The FBI employed Israeli technology to access the phone of a man who attempted to assassinate former US President Donald Trump, according to a Washington Post report citing sources close to the investigation.
Investigators turned to Cellebrite, which allows its users to copy the contents of the phone and potentially bypass the passcode, to breach Thomas Matthew Crooks' phone. Crooks opened fire at a Trump rally in nearby Butler on Saturday, using an assault rifle his father legally purchased 11 years ago. The attack left one person dead and two critically injured, with a bullet grazing Trump's right ear. A US Secret Service sniper fatally shot Crooks at the scene.
Authorities retrieved Crooks' phone from his body and hacked it to uncover his motive, which remains unclear. The Israeli technology allowed investigators to access the phone in just 40 minutes, a process that could have taken weeks or months otherwise, the report states.
Cellebrite, a NASDAQ-listed company, has faced criticism from rights groups for selling its services to repressive regimes, including Pakistan and Belarus.
Investigators are exploring the possibility that Crooks used two phones after finding a phone with a dead battery at his family home in Bethel Park, according to the Post.
* The Times of Israel and The Guardian contributed to this account.
