A video was uploaded by the young man who is suspected of shooting dead six people and injuring many others at a Fourth of Jul parade.
Police arrested Robert E Crimo III (22 years old) after shots were fired into the crowd at the Highland Park celebrations.
Crimo accounts posted several disturbing and bizarre videos online.
The shooting
The video of Central Avenue, the location where the shooting took places, was shot almost one year prior to the attack.
The footage appears to have been taken in the early morning, and the street is empty except for American flags that are fluttering in wind.
Crimo edited the video into a longer version that shows Crimo smoking and looking at an American flag at half mast over a memorial.
He is seen wearing a clear backpack in the video. Some American schools have adopted these bags to reduce school shootings. They make it easier to conceal a gun.
The video’s soundtrack is Spirit in the Sky. It begins with the lyrics: “When I die, they lay me to sleep/ Gonna go the place that’s the most beautiful.”
“My actions will prove valiant”
Another video was uploaded last October and combines several of his videos into one.
Because it contains a recorded audio message, the internet trail analysts are calling it a video manifesto.
He says, “Like a somnambulist, I am breaking through… My actions will be valiant, and my thoughts are unnecessary.” I know what I must do.”
A newspaper clipping is visible on the wall in the background. It marks the death Lee Harvey Oswald’s murder, who was responsible for the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy.
Oswald was known to have fired on the presidential parade passing from the heights while hiding on the sixth floor. Similar to Oswald, Chicago’s mass shooter is believed to have fired on the parade from the roof of a building.
Crimo’s mention of the assassination of the former president seems to be part a larger interest in patriotism and presidents.
He uploaded a video of him in 2020, waiting for Donald Trump’s landing in Air Force One. The footage also captures the moment that the president drove by as part of a motorcade. He is also shown in a Trump flag draped over his head and at a rally for former President.
In many of his videos from the past, he uses American flags. Crimo is an aspirant rapper. After making reference to school shootings, he holds an American Flag behind him in one of his music video.
Another video, uploaded in 2020, features a reference about “enemies of the US”.
Crimo is seen staring at the camera and getting close to it during a mix of music and people speaking.
He suddenly blinks as the recording prompts him to answer the question, “As you see it? Who and what are the enemies or freedom in the US?”
‘Robert Crimo archive’
Crimo uploaded this content, and it was easy to find, despite social media platforms swiftly taking action to remove him from his accounts.
It appears that he deliberately created an archive with content that is easy to find using basic internet search skills.
Crimo was known as Awake. Crimo created multiple accounts under different names and established at least two blogs that index his content.
Also, a YouTube account was created under a different name. The videos uploaded to this channel were dated and given the label “Robert Crimo archives”.
He also made backups of his content, duplicating videos and photos across multiple platforms and accounts.
There are jokes in the content, some of which may be intended to fool or taunt those searching for answers.
He says goodbye to Mr FBI agent after a 18-minute video in which he builds a cabin near his family home.
Crimo is not able to explain why he built his archive.
The
Data and Forensics
team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
reply
retweet
favourite
