Straight white male conservative incel who played violent video games and obsessed over Star Wars and guns was acting out a fantasy when he shot an insurrectionist convicted-criminal cult leader and a Putin simp last SundayTrump shooter Thomas Crooks was likely 'acting out a fantasy': Extremism expert“Crooks could easily have become a mass killer – the Secret Service snipers prevented that," says Jytte KlausenChristina Coulter By Christina Coulter Fox NewsPublished July 22, 2024 6:00am EDThttps://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-shooter-thomas-crooks-likely-acting-out-fantasy-extremism-expertBETHEL PARK, Pa. – An expert in extremism and terrorism said that Thomas Matthew Crooks' assassination attempt on former President Trump was likely not politically motivated – instead, the 20-year-old was likely "acting out a fantasy," and seeking a target that would bring him "attention and fame."Jytte Klausen, a political science professor at Brandeis University, has studied terrorist networks and violent extremism for two decades, putting together a methodology for forensic biographies of perpetrators and radicalization trajectories.She is currently writing a book called "How to Become a Terrorist" that dives into incels, homegrown Islamists, neo-Nazis and other groups. "He wanted to become somebody – he wanted to make a mark," Klausen posited about Crooks, who unleashed the attack on Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. "He appears not to have been particularly politically motivated, I think, based on what we know about his search history… there's no sense he wanted to effect the election."
"He was basically looking for a target that would bring him attention and fame – that's why I say that he was acting out a fantasy of himself as being a big man, showing the world what he can do and getting attention," she continued. Klausen said there appeared to be "no organized elements" to Crooks' act as he left no manifesto behind – a pattern more typical of school shooters than politically-motivated terrorists. "The lack of manifesto is typical for school shooters who nevertheless often also ‘leak’ information about their intentions before acting," Klausen said. Senators were told on Wednesday that Crooks wrote that "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds" in a chilling message on gaming platform Steam. Klausen noted that no one knows whether Crooks "thought he would survive" after firing a volley toward the former president on July 13, nicking his ear, injuring two bystanders and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore. "One of the interesting things about these types of shooters is that they can be incredibly rational about planning out the scenario for how they're going to plan out the attack but very irrational about the consequences," Klausen said. "He may have thought that he could walk away and do something again – he might have had fantasies of people looking for him everywhere.""Crooks' development of bombs is interesting because that's usually the weapon of choice for people who do not want to die and want to carry out another attack," she said. "Crooks could easily have become a mass killer – the Secret Service snipers prevented that."Klausen said that there is no typical age range for mass shooters or terrorists, pointing out that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was 64 years old, however, "at [Crooks'] young age, we know that risk assessment capabilities are very spotty."
Typically, young perpetrators have experienced some sort of trauma, Klausen said, and noted that some classmates have said Crooks was bullied in high school. In a statement, Bethel Park High school has denied that assertion, writing that claims that he was bullied were a "painful misconception" and that they had no record of any such incidents. However, a Wall Street Journal report that Crooks' mother was blind, had an alleged hoarding situation in their home and the fact that his parents did not notice shipments of explosive components to their home points to "red flags in [Crooks'] home life.""I'm very reluctant to throw the parents under the bus here, but you don't get hazardous material delivered to your doorstep without noticing – people you live with notice that," Klausen said. "It's a small house."The extent to which Crooks was involved in online gaming is in question, with popular gaming platform Steam acknowledging that he had an account on their site and Discord, a popular messaging platform for gamers, saying that he had a little-used account.Some classmates at Bethel Park High School have said he had an affinity for computers, with one saying that he would often play games on his laptop in homeroom. Teachers say he built computers, and his online activity suggests that he had an interest in coding."You're doing online gaming and struggle to tell the difference between online and real life – it's not a predictor, but it's a risk factor," Klausen said. "It's just one of the markers of the need to pay attention [to a young person]."
>conservativeDebunked ;)https://nypost.com/2024/07/20/us-news/trump-shooter-thomas-crooks-was-not-a-member-of-rifle-team-school-district/>Failed Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ high school further deepened the mystery surrounding the disturbed shooter’s teen years Saturday when officials denied allegations that he tried out for its rifle team, was bullied and threatened to shoot up the school years before carrying out his sinister plot.
>>1319742Is this about the fake steam account?>>1319767>>1319764seething chuds
>>1319846chud headcanon is wild
>>1319764>nypostThe same fake news site that said he was Chinese? LMAO
>>1319868Says the retard denying that the shooter was Republicanseethe harder
>>1319742No one is buying it, xir.
>>1319880Jews and trannies are white and Trump wants to appoint the head of Blackrock to be Treasury Secretary. Facts don't care about your feelings, chud.
>>1319883Everyone already bought it except you and your ilk, chudson.
>>1319891We know. Troons are buying it. Normal people aren't.
>>1319742So iDubbbz was the shooter, crazy world to live in.
>>1319764>whether or not someone is conservative solely hinges on whether or not they were on their high school's rifle teamThis is an unprecedented amount of cope
>>1319980actually it depends on whether or not he registered as a republican with his local election office but feel free to ignore that while everyone laughs at you
>>1319742>Jytte Klausen, a liarNo further comment needed.
>>1319987I don't understand your hostile comment directed at me. I agree that he is a registered Republican and likely had conservative views. My reply to the other anon was criticizing him for claiming the shooter wasn't a conservative for not being accepted onto the high school rifle team, as if being on the rifle team is the only criterion that determines whether someone is a conservative.
>>1319767>>1319764>>1319880Why do you keep this narrative up?
>>1320026schizophrenia
He's registered as a Republican, has never voted in an election and tried to kill the Republican nominee. This whole 'narrative' that Democrats aren't really responsible for this act of violence based on, "he belongs to the other tribe!" is not only complete nonsense; I really don't see the point at all.
>>1319742ok so can we ban videogames with guns now? start by sweeping through resetera and reddit and terminate all of those soon to be domestic terrorirsts
>>1319980his parents were a liberal and democrat, that makes him a leftist or are you denying that.
>>1320089Is Ronald Reagan Jr a right-wing conservative because Ronald Reagan Sr was the face of the conservative movement during his presidency?
>>1320112Then why did right-wingers love him so much?
he should had aimed better
he was a proven leftist. rigorous evidence says so>>1319764Based
>>1320112Then why did he fund the Contras to fight the Sandinistas? Why did he persuade Gorbachev to dismantle the Soviet Union?>>1320119Why are right-wingers so easily susceptible to this supposed "jewish propaganda"?
