Since his first candidacy almost ten years ago, supporters of President Donald Trump had voiced fears that his many and implacable enemies might make an attempt on his life.
On Saturday, the extreme scenario Trump’s voters feared took place at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Photo: Distractify.com
The shooting took place at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, causing chaos and panic.
The shocking incident left one spectator dead and critically injured two others. The attack occurred while Trump was addressing the crowd. Shots rang out as the gunman fired multiple rounds toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue. Trump immediately dropped to the ground, clutching his ear, as Secret Service agents rushed to protect him. Blood was visible on Trump’s right ear as he was taken off stage.
Information about the shooter has been tricklig from the media slowly.
A gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday was positioned on the roof of a manufacturing plant, over 130 yards from the stage – slightly longer than a football field.
The rally, held at the Butler Farm Show grounds, provided the sniper with a clear, unobstructed view of the former president from his vantage point.
The counter-sniper team, reportedly responsible for neutralizing the shooter, returned fire from the roof of a nearby building situated behind the audience.
The sniper’s body was later found on the premises of AGR International, Inc., a company supplying automation equipment for the glass and plastic packaging industry.
Despite early confusion over the shooter’s identity, he has now been identified.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel, Pennsylvania as the subject involved in the assassination attempt. Officials say the suspect was shot and killed, taken down by a Secret Service countersniper.
Photo: Patabook News
According to a law enforcement source, the early indication is that the shooter was a lone wolf, but the situation is fluid and the agency is still trying to assess a motive for the shooting.
Oddly, reports have surfaced that Crooks was a registered Republican yet donated $15 to the Leftist organization ActBlue.
Former US Secretary of Defense James Forrestal once observed that consistency is not a trait associated with stupidity.
The string of legal victories Trump’s political enemies had been winning against him argued for their competence. But if the attempted assassin does turn out to have been radicalized by the frantic drumbeat of propaganda directed against Trump by the media—and even his presumptive opponent, it may be a case of the regime’s shortsightedness coming back to bite them.
Screencap: @JoeBiden on X
Recent polls show Trump’s lead over Biden growing after the race had narrowed to a dead heat.
These shocking developments, combined with a judge postponing Trump’s sentencing to September at the earliest, his own party’s suspected plans to deny him the nomination would seem to have been foiled.
Screencap: fivethirtyeight.com
As the Trump shooting sets the world on a new timeline—one drastically different than it would have been on had Trump not turned his head—we are left to watch this increasingly bizarre race unfold. And wait.
The deep lore of Tolkien meets the brutal struggle of Glen Cook in the dark fantasy prelude to the acclaimed Soul Cycle.
>Oddly, reports have surfaced that Crooks was a registered Republican yet donated $15 to the Leftist organization ActBlue.
Pennsylvania, Texas, and other states have Closed Primaries: you can only vote in the party’s primary if you are registered for that party.
So if you want to sabotage a candidate, register as a member of that candidate’s party and vote against him. Best case, he’s gone in primary. Or support appears to be weaker making things more difficult down the line.
Thus, this is not about consistency. This is about tactics, strategy, game theory, and the like, and is completely plausible.
I think the short version is that the government is very good at it’s actual core competency: gaining and retaining power against all outside influences, and co-opting outsiders who want to change to be a part of it instead.
Sadly, you can’t ask him because he “jumped” from a 16th story window at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Eoin Moloney
July 15, 2024,
This is one of those moments where the Hand of Providence is most clearly seen, when the smallest acts change the world in massive ways. I expect this will go down in history alongside the freakish set of coincidences that led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, or the happenstance of Robert E Lee’s battle plans for Antietam simply being dropped on the ground and found before the battle.
Yes, it appears America is still in need of additional chastisement.
Wiffle
July 16, 2024,
God keeps people alive however, for his own purposes. It’s not necessarily the saving of America or even Donald Trump. Interesting times for sure.
Alex
July 15, 2024,
There are two separate quotes from Oliver Stone’s JFK which come to mind. I’ll paraphrase the first:
1. “Well, that’s the real question, isn’t it? Why? The ‘How’ and the ‘Who’ is just scenery for the public. Crook, ANTIFA, the Democrats, keeps them guessing like some kind of parlor game. Prevents them from asking the most important question: Why? Why was Trump hit? Who would have benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?”
I just re-watched JFK a few weeks ago. That initial quote was one of the first that crossed my mind when I heard the news. It doesn’t take 33rd degree esoteric conspiracy expert to understand that whoever pulled the trigger, the regime is at fault. Because they cannot abide an outsider.
Saturday’s events also showed that the current generation of rulers are not their fathers, who pulled off the JFK coup.
Val the Moofia Boss
July 15, 2024,
I don’t think there is any grand conspiracy. America is the world’s ruling hegemony, which means lots of people want to see it overthrown and would take a potshot at its ruler. The American empire itself is culturally divided with one half hating the other and wanting them dead, and other people wanting to secede and become their own countries. If someone in relatively peaceful and culturally unified Japan decided to shoot Shinzo Abe, then imagine just how many more angry people out there want to kill Trump. The renown and image of the Secret Service as pushed in American media and movies has dissuaded many would be assassins from trying, but given how many people would hate the president of the United States and Trump, it would be only a matter of time. The age of the internet and social media has likely magnified people’s hatreds (as well as create more angry people) which would have raised the likelihood of this happening.
I don’t think a cabal of elites are competent enough to assassinate Trump in public and keep it secret. Not that they need to, because they will carry on doing what they want even with Trump in office. Parts of the US military engaged in war in Syria even though Trump hadn’t authorized it, etc.
Eoin Moloney
July 15, 2024,
I also doubt this is a deliberate job, or if so, it was done extremely poorly. From what little we know of the shooter, he wouldn’t be anyone’s first pick for an assassination job.
Sian
July 16, 2024,
I would say that far more likely, is that secret service protection detail for former presidents is far, far less substantial and competent than we’ve been led to believe.
They did not send their best and that was very evident this Saturday.
The “It was staged!” crowd have no leg to stand on this time. The advent of everyone carrying around a portable TV studio in his pocket has made JFK style coverups far more difficult, and our rulers are far less capable than the elites who pulled off the Kennedy hit.
Positing that it was all a show put on by either the Trump Campaign in a bid for sympathy or the regime, who purportedly want him to win for some reason, necessitates the claim that someone set out to shoot Trump in the ear on purpose.
Just reading that claim shows how ridiculous it is. I’m the son of a retired LEO. Rule 1 of firearms is you never point a gun at someone unless you intend to kill him. Even the world’s best rifleman would balk at the assignment to fire anywhere near the President’s head. Unless the plan was explcitly to kill him.
Andrew Phillips
July 15, 2024,
I have noticed the folks who are sure this was staged are also quite sure there was an armed insurrection on January 6, 2021 and that 81 million people actually voted for Biden. Their skepticism is very selective.
I was actually thinking of the right-wingers who’ve seized upon that scenario.
Andrew Phillips
July 16, 2024,
I had forgotten TDS happens on the Right as well. I only see it from the liberals I know.
The problem remains the same in either way: how does one arrange to get slightly shot in the head, or manage to not get more shot when the other rounds were clearly live? As you said, the questions answer themselves. Arranging some like this would be Machiavellian, but mostly it would be suicide.
ldebont
July 16, 2024,
If I were the one staging something like this, you’d probably have someone aim for perhaps the shoulders, arms or legs. Far less risky than having your own head blown off with blood and brain matter strewn across the stage…
Andrew Phillips
July 16, 2024,
Just for reference, what are the rules of firearms safety as you learned them? I ask because I learned rule 1 as “The gun is always loaded” and “Do not point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy” as rule 2. Rule 3 is keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. Rule 4 is Know your target and what is beyond it. If there’s a Rule 0, it is “You are responsible for every round you fire,” as the ethos informing the rest of them.
Kid apparently had some DIY explosives in his vehicle as well.
When was the last time we had an obvious fed-involved-incident that *didn’t* involve something dumb with explosives?
I mean, what was he gonna do, run back to the car and get them after drawing fire?
Was on the fence about malign neglect on the part of security vs. some crazy deepstate plot until that detail surfaced. Hard lean toward the latter now. What odds the fellow made some understanding, badass, retired internet friends recently?
The most likely answer is both. Look up the daily number of shootings. Then Look up figures on foiled assassination attempts against public officials. There’s a lot more than most people think. Most of those guys never make it in the door. A Secret Service detail that’s a dumping ground for washouts solves for that variable.
Dandelion
July 16, 2024,
certainly, there are enough people out there willing to take the shot, that it’s not implausible to think… if you were a higher-up with decision-making power in the ss, and you wanted this to happen, you could just throttle the available security resources until someone took the opportunity, and walk away with clean hands, right?
But yeah, the poorly-thought-out explosives… that’s practically a signature.
Could be both. Hard to get good quality patsies these days. Sometimes you have to leave an unsecured ladder out for them.
>Oddly, reports have surfaced that Crooks was a registered Republican yet donated $15 to the Leftist organization ActBlue.
Pennsylvania, Texas, and other states have Closed Primaries: you can only vote in the party’s primary if you are registered for that party.
So if you want to sabotage a candidate, register as a member of that candidate’s party and vote against him. Best case, he’s gone in primary. Or support appears to be weaker making things more difficult down the line.
Thus, this is not about consistency. This is about tactics, strategy, game theory, and the like, and is completely plausible.
I think the short version is that the government is very good at it’s actual core competency: gaining and retaining power against all outside influences, and co-opting outsiders who want to change to be a part of it instead.
Forrestal would agree with you.
Sadly, you can’t ask him because he “jumped” from a 16th story window at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
This is one of those moments where the Hand of Providence is most clearly seen, when the smallest acts change the world in massive ways. I expect this will go down in history alongside the freakish set of coincidences that led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, or the happenstance of Robert E Lee’s battle plans for Antietam simply being dropped on the ground and found before the battle.
Yes, it appears America is still in need of additional chastisement.
God keeps people alive however, for his own purposes. It’s not necessarily the saving of America or even Donald Trump. Interesting times for sure.
There are two separate quotes from Oliver Stone’s JFK which come to mind. I’ll paraphrase the first:
1. “Well, that’s the real question, isn’t it? Why? The ‘How’ and the ‘Who’ is just scenery for the public. Crook, ANTIFA, the Democrats, keeps them guessing like some kind of parlor game. Prevents them from asking the most important question: Why? Why was Trump hit? Who would have benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?”
2. “Like Caesar, he is surrounded by enemies and something is underway, but it has no face. Yet everybody in the loop knows…Everything is cellularized. No one has said, ‘He must die.’ There’s been no vote. Nothing’s on paper. There’s no one to blame. It’s as old as the crucifixion. A military firing squad: five bullets, one blank. No one’s guilty, because everyone in the power structure who knows anything has a plausible deniability. There are no compromising connections except at the most secret point. But what’s paramount is that it must succeed. No matter how many die, no matter how much it costs, the perpetrators must be on the winning side and never subject to prosecution for anything by anyone. That is a coup d’Ă©tat.”
I just re-watched JFK a few weeks ago. That initial quote was one of the first that crossed my mind when I heard the news. It doesn’t take 33rd degree esoteric conspiracy expert to understand that whoever pulled the trigger, the regime is at fault. Because they cannot abide an outsider.
Saturday’s events also showed that the current generation of rulers are not their fathers, who pulled off the JFK coup.
I don’t think there is any grand conspiracy. America is the world’s ruling hegemony, which means lots of people want to see it overthrown and would take a potshot at its ruler. The American empire itself is culturally divided with one half hating the other and wanting them dead, and other people wanting to secede and become their own countries. If someone in relatively peaceful and culturally unified Japan decided to shoot Shinzo Abe, then imagine just how many more angry people out there want to kill Trump. The renown and image of the Secret Service as pushed in American media and movies has dissuaded many would be assassins from trying, but given how many people would hate the president of the United States and Trump, it would be only a matter of time. The age of the internet and social media has likely magnified people’s hatreds (as well as create more angry people) which would have raised the likelihood of this happening.
I don’t think a cabal of elites are competent enough to assassinate Trump in public and keep it secret. Not that they need to, because they will carry on doing what they want even with Trump in office. Parts of the US military engaged in war in Syria even though Trump hadn’t authorized it, etc.
I also doubt this is a deliberate job, or if so, it was done extremely poorly. From what little we know of the shooter, he wouldn’t be anyone’s first pick for an assassination job.
I would say that far more likely, is that secret service protection detail for former presidents is far, far less substantial and competent than we’ve been led to believe.
They did not send their best and that was very evident this Saturday.
The “It was staged!” crowd have no leg to stand on this time. The advent of everyone carrying around a portable TV studio in his pocket has made JFK style coverups far more difficult, and our rulers are far less capable than the elites who pulled off the Kennedy hit.
Positing that it was all a show put on by either the Trump Campaign in a bid for sympathy or the regime, who purportedly want him to win for some reason, necessitates the claim that someone set out to shoot Trump in the ear on purpose.
Just reading that claim shows how ridiculous it is. I’m the son of a retired LEO. Rule 1 of firearms is you never point a gun at someone unless you intend to kill him. Even the world’s best rifleman would balk at the assignment to fire anywhere near the President’s head. Unless the plan was explcitly to kill him.
I have noticed the folks who are sure this was staged are also quite sure there was an armed insurrection on January 6, 2021 and that 81 million people actually voted for Biden. Their skepticism is very selective.
I was actually thinking of the right-wingers who’ve seized upon that scenario.
I had forgotten TDS happens on the Right as well. I only see it from the liberals I know.
The problem remains the same in either way: how does one arrange to get slightly shot in the head, or manage to not get more shot when the other rounds were clearly live? As you said, the questions answer themselves. Arranging some like this would be Machiavellian, but mostly it would be suicide.
If I were the one staging something like this, you’d probably have someone aim for perhaps the shoulders, arms or legs. Far less risky than having your own head blown off with blood and brain matter strewn across the stage…
Just for reference, what are the rules of firearms safety as you learned them? I ask because I learned rule 1 as “The gun is always loaded” and “Do not point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy” as rule 2. Rule 3 is keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. Rule 4 is Know your target and what is beyond it. If there’s a Rule 0, it is “You are responsible for every round you fire,” as the ethos informing the rest of them.
That about sums it up.
Kid apparently had some DIY explosives in his vehicle as well.
When was the last time we had an obvious fed-involved-incident that *didn’t* involve something dumb with explosives?
I mean, what was he gonna do, run back to the car and get them after drawing fire?
Was on the fence about malign neglect on the part of security vs. some crazy deepstate plot until that detail surfaced. Hard lean toward the latter now. What odds the fellow made some understanding, badass, retired internet friends recently?
The most likely answer is both. Look up the daily number of shootings. Then Look up figures on foiled assassination attempts against public officials. There’s a lot more than most people think. Most of those guys never make it in the door. A Secret Service detail that’s a dumping ground for washouts solves for that variable.
certainly, there are enough people out there willing to take the shot, that it’s not implausible to think… if you were a higher-up with decision-making power in the ss, and you wanted this to happen, you could just throttle the available security resources until someone took the opportunity, and walk away with clean hands, right?
But yeah, the poorly-thought-out explosives… that’s practically a signature.
Could be both. Hard to get good quality patsies these days. Sometimes you have to leave an unsecured ladder out for them.