Does a photo on social media show Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks wearing a yarmulke? No, that's not true: Representatives of the Congregation B'nai Abraham Synagogue in Butler, Pennsylvania, told Lead Stories they know the person in the photograph and that he's not Crooks. According to the congregation's statement, Crooks never "attended any event or service" at their synagogue.
The claim appeared in a post on Instagram on July 15, 2024. The post's caption said:
Notice how they didn't mention what religion Trumps shooter was on the news? 🤔
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Jul 19 15:20:07 2024 UTC)
The post provided no evidence of its claim that the person in the photo wearing a yarmulke is "Trump's shooter." The former president was shot through his ear during a campaign rally in Butler on July 13, 2024. Crooks, later identified by authorities as the shooter, was killed by Secret Service snipers after he opened fire on Trump.
The image
Lead Stories found archived versions of the full photograph of the image used in the social media post. It was published on the now-private website for Congregation B'nai Abraham Synagogue. On February 13, 2024, it was also posted on the congregation's Facebook page, which is no longer available to the general public.
The larger image is shown below with a red box indicating the location of the cropped picture used on Instagram and elsewhere:
(Source: Internet Archive screenshot of Congregation B'nai Abraham Synagogue website taken on Fri Jul 19 18:08:08 2024 UTC)
Congregation B'nai Abraham Synagogue
The congregation confirmed in a July 19, 2024, statement texted to Lead Stories that the image in the social media post does not show Crooks. The message said:
Thomas Crooks has never been a member of Congregation B'nai Abraham, nor has he ever attended any event or service at our synagogue. The person in the photo that is being circulated, that was taken from our Facebook page, is known to us and is not Thomas Crooks.
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At the time this was written, AAP FactCheck had reviewed the same claim.
More fact checks by Lead Stories about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, can be found here.
