Donald Trump's shooter 'used they/them pronouns and looked at muscular women online'

The 20-year-old was shot dead by a Secret Service agent after he killed an attendee and injured two others as he tried to take out the President.

Crooks is believed to have used two accounts on the DeviantArt platform, under the usernames “epicmicrowave” and “theepicmicrowave".

The platform is primarily used by artists to share their work, but it also has a sizeable active "furry" community, a sub-culture of people who roleplay as animals.

According to the New York Post, the attempted assassin listed his pronouns on the website as "they/them" and posted a suggestive image of a cartoon woman with a muscular physique.

Crooks's YouTube search history is also believed to have shown numerous searches for videos of female bodybuilders.

His social media history appeared to suggest he may have been radicalised during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sources revealed to the New York Post how Crooks’s digital footprint showed an increasing fixation on violence, including extreme comments and artwork posted from accounts linked to him.

The 20-year-old had reportedly supported Mr Trump while in high school, but later appeared to swing sharply to the left.

YouTube comments attributed to accounts used by Crooks appeared to show him claiming that Mr Trump's supporters "sound like a cult" and criticising the President’s "stupidity".

In February 2020, he appeared to write on social media: “I’m pretty sure people are just racist and Trump is one of them, there does not need to be a deep state for that."

The 20-year-old seemed to grow obsessively concerned with the coronavirus, slamming Mr Trump for not acting quick enough.

He repeatedly slammed Republicans for not introducing bans on public gatherings and not introducing social distancing mandates.

He wrote that Mr Trump was “too slow and everything he’s doing now should have been done" and that "there wasn’t any reasonable defence for Trump".

Crooks is also said to have urged anti-Trump activists to carry out terror attacks against US lawmakers.

He is believed to have written: "The only way to fight the gov is with terrorism style attacks, sneak a bomb into an essential building and set it off before anyone sees you, track down any important people/politicians/military leaders etc and try to assassinate them."

Responding to questions surrounding the lack of public information released about the shooter's background, FBI Director Kash Patel said: "The investigation, conducted by over 480 FBI employees, revealed Crooks had limited online and in-person interactions, planned and conducted the attack alone, and did not leak or share his intent to engage in the attack with anyone."

Those who attended school with Crooks have described the shooter as an "outcast" who was frequently bullied.

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