False claim video shows Thomas Crooks calling to 'slash Republican throats' | Fact check

The claim: Video shows Trump shooter shouting ‘Slash Republican throats’

A July 15 Instagram post ( direct link , archive link ) shows a video of a man screaming threats against members of one political party. An image of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, is in the upper right corner of the video.

"Slash Republican throats!" screams the man in the video.

On-screen text in the post reads, "So you believe the shooter was a Republican. I don't think so."

Other versions of the claim spread widely on TikTok and on X, formerly Twitter .

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Our rating: False

The video dates to 2020 and was filmed on the Arizona State University campus. The university's president said the man yelling in the video is not tied to the assassination attempt and has a different name and date of birth than the Trump rally shooter.

Crooks was in high school when video was recorded

A gunman opened fire during Trump's July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, killing one person, seriously injuring two others and leaving the former president with a wounded ear. Officials identified the shooter as 20-year-old Crooks , whom the Secret Service killed at the scene . He was registered to vote as a Republican, as USA TODAY previously reported.

But that isn't Crooks in the Instagram video, which dates to 2020 and was recorded on the main campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, as reported by The Arizona Republic at the time.

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In a July 15 statement , Arizona State University President Michael Crow said Crooks is not the man in the video and has no association with the university.

“ASU concluded its investigation back in 2020, in conjunction with the FBI, and determined the subject in the video was not a credible threat – and that person has a different name and different date of birth than the suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Trump over the weekend,” Crow wrote.

The university did not release the name or date of birth of the man in the video. Its police spokesman did not respond to an email asking why not.

At the time the video was taken, Crooks would've been around 16 years old and was attending high school in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania .

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims stemming from the assassination attempt, including false assertions that the shooter was identified as Mark Violets and arrested at the scene, that a viral image shows Crooks and that an authentic image shows Secret Service agents smiling after the attack.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

Lead Stories , PolitiFact and Reuters also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Indianapolis Star, July 16, Who is the suspected Trump shooter Thomas Crooks? A bullied student, nursing home worker
• Arizona State University, July 15, ASU President Michael M. Crow on Trump shooter and ASU social media rumors
• The Arizona Republic, Feb. 6, 2020, ASU working to identify man yelling ‘Slash Republican throats’ in viral on-campus video

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim video shows Thomas Crooks calling to 'slash Republican throats' | Fact check