Haunting video clips have surfaced showing Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, dry-firing a handgun in his bedroom with chilling precision.

According to the New York Post, these undated snippets, reportedly posted online by Crooks himself, were later removed from the internet after his attack on Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, but not before being obtained by Candace Owens and shared on her podcast on Wednesday.

The footage, captured on a cell phone, shows a scrawny Crooks in athletic wear, standing in a sparsely furnished room adorned with a Marvel poster, first filming a handgun on his neatly made bed before flipping the camera to reveal himself taking a tactical stance and dry-firing at an unseen target.

Disturbing Practice in a Quiet Bedroom

In one clip, Crooks picks up the blurred-out firearm, shifts into a focused posture, and aims off-camera with a grim expression that betrays a disturbing intent. The publishers have obscured the weapon, but his practiced movements are unmistakable.

Another brief video shows a similar scene, with Crooks standing before what looks like target paper marked with blue circles, holding the handgun steady in that same calculated stance. His demeanor grows even darker, as if honing a deadly skill in the privacy of his own space.

These recordings paint a stark picture of a young man seemingly preparing for violence, long before his actions came to public light. They raise hard questions about how such fixation could fester unnoticed in plain sight.

Digital Footprint of a Troubled Mind

Investigations into Crooks’ online activity uncover a twisted obsession with violence, including searches for assassinations, mass shootings, and explosive-making instructions. His laptop, analyzed by the FBI, revealed a Google query on July 6 for the distance between Lee Harvey Oswald and John F. Kennedy, just days before his attack on Trump.

Crooks also researched Ethan Crumbley, the shooter behind the Oxford High School tragedy that left four dead and seven injured in 2021, alongside other mass casualty events. His digital trail, as reported by Owens, included searches like “Deadliest Mass Shooting in World” and “How to make a Molotov cocktail,” exposing a mind steeped in destruction.

Even more chilling are alleged YouTube comments from 2019, where Crooks reportedly called for violent acts against political opponents. Such rhetoric, if true, signals a hatred that simmered for years, unchecked by any apparent intervention.

Attack and Its Devastating Aftermath

On that fateful day in Butler, Crooks fired eight shots at Trump, grazing the former president’s ear and tragically killing Corey Comperatore, a devoted MAGA supporter. The attack shattered a community and underscored the real-world consequences of unchecked radicalization.

Former FBI Director Chris Wray testified to Congress that Crooks wasn’t on federal law enforcement’s radar before the incident, a statement that stings when paired with the breadth of his online activity. How such a clear pattern of intent slipped through the cracks is a failure that demands answers.

Even in his final moments, as he was fatally shot in the head, Crooks’ last search on an encrypted phone was for pornography, per FBI reports. It’s a jarring detail, hinting at a fractured psyche that paired violence with personal dysfunction.

A Call for Vigilance Without Hysteria

These videos and digital breadcrumbs aren’t just a window into one man’s descent; they’re a warning about the quiet corners where dangerous ideas take root. Society can’t afford to shrug off such signals as mere quirks when lives hang in the balance.

While some may rush to pin this on broader cultural or political divides, the focus should stay on individual accountability and the systems that failed to spot Crooks sooner. Pointing fingers at entire ideologies solves nothing when the problem starts with a single, disturbed mind.

This tragedy, claiming Corey Comperatore’s life and nearly ending Trump’s, isn’t a cue for panic but for sober reflection on how to better detect and deter such threats. If we’re serious about safety, it’s time to prioritize real oversight over reactive outrage, ensuring no other bedroom becomes a breeding ground for violence.