The biggest news story of the week is a gunman’s attempt to assassinate former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight rounds from a semiautomatic AR-style rifle in Trump’s direction. Trump was struck in the ear, rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed, and two other men were critically wounded in the attack. The New York Times analyzed video, audio, and photographs of the event and created this narrative video timeline. The Times video ends with this question: Why was the former president allowed to remain on stage when the threat emerged minutes before shots rang out? Cell phone analysis. A key part of the FBI’s investigation into Crooks’ motives for the attack involved searching his cell phones. If you are curious about how law enforcement may gain access to a password-protected phone and its encrypted content, you may be interested in NPR’s Monday morning interview with David Gee, chief marketing officer with Cellebrite, a company that provides the FBI with technology to unlock smart phones. Gee emphasized repeatedly that his company helped law enforcement “under the jurisdiction of the courts” to “lawfully” extract phone data. Gee kept the trade secrets under wraps, but allowed that technology permitting the rapid entry of multiple passcodes was one way to gain access. Multiple news outlets have reported that even after gaining access to the contents of Crooks’ phone, his motivation remains unclear. Indictment in Santa [...]
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