A good thread about this situation in Pennsylvania from an LEO formerly involved in Presidential and Vice Presidential protection details. (21 posts in thread.)
Well, there's a natural hesitation to kill somebody who hasn't yet shown aggression. They have to ask, am I seeing another security person? Does he actually have a gun? They are questioning themselves if they're seeing what they think they're seeing or if they're just feeling trigger happy. It must be an intense psychological situation. If they're wrong and end up killing an innocent unarmed drunk man or another security sniper they weren't aware would be there, they would get hell. I'm guessing snipers protecting a POTUS have intense military experience, but they can go many years without seeing these situations here.
The right-wingers are claiming the shooter had a lengthy arrest record and attended many ANTIFA riots across the country. This is not true. Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks? What we know about Trump’s attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and graduated from high school in 2022 https://www.foxnews.com/us/who-was-thomas-matthew-crooks-donald-trumps-attempted-assassin The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from western Pennsylvania, as the person who attempted to assassinate former President Trump at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Crooks reportedly shot Trump from a rooftop perch some 130 yards away during a rally in the small town, striking the upper part of Trump’s right ear while the former president was speaking to rallygoers ahead of next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. One attendee was killed, and two others were injured during the incident, the agency said, and Crooks was shot dead. The victims have not been identified yet. "The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania," the FBI said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This remains an active and ongoing investigation." Crooks, 20, was from Bethel Park, which is a Pittsburgh suburb about an hour south from where the assassination attempt took place. Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. He was one of nearly two dozen students from the school to earn a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative. An online recording of his graduation ceremony shows him walking the stage to minimal applause and briefly posing with a school official, the New York Times reported. A search by Fox News Digital revealed that Crooks would have turned 21 years old this September. He had no reported criminal or traffic citations and no reported bankruptcies, liens or foreclosures. Crooks was a registered Republican, according to voting records, but he only participated in the Nov. 8, 2022, state election, due to his age. Records show that he made a $15 donation to Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based political action committee that supports Democrat candidates for public office and claims to advocate for "key Democratic constituencies: young people, minorities and low-income people." The FBI said it will continue its investigation into Crooks and any other information it can obtain. "This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI," the statement continued.
He had an AR-15, probably not the best gun for accuracy at 300+feet. The gun is obviously more designed to get as many rounds off as quickly as possible. I also couldn't hear his gun...maybe he had a silencer on? I wonder how many shots he actually got off.
Twitter was claiming it was some other dude yesterday and they posted a picture of some Italian dude. Somebody else claimed they were the shooter. There's no shortage of bad information out there. You have to take everything with a grain of salt.
Two explosive devices were said to have been found in the Trump rally gunman’s car and a possible third at his residence. The AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle found next to the gunman’s body was purchased by a family member, possibly his father, according to an official. Sunday, July 14, 2024 12:24 PM ET https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/14/us/trump-shooting-election
This is going to keep happening. In an ideal world I would ban and have a mandatory buyback for these types of weapons. However, in reality I know the last part isn't practical, because there are thousands if not millions of gun nuts who would die before giving their guns to the government. Many Americans selfishly care more about their "freedom" more than society as a whole so I think we're ultimately stuck with this reality.
i am pretty confident that this was just the beginning. and this is by far not only about trump. all the top magatards should now think about their position and their future. there are quite some crazy people out there. and not all of them are such lousy shooters like this dabbler.