The FBI used an unreleased tool from the Israeli mobile forensics company Cellebrite to unlock the Trump rally shooter’s phone — and opened it in less than an hour, according to reports from Bloomberg and The Washington Post.
Investigators at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office first tried to open Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone with a Cellebrite tool but weren’t able to break into it. The phone was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, on Sunday, where agents called Cellebrite’s federal team, people familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg. Cellebrite sent the FBI an unreleased tool that’s still in development, which was able to unlock Crooks’ phone in 40 minutes.
The Verge has reached out to Cellebrite for comment. The FBI...
