Donald Trump's failed assassin took to the internet to write a chilling post which foreshadowed the rally shooting, it has emerged.
The 45th former US president came within milliseconds of death last week after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at him from the slanted roof of a building just 150 meters to his right.
The Secret Service's own snipers - who were positioned on the buildings behind Trump - were unable to spot him, despite spectators at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, alleging they were pointing him out prior to the event unfolding.
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While Crooks did not kill the former president, he critically injured two attendees behind him and fatally shot father-of-two Corey Comperatore.
The 50-year-old volunteer fire chief has been dubbed a hero after diving on his children to save them.
The presidential candidate didn't get away unscathed though, one of the multiple bullets fired struck him on, and pierced through the top of his right ear.
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Crooks, a kitchen worker, was armed with an AR-style rifle when he was shot dead by the Secret Service 26 seconds after he opened fire on the rally.
Crooks lived nearby to the rally in a small Pittsburgh suburb in Bethel Park in Pennsylvania, just 43 miles away, and graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School with a $500 prize for maths and science.
And now, it has emerged that he shared some chilling words online ahead of the shooting.
According to Fox News, US senators were briefed at a meeting yesterday (July 17), where all-members were asked to be present. It was there where it emerged that the killer wrote an eerie message on the gaming platform Steam before the event unfolded.
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Steam users can purchase, play and even create games on the platform.
Crooks is alleged to have wrote: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.”
And upon reviewing his laptop, investigators discovered he had searched 'Trump', 'Biden', 'when is DNC convention', and 'July 13 Trump rally'.
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However, despite Crooks - whose mom and dad reported him missing to the police on the day of the incident - shooting at Trump, State voter records showed that he was in fact registered as a Republican.
While the want-to-be assassin, who told his boss that he needed the day off from work on the day of the rally and that he would be back in the next day, donated $15 to a liberal campaign group ActBlue in 2021.
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Joe Yates