Rep Clay Higgins thrashes FBI for releasing Trump shooter Crooks' body to family for cremation

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA: Representative Clay Higgins (R) of Louisiana has labeled it "disturbing" that the FBI would block any inquiries into the shooting death of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who was shot while attempting to assassinate Donald Trump.

During his visit to the Butler, Pennsylvania protest site to look into the incident, the Republican congressman claimed to have learned that Crooks' body had been given to his family.

What Clay Higgins accuses FBI for hindering investigation on Donald Trump's shooting

“My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact… the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after (July 13),” Clay Higgins wrote in the report to the July 13 Task Force, a bipartisan committee organized to investigate the security failures around Donald Trump's shooting.

He added, “On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc.”

Higgins described the FBI’s actions “as an obstruction to any following investigative effort." He claimed that while the body was under the Butler County Coroner’s authority, the coroner would “have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI.”

Clay Higgins wanted to examine Thomas Matthew Crooks' body

The four-term congressman stated that he wished to fully verify the accuracy of the coroner's findings and autopsy by looking at the body.

“We will actually never know. Yes, we’ll get the reports and pictures, etc, but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body,” he added, per New York Post. 

In addition to disclosing the "disturbing fact" about Crooks' body, Higgins attacked the FBI's response to the murder scene, claiming that the agency cleared the area three days later. “The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which is unheard of,” Higgins wrote. “Cops don’t do that, ever.”

“I interviewed several First Responders who expressed everything from surprise to dismay to suspicion regarding the fact that the FBI released the crime scene so early after J13,” Higgins said.

“It should be noted that the FBI was fully aware of the fact that Congress would be investigating J13. The FBI does not exist in a vacuum. They had to know that releasing the J13 crime scene would injure the immediate observations of any following investigation," the congressman added.

Higgins found that the 20-year-old shooter had “perfectly positioned himself (on the roof) to minimize the threat of counter-fire from the ground or the US Secret Service counter-sniper teams.”

“Crooks effectively minimized the sky-lined profile of his head and upper body,” he wrote.

Thomas Matthew Crooks fired 8 shots toward Donald Trump before SWAT operative shot back

Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight times at Donald Trump, and according to Clay Higgins, the bullet shattered the buffer tube on Crooks' AR before a Pennsylvania SWAT member fired back.

“The 10th (and, I believe, final) shot was fired from the USSS southern counter-sniper team,” the report stated. “Which, according to my investigation, entered somewhere around the left mouth area and exited the right ear area.”

Three rallygoers were hit by Crooks' bullets, which killed Firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and seriously wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. A bullet slightly injured Trump's right ear, causing bleeding before the 45th president was restrained by Secret Service operatives. 

Internet slams FBI for handing Thomas Matthew Crook's body to his family

Netizens berated the US authorities for handing over the Donald Trump shooter's corpse to his family for cremation.

One X user tweeted, "How in the world does this actually happen? It’s like Epstein all over again."

Another added, "If this doesn’t make you suspicious of the FBI… nothing will. Were they involved in the assassination attempt on President Trump? Too many questions and no answers."

"Deleting email, hiding evidence and now burning bodies. They really don’t want the truth to come out," remarked one.

Someone else wrote, "They’ve stopped even pretending to be discreet—it’s blatantly an inside job. It’s as if they’re mocking us, openly flaunting their actions and daring us to do something about it, fully confident in our inability to hold them accountable."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.