Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, a 22-year-old wannabe rap singer who reveled in violent imagery and mass shooting fantasies, was arrested in North Chicago following an intense seven-hour manhunt for the person responsible for opening fire at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill.
#BREAKING: just got this from a source showing the arrest happening about 45 mins ago.
That’s Robert Crimo face down on Hwy 41, after he was spotted by a North Chicago officer. #HighlandPark @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/lIpyaCyL16
— Brónagh Tumulty (@BronaghTumulty) July 5, 2022
The alleged shooter accessed the rooftop of a business on the parade ground by climbing a ladder and opened fire at about 10:45 a.m. local time. Eyewitnesses report he fired 20-25 rounds mostly at spectators along the parade route.
Crimo’s social media postings indicate he was a Trump supporter. He attended several Trump rallies. The media is already making a big deal out of it. But how can any rational person think this radically disturbed young man has any allegiances beyond the voices in his head?
One of the now scrubbed videos from Highland Park suspect Robert Crimo AKA Awake The Rapper. This was long planned. pic.twitter.com/NWuQx66cFZ
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) July 4, 2022
His social-media footprint indicated that he is a video-game enthusiast and professional wrestling fan. One photo posted to Twitter showed him wearing a Trump flag like a cape; in another, he sported an FBI cap. There was a photo of him at a Trump rally, dressed as Waldo, but he also liked a Twitter video of President Biden.
On most of Crimo’s social-media pages, and embedded in several of his videos, is a symbol that roughly resembles that used by Suomen Sisu, a far-right Finnish organization. Crimo, however, does not appear to mention the national group in his postings. He was also the administrator of a Discord channel named “SS” that has since been taken down.
It didn’t take long for the conspiracy nuts to rev it up.
I know this shouldn't surprise me, but are you fvcking kidding me #Crimo pic.twitter.com/PfH1MPL29J
— harrison (@harrison__kc) July 5, 2022
Crimo had an interesting family as well. His father ran for mayor in 2019 against the current Highland Park mayor Nancy Rotering and his mother is something of a faith healer.
Crimo's father Bob Sr is a business owner, his mom’s an alternative healer.
Bob Sr lost 2019 mayoral campaign to a liberal who ran on gun control platform.
After Uvalde in May 2022, Crimo's father liked a tweet: 'Protect the Second Amendment like your life depends on it'. https://t.co/V2q2ylkqM2— 𝕁𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕒 𝔻𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕪 ⭐️✨💫 (@julia_doughty) July 5, 2022
“The family’s been in the area for a long time,” she said, adding that his father is a small business owner who ran for mayor of Highland Park in 2019 and lost in a two-to-one margin to the incumbent.
“We don’t really know him, but we see him riding around the neighborhood,”she said. “We never had any interaction with him, other than we just see him driving around.”
His uncle, Paul Crimo, also told Fox 23 Chicago that he saw no “warning signs” that would indicate Crimo could be involved in Monday’s shooting.
“I saw no signs of trouble. And if I did see signs I would have said something,” Crimo said, adding that his nephew was a “YouTube rapper” who once worked at Panera Bread.
The feces flinging between the right and left has already begun.
Highland Park mass shooter Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III is a Democrat activist who openly worships Satan and hates President Trump, according to his social media posts.
— Eddie Cabe (@cabe_eddie) July 5, 2022
Crimo’s father ran for mayor as a non-partisan candidate — no party affiliation. It’s going to be tough trying to prove Crimo is Antifa or a Democrat, but I’m sure the right will give it their best shot.
It doesn’t matter because Crimo is not sane. He exists in a different reality than the rest of us. Trying to say he’s a creature of one side or the other is just making stuff up.
But the opportunity to paint the other side in blood is too tempting to resist. Over the next few days, both sides will present undeniable proof that Robert Crimo is a Democrat/Republican/Antifa/Kluxer.
It should be quite entertaining.
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