FBI said to use Israeli technology to quickly crack phone of Trump’s would-be-assassin
The FBI used Israeli technology to break into the phone of former US president Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, the Washington Post reports, citing people familiar with the investigation.
Investigators enlisted Cellebrite to hack into the phone of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel, Pennsylvania, who opened fire at a Trump rally in nearby Butler on Saturday. Crooks, who used an assault rifle legally purchased by his father 11 years ago, killed one person and critically injured two, and one of his bullets grazed the Republican presidential candidate’s right ear. A US Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks on the spot.
The shooter’s phone was recovered from his body and was hacked to help determine his motive, which remains elusive. While it could otherwise have possibly taken investigators weeks or even months to crack the phone, the Israeli technology enabled them to get the job done in just 40 minutes, the report says.
Cellebrite, which is listed on the NASDAQ, has come under scrutiny from rights groups in the past over the sale of its services to repressive regimes, including Pakistan and Belarus.
Investigators are considering the possibility that Crooks used two phones, after discovering a phone with a dead battery at his home in Bethel Park, where he lived with his parents, the Post said.
The newspaper cites two neighbors and Crooks’ school counselor as saying that Crooks and his parents were normal, with one neighbor describing him as a “quiet, dorky kid” typical of the neighborhood. The counselor, who worked with the shooter’s older sister, denies reports that Crooks was bullied while at school. He is said to describe Crooks as “quiet,” “intelligent,” “cooperative” and “well-spoken.”
Two people familiar with the situation are cited by the Post as saying that Crooks’ parents, both of whom are licensed social workers, were loving though possibly not attuned to specifics of their son’s life. Two neighbors recall seeing Trump signs on the family’s lawn.
