WATCH: FBI Records Say SWAT Found ‘Remote Device’ in Butler Shooter’s Pocket
New FBI records obtained by Judicial Watch are raising fresh questions about what was found on Thomas Matthew Crooks after the Butler rally shooting.
According to Judicial Watch, the records include an FD-302 interview summary from a Beaver County Emergency Services Unit medic who was on the roof of the American Glass Research building after Crooks was shot and killed.
The medic told the FBI she saw a Washington County SWAT officer search Crooks’ right pocket. What the officer found was not just a phone, according to the witness account. It was also a “gray remote device” with an antenna and numerical push buttons.
Judicial Watch highlighted the records in a post on X.
https://x.com/JudicialWatch/status/2075399859512000793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The interview summary was dated July 17, 2024. In it, the first responder said she was at the Butler County fairgrounds for the Trump rally and was assigned to provide medical backup for the Emergency Services Unit team or any police response.
She said she arrived at the fairgrounds at 9:00 a.m. and was positioned near the spectator screening area. The Beaver County ESU team had been given two Butler County radios to monitor channels during the event, including one patrol channel.
At some point, according to the account, the team was aware of reports from its sniper element about a questionable subject in the area who could not be located.
After the shooting, the medic said she moved with others toward the American Glass Research facility. She was told there may have been multiple operators down, a possible shootout, and that the shooter was down. She then used a black collapsible ladder to get onto the roof.
The document says she arrived on the roof at 6:23 p.m. and did not see any officers down. She was told to evaluate the shooter. She checked Crooks for a pulse and pronounced him dead at 6:25 p.m.
The FBI summary describes Crooks as lying prone, face-down, and handcuffed with flex-cuffs. His rifle was off to his left. The medic said there were two Butler County SWAT officers, one Washington County SWAT officer, and a uniformed Butler County officer on the roof with her.
One line in the FBI record is now getting the most attention: “The Washington County SWAT officer checked the shooter’s right pocket and discovered a gray remote device with numerical push buttons and an antenna and a cell phone.”
The medic also told the FBI that explosive ordnance disposal personnel came onto the roof to look at the device. Soon after, she remembered being told that a police canine had alerted on the building beneath them. Those on the roof were then told to evacuate.
The records do not, based on the provided excerpt, explain what the device was, what it controlled, or whether it was connected to any explosive threat. That leaves a major gap in the public understanding of what investigators believed they were dealing with in the immediate aftermath.
For now, the key point is the witness account itself. A first responder told the FBI that a SWAT officer recovered both a cell phone and a gray remote device from Crooks’ pocket. EOD then responded to examine it.
That detail adds another layer to a case that has already drawn intense scrutiny over security planning, communication failures, and what law enforcement knew before Crooks opened fire.