[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Deborah [@Deborah07849071](/creator/twitter/Deborah07849071) on x 2652 followers Created: 2025-07-24 16:29:26 UTC Thomas Crooks Had High-Ranking Military Officials in His Family, Including an Obama Nominee 'In 2010, [Crooks's uncle] was successfully nominated by then-President Barack Obama...' The public still doesn’t know much about Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old man who’s said to have nearly assassinated Donald Trump at his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. However, a new podcast, The Panic in Bethel Park, delves deep into the history of Crooks’s family, revealing that the gunman had family members who were high-ranking military officials. It’s already been widely reported that Crooks’s maternal grandfather was John Frizzi, who was an engineer for the state of Pennsylvania after serving for the U.S. Army in Vietnam. What The Panic in Bethel Park revealed is that Crooks’s uncle on his mother’s side, James Frizzi, is a neurosurgeon and an active Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. “During the war in Iraq in the 2000s, Crooks’ uncle, Dr. James Frizzi, served in Baghdad’s busiest military hospital, Ibn Sina. One of his specialties was treating soldiers and evacuees who suffered head trauma—performing neurosurgical operations on them. Some of the evacuees included Iraqi children,” according to The Panic in Bethel Park, which includes a bibliography of sources in its show notes. “In 2010, Dr. Frizzi was successfully nominated by then-President Barack Obama to be made a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Medical Corps. He became the chief of surgery at Fort Gordon, formerly named Fort Eisenhower. This is the headquarters of the U.S. Army Signals Corps. It’s also the home to the NSA’s Georgia Cryptologic Center (GCC), and the Army Cyber Command—three massively important centers of military cyber operations.” The Panic in Bethel Park host Matthew Tannam-Elgie noted that Frizzi’s work had nothing to do with the base’s intelligence operations—but his nephew, Thomas Crooks, would have been fascinated by it all, given his interest in computers and cryptocurrency. Tannam-Elgie also noted that one of Crooks’ high school classmates recalled that he discussed joining the military. Another military veteran in Crooks’ family is his uncle, Larry Macko Sr., who’s described in grandpa Frizzi’s 2010 obituary as a U.S. Army Specialist. “Larry Macko Sr. is a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, and he graduated from the Air Force’s Air War College after decades of operational activity in 2013,” Tannam-Elgie said. Macko Sr.’s apparent LinkedIn account says that he has also worked with federal law enforcement—”implementing US National Strategy at the tactical and strategic levels.” In 2000, Macko Sr. became a member of the Special Operations Association, whose slogan is, “Unconventional warriors: The Legacy Endures.” He was also a member of the Special Forces Association, which is based in Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. Additionally, Macko Sr.’s current wife was nominated to a State Department roll, according to The Panic in Bethel Park. He currently runs a consulting business called Navigator Strategic Leadership Solutions. Tannam-Elgie said he highlighted Crooks’ family connections to underscore the tragedy of what happened last July. “He appeared to be from a family with some extremely impressive figures in the military and other government entities, and yet his attack that summer left a grave, sad and everlasting image on modern American history,” he concluded. Macko didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, while Dr. Frizzi couldn’t be reached for comment. Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at The Panic in Bethel Park: EP X The opening overture to a deep examination of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who tried to assassinate Donald Trump on July 13th 2024. XX engagements  **Related Topics** [told](/topic/told) [donald trump](/topic/donald-trump) [barack obama](/topic/barack-obama) [Post Link](https://x.com/Deborah07849071/status/1948420269380370869)
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Deborah @Deborah07849071 on x 2652 followers
Created: 2025-07-24 16:29:26 UTC
Thomas Crooks Had High-Ranking Military Officials in His Family, Including an Obama Nominee
'In 2010, [Crooks's uncle] was successfully nominated by then-President Barack Obama...'
The public still doesn’t know much about Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old man who’s said to have nearly assassinated Donald Trump at his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
However, a new podcast, The Panic in Bethel Park, delves deep into the history of Crooks’s family, revealing that the gunman had family members who were high-ranking military officials.
It’s already been widely reported that Crooks’s maternal grandfather was John Frizzi, who was an engineer for the state of Pennsylvania after serving for the U.S. Army in Vietnam. What The Panic in Bethel Park revealed is that Crooks’s uncle on his mother’s side, James Frizzi, is a neurosurgeon and an active Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.
“During the war in Iraq in the 2000s, Crooks’ uncle, Dr. James Frizzi, served in Baghdad’s busiest military hospital, Ibn Sina. One of his specialties was treating soldiers and evacuees who suffered head trauma—performing neurosurgical operations on them. Some of the evacuees included Iraqi children,” according to The Panic in Bethel Park, which includes a bibliography of sources in its show notes.
“In 2010, Dr. Frizzi was successfully nominated by then-President Barack Obama to be made a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Medical Corps. He became the chief of surgery at Fort Gordon, formerly named Fort Eisenhower. This is the headquarters of the U.S. Army Signals Corps. It’s also the home to the NSA’s Georgia Cryptologic Center (GCC), and the Army Cyber Command—three massively important centers of military cyber operations.”
The Panic in Bethel Park host Matthew Tannam-Elgie noted that Frizzi’s work had nothing to do with the base’s intelligence operations—but his nephew, Thomas Crooks, would have been fascinated by it all, given his interest in computers and cryptocurrency. Tannam-Elgie also noted that one of Crooks’ high school classmates recalled that he discussed joining the military.
Another military veteran in Crooks’ family is his uncle, Larry Macko Sr., who’s described in grandpa Frizzi’s 2010 obituary as a U.S. Army Specialist.
“Larry Macko Sr. is a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, and he graduated from the Air Force’s Air War College after decades of operational activity in 2013,” Tannam-Elgie said.
Macko Sr.’s apparent LinkedIn account says that he has also worked with federal law enforcement—”implementing US National Strategy at the tactical and strategic levels.”
In 2000, Macko Sr. became a member of the Special Operations Association, whose slogan is, “Unconventional warriors: The Legacy Endures.” He was also a member of the Special Forces Association, which is based in Ft. Bragg in North Carolina.
Additionally, Macko Sr.’s current wife was nominated to a State Department roll, according to The Panic in Bethel Park. He currently runs a consulting business called Navigator Strategic Leadership Solutions.
Tannam-Elgie said he highlighted Crooks’ family connections to underscore the tragedy of what happened last July.
“He appeared to be from a family with some extremely impressive figures in the military and other government entities, and yet his attack that summer left a grave, sad and everlasting image on modern American history,” he concluded.
Macko didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, while Dr. Frizzi couldn’t be reached for comment.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at
The Panic in Bethel Park: EP X The opening overture to a deep examination of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who tried to assassinate Donald Trump on July 13th 2024.
XX engagements
Related Topics told donald trump barack obama