authored by the suspect, in which he said that “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds,” according to three law enforcement sources briefed on the probe.
Investigators also have found on the phone of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, internet searches for both Trump and President Joe Biden, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News. The suspect had searched for the dates of Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and for those of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the sources said.
RELATED: Secret Service spotted shooter on roof 20 minutes before gunfire erupted at Trump rally
The suspect’s phone was one of several devices that law enforcement investigators had collected, as they worked to piece together a timeline of the assassination attempt against the former president during a Saturday rally.
The FBI early on Sunday had identified Crooks as the suspect. The U.S. Secret Service said snipers had killed Crooks the scene. Firefighter Corey Comperatore, a dad who was attending the rally, was killed, and two other bystanders were injured, officials said.
The searches compounded the questions that were swirling as investigators searched for a reason for the shooting, including a possible political motive. Crooks had been registered as a Republican voter, according to state records. But a $15 donation to a progressive group was also recorded under “Thomas Crooks” in January 2021, according to FEC records.
RELATED: What Thomas Matthew Crooks did in hours leading up to assassination attempt on Trump
As investigators analyzed the suspect’s phone, they looked at his search history, which included the queries for Trump and Biden. But that search history didn’t immediately appear to reveal Crooks’ political views, sources told ABC News.
Law enforcement officials investigating the assassination attempt told lawmakers on Wednesday that 20 minutes had passed between the time Secret Service snipers first spotted Crooks on a rooftop and the time the first shots were fired, according to several law enforcement officials and lawmakers briefed on the matter.
Officials said the snipers spotted the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, on the roof of a building outside the security zone at the rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, at 5:52 p.m. ET. The shooting happened at 6:12 p.m. ET, 20 minutes later, the sources said.
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