FBI Critics Weigh in on Missed Opportunity to Stop Would-Be Trump Assassin
A former FBI assistant director has slammed the Bureau for failing to take action against Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old who opened fire on then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Chris Swecker's scathing critique comes as The Post recently revealed multiple extremist social media posts believed to be tied to Crooks, including numerous threats of political violence.
According to Swecker, if even half of Trump's would-be assassin's digital footprint turns out to be true, it should have raised red flags for the FBI long before the shooting. "It's clear that he was popping off on social media sites and saying things that should have garnered attention," Swecker said, adding that this constitutes a "miss" by the Bureau.
The disturbing posts made by Crooks include comments such as "I always believed being patriotic was lining up a bunch of socialist Jews and blasting their useless brains out with an AR" and "KILL DEMOCRATS." He also wrote that members of the "Squad" should suffer a "quick, painful death" and advocated for terrorism-style attacks.
Swecker claims that the FBI under then-director Christopher Wray was desperate to pin Crooks as a far-right lone gunman. He says this led to a lack of transparency in the investigation, which allowed conspiracy theories to spread and multiply. Swecker believes that a little more transparency would have helped prevent such incidents.
The former assistant director also expresses concerns about bias within the FBI towards right-wing extremists. "There was a bias in the FBI towards right-wing extremists," Swecker said. "And if there was a right-wing extremist ideology, it got surfaced real quick in any of these shootings. But if there was a left-wing extremist ideology driving it, it was glossed over."
Swecker urges the public to be more vigilant about online threats and suggests that foreign radicalization of US citizens is a growing concern. "The scariest thing about this article is the thought that a hostile foreign intelligence service or an enemy could be looking for guys like Crooks and grooming them," he warned.
While Swecker's criticism of the FBI is severe, it highlights the need for improved vigilance against online threats. As the US continues to grapple with extremist ideologies, it's essential for law enforcement agencies to prioritize transparency and unbiased investigations.
A former FBI assistant director has slammed the Bureau for failing to take action against Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old who opened fire on then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Chris Swecker's scathing critique comes as The Post recently revealed multiple extremist social media posts believed to be tied to Crooks, including numerous threats of political violence.
According to Swecker, if even half of Trump's would-be assassin's digital footprint turns out to be true, it should have raised red flags for the FBI long before the shooting. "It's clear that he was popping off on social media sites and saying things that should have garnered attention," Swecker said, adding that this constitutes a "miss" by the Bureau.
The disturbing posts made by Crooks include comments such as "I always believed being patriotic was lining up a bunch of socialist Jews and blasting their useless brains out with an AR" and "KILL DEMOCRATS." He also wrote that members of the "Squad" should suffer a "quick, painful death" and advocated for terrorism-style attacks.
Swecker claims that the FBI under then-director Christopher Wray was desperate to pin Crooks as a far-right lone gunman. He says this led to a lack of transparency in the investigation, which allowed conspiracy theories to spread and multiply. Swecker believes that a little more transparency would have helped prevent such incidents.
The former assistant director also expresses concerns about bias within the FBI towards right-wing extremists. "There was a bias in the FBI towards right-wing extremists," Swecker said. "And if there was a right-wing extremist ideology, it got surfaced real quick in any of these shootings. But if there was a left-wing extremist ideology driving it, it was glossed over."
Swecker urges the public to be more vigilant about online threats and suggests that foreign radicalization of US citizens is a growing concern. "The scariest thing about this article is the thought that a hostile foreign intelligence service or an enemy could be looking for guys like Crooks and grooming them," he warned.
While Swecker's criticism of the FBI is severe, it highlights the need for improved vigilance against online threats. As the US continues to grapple with extremist ideologies, it's essential for law enforcement agencies to prioritize transparency and unbiased investigations.
, what's really going on? if they were so desperate to pin Crooks as a lone gunman, then why didn't they just come clean about their investigation from the start? seems like Swecker is being super honest here and it's probably gonna blow some serious holes in the FBI's reputation 
. btw, those social media posts are straight outta a horror movie, how did no one catch on sooner?! 
I gotta say, this whole thing is crazy! The FBI really dropped the ball on Crooks, and now they're getting roasted by a former assistant director 
. It's like, what if that social media stuff was real? Shouldn't it have been a major red flag from the start? 
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. And what's with all these online threats? It's like, come on, people! We need to be more vigilant and report suspicious activity 
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. That's a super serious concern, and it's not something we can just ignore 
. The FBI needs to do better here, and so do all of us 
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. Swecker's criticism of bias within the FBI towards right-wing extremists also gives me pause 
- if there's a left-wing extremist ideology driving a threat, where's the investigation? It highlights the need for more nuanced and unbiased investigations 
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like how did no one catch that dude was hatching a plot to take down trump? i mean crooks was basically broadcasting his intentions on social media like what's the worst that could happen right? 
but seriously, it's crazy that the fbi missed the boat and now Swecker's gotta come in and clean up the mess. bias within the fbi towards right-wing extremists is super concerning too - shouldn't law enforcement be impartial when it comes to extremist ideologies? 
And now we're dealing with this guy who was basically groomed by a foreign intel service to do something horrific. It's so messed up 
The fact that there's bias within the FBI towards right-wing extremists is also super concerning - I mean, shouldn't they be neutral and just focus on stopping threats? 
Anyway, it's clear we need to do better when it comes to online surveillance and radicalization. We can't let our guard down for a second 
... Anyway, it's great that Chris Swecker is speaking up about this because, clearly, we need more people calling out the FBI for their incompetence 
(because they should've been doing that in the first place 
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. I mean, come on, 20 posts about wanting to kill people and advocating for terrorism? That's a red flag as big as a Trump rally sign 
! The fact that Swecker thinks the FBI was too invested in pinning him as a lone gunman just shows how deep-seated some of these biases can be 
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. We need to be proactive about online safety, transparency, and fairness in our investigations 
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. Swecker's right, if half of those posts are legit, it should've been addressed way earlier.
. we gotta stay vigilant, for sure. can't let some psycho like Crooks get the best of us 
And honestly, it's scary thinking that foreign forces might be grooming these ppl... 
We gotta stay vigilant online & report any suspicious stuff! 
this is crazy, think about what was just posted on those social media sites, can't believe they didn't take action sooner, sounds like they were looking for a way out 
. I don't know what's more disturbing - the fact that this guy was making all these threats online or that the FBI didn't take him seriously enough 
. We need to be keeping a closer eye on our online communities and making sure we're not missing any red flags. It's also worrying that there might be foreign interference going on behind the scenes... can't have that happening in our country 
now people are gonna think they're too slow to act and who's gonna trust them after this? 
It seems like the FBI's lack of action on Thomas Crooks' online threats is a ticking time bomb waiting to happen 
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We need better online monitoring and investigations, or else we'll keep having incidents like this. And what's up with foreign radicalization?