Trump shooter did not say “I hate Republicans, I hate Trump”

The attempted assassination on former president Donald J. Trump spawned a wave of false claims, conspiracy theories – including a video of him allegedly filming himself saying “I hate Republicans, I hate Trump”. 

The shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 years old, from Pennsylvania, shot and killed Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, and critically injured two civilians who were in the line of gunfire in the Trump rally. 

The Secret Service then returned fire and killed him on the sloped roof he was camping in that had a clear and direct view of Donald Trump.  

One claim that went viral was a video that circulated widely where Internet users believed Crooks filmed himself saying “My name is Thomas Matthew Crooks and I hate Republicans and Trump.” 

Crooks previously donated USD 15 to a democratic organization via ActBlue in 2021 despite being a registered Republican according to public records seen by CBS News. However, the person video saying “I hate Republicans and Trump” was in fact a similar-looking twitter user who posted the video hours after the shooting. 

BBC Verify, which uses open source intelligence and investigative techniques to track misinformation, reported that the man in the widely-viewed video is not Thomas Crooks. 

The video gathered millions of views on social media platforms, fueled by popular accounts sharing it, including former CNN host Don Lemon and far-right activist Laura Loomer.