The FBI employed Israeli technology to breach the phone of the individual who attempted to assassinate former US President Donald Trump, according to a report by the Washington Post. The report cites sources familiar with the investigation.
Investigators sought the expertise of Cellebrite to hack into the phone of Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel, Pennsylvania, who opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler on Saturday. Crooks, armed with an assault rifle legally purchased by his father 11 years ago, killed one person, critically injured two others, and grazed the Republican presidential candidate’s right ear. A US Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks at the scene.
The shooter’s phone was recovered from his body and hacked to uncover his motive, which remains unclear. Without Cellebrite’s technology, it might have taken investigators weeks or months to unlock the phone, but the Israeli technology enabled them to access it in just 40 minutes, according to the report.
Cellebrite, a company listed on the NASDAQ, has faced scrutiny from rights groups for selling its services to repressive regimes, including Pakistan and Belarus. Investigators are also 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 reported.
The newspaper quotes two neighbors and Crooks’ school counselor, who described Crooks and his parents as normal. One neighbor characterized him as a “quiet, dorky kid” typical of the neighborhood. The counselor, who had worked with Crooks’ older sister, dismissed reports that Crooks was bullied at school, describing him as “quiet,” “intelligent,” “cooperative,” and “well-spoken.”
Two people familiar with the situation told the Post that Crooks’ parents, both licensed social workers, were loving but possibly unaware of specific details of their son’s life. Two neighbors mentioned seeing Trump signs on the family’s lawn.
