The FBI said in a press statement on Monday afternoon that it had obtained access to the phone of the person believed to have opened fire on Donald Trump’s event and was currently reviewing the information on the device.
The incident, which left Trump bleeding from one ear and claimed the life of an audience member, is being looked into as an assassination attempt.
The purpose for the incident at Trump’s campaign rally on Saturday has been investigated by the authorities, but no conclusive evidence has surfaced as of yet. The encounter resulted in the gunman’s death, who the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
On Sunday, federal investigators revealed that they had acquired Crooks’s phone, but they were having trouble gaining access to the data on it due to password precautions.
According to a press release from the FBI, investigators transferred the phone to a lab in Virginia, where agents were able to obtain access.
Compared to many previous contemporary assassination plots or mass shootings, Crooks left behind no readily available manifesto or record of the attack, thus comparatively little information about him has surfaced as investigators and the media start piecing together what transpired in the incident.
Despite not having a significant online presence, he was a Republican voter who gave $15 to a Democratic-affiliated organization.
It’s unclear what kind of gadget Crooks was using and how officials were able to access it. In the past, law enforcement agencies and tech companies have clashed over access to private consumer data during investigations.
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One such instance was the FBI and Apple’s high-profile spat that followed the 2015 San Bernardino, California, mass murder.
Apple refused to comply with requests to unlock an attacker’s iPhone, citing security and privacy issues. In the end, the FBI had to enlist the help of a small Australian hacking company to effectively access the phone.
The FBI announced on Monday that it had finished interviewing up to 100 law enforcement officers, event participants, and other witnesses in addition to revealing that investigators had obtained access to Crooks’s phone. The authorities claimed to have finished searching the suspect’s house and vehicle.
