Crooks used encrypted messaging, FBI says. That doesn’t mean much.
Crooks used encrypted communications, FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators today. But so do practically all Americans with smartphones.
While encryption was once the purview of governments, militaries and those with technological expertise, the most popular chat apps on Americans' smartphones are encrypted by default.
Apple’s default text messenger, iMessage, automatically encrypts texts with fellow Apple users. Google’s equivalent, Messages, does the same with fellow Android users. WhatsApp and Signal are encrypted by default, and Facebook Messenger and Telegram offer encryption.
Regardless of whether they were encrypted, the FBI is able to view messages on Crooks’ smartphone if they aren’t set to auto-delete. Authorities said Monday that the bureau had gained access to his phone.
Crooks visited the rally site days before the shooting, sources say
The 20-year-old who shot at Trump on Saturday visited the site of the former president's rally days ahead of the event to scope out the area, two sources familiar with today's Senate briefing told NBC News.
Crooks was photographed as a suspicious person 62 minutes before he opened fire, and snipers spotted him 20 minutes before the shooting, the sources said.
The FBI has interviewed over 200 people, reviewed over 14,000 images and reviewed Crooks' cellphone but has not yet identified a motive. Some of those images depicted a livestream of Trump's rally in Butler, where the shooting occurred.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators there is no known connection to foreign entities at this time.
A sighting of the gunman was reported an hour before the shooting, Sen. Barrasso says
Crooks was reported as a suspicious person an hour before he began shooting at Trump, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in a statement to NBC News following a Senate briefing on the matter.
Barrasso described the briefing as a "cover-your-ass" meeting and insisted that the head of the Secret Service "needs to go." No one has yet been held accountable for the security failures that led to Crooks being able to open fire, he said.
"He was identified as being suspicious one hour before the shooting," Barrasso said. "He had a range finder and a backpack. The Secret Service lost sight of him. No one has taken responsibility."
The two injured shooting victims are upgraded to serious condition
The conditions of the two victims who were shot and injured while attending Trump's rally have improved four days later, according to Allegheny General Hospital.
James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, were upgraded from critical to serious condition this afternoon, the hospital said in a statement.
No additional details on their injuries were provided.
Transmitter found with shooting suspect was a firework detonator, source says
The transmitter found alongside Crooks' body after the shooting has been identified as a remote control for a firework detonator, according to a senior U.S. law enforcement official briefed on the matter.
Authorities found two suspected improvised explosive devices in Crooks' car, which the FBI described as "rudimentary devices." The transmitter is typically used for commercial firework companies but is available for sale to the general public. Pennsylvania allows the sale of fireworks to adults.
Photos of the transmitter were exclusively obtained by NBC affiliate WPXI. It looks like a small gray-colored remote control.
Secret Service director subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee
The head of the Secret Service has been ordered to appear at a House Oversight Committee hearing next week as part of an investigation into the attempt to assassinate Trump.
Cheatle's voluntary appearance at the July 22 hearing recently came into question, which necessitated the subpoena, according to the subpoena from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. The document, obtained by NBC News, said the Secret Service originally committed to her voluntary attendance but officials from the Department of Homeland Security "appear to have intervened."
"The lack of transparency and failure to cooperate with the Committee on this pressing matter by both DHS and the Secret Service further calls into question your ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the attached subpoena compelling your appearance before the Oversight Committee," Comer wrote.
The Secret Service was aware of reports about a suspicious person with a range finder when Trump took the stage
Local law enforcement saw Crooks with a range finder before Trump took the stage Saturday, a source familiar with the investigation into the attempted assassination told NBC News.
According to the source, local law enforcement reported to Secret Service that they were looking for a suspicious person with a range finder. It does not appear local law enforcement saw Crooks with a weapon before the event, only a range finder.
The device would have enabled Crooks to measure the distance of his shot.
With the information that local law enforcement were looking for a suspicious person in the crowd with a range finder, Secret Service still allowed Trump to take the stage.
House Intelligence Committee chair calls Secret Service chief's comments 'horrible'
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s statements about presidential security have come up short.
“No, I think they’ve been horrible,” Turner told MSNBC host Katy Tur, adding, “Clearly, there needs to be changes to the Secret Service.”
He demanded an “immediate independent review of the security platform and footprint” for Trump and President Joe Biden and said he supports House Speaker Mike Johnson’s call for Cheatle to resign, but it’s “not enough.”
FBI and Secret Service to brief House members on the assassination attempt
The departments of Justice and Homeland Security are hosting a call to brief all House members this afternoon on Saturday’s assassination attempt.
The briefers will include FBI Director Christopher Wray, Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, according to two sources familiar with the planning for the call and a copy of the invitation.
The briefing, at 3:30 p.m., comes after several House Republicans expressed frustration over what they said was a delay by the Secret Service and DHS to discuss the incident with them.
Wray will also brief senators alongside Cheatle, Rowe and Abbate. As of now, Cheatle is not listed on the House briefer list, according to an invitation obtained by NBC News. The Senate briefing will be at 3 p.m. and the House briefing at 3:30 p.m.
New information on location of SWAT team at rally raises more questions
There has been much confusion over the role of local law enforcement versus the Secret Service at Trump’s rally Saturday.
Although Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an ABC News interview earlier this week that local police were inside the building whose roof the gunman used, a Secret Service official tells NBC News that the local SWAT team was not actually in the building, but rather was in another building in the same complex.
The official could not say which building the local SWAT team used, only that it was connected to the building the shooter used.
This raises new questions about the level of planning and communication between the Secret Service and the local law enforcement officials and whether the local team was in the best position to secure the outer perimeter or whether the local sniper team could have had an even better view of the roof the shooter used if they were perhaps in a building that looked down on the roof.
When asked if the roof should have been secured, Cheatle told ABC News that the slope on the building's roof raised safety concerns, so "the decision was made to secure the building from inside."
Cheatle also told ABC News that local law enforcement officials were assigned to secure the building, adding that some of them were inside when the shooter was on the roof.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site, and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building. There was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”