Trump Survives Assassination Attempt in Pennsylvania

For those of you who (wisely) shut off after dinner, sometime around 6 PM last night, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, former President Trump was struck in the ear (Stacy McCain) by one of several bullets fired from the roof of a nearby building, approximately 130 yards away. One person in the audience of the rally was killed instantly, and at least two more are in critical condition. Trump ducked, was piled on by his Secret Service detail while snipers located, and killed the apparent gunman, a matter of seconds. After that, Trump rose to his feet, shook his fist in the air and yelled "fight!" several times, before being hustled away from the scene by his detail, and taken to a hospital where, other than the punctured ear, he was reported to be fine. Lots of great links at Insty, Ace, Hat Hair, Althouse, CTH and the rest of the usual crowd.

An Insane Photo by New York Times Photographer, Doug Mills showing a Bullet wizzing by the Head of Former President Donald J. Trump at today’s Campaign Rally in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/zHy6OX7JPp

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 14, 2024

It has been reported that just before the shooting, onlookers outside the venue reported seeing a man climb the side of the building with a rifle (described as AR-15 style), and attempted to get the attention of the Secret Service and local police.

JUST IN: A guy outside the rally saw the shooter crawling on a roof and attempted to warn police and the Secret Service.

"We noticed a guy bear crawling on the roof with a rifle."

"I'm standing there pointing at him for two to three minutes, and the Secret Service is looking at… pic.twitter.com/27h6qf3uUS

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 13, 2024

Later, somebody pumped enough drugs into Joe Biden, who, on July 8 at at donor meeting had said that the time for debate was over, it was time to put a bullseye on Trump, that he was roused into making a short statement, decrying violence, and claiming to have tried to tamp down the bad blood in politics.  As of late last night, the FBI, which has, of course, taken on the investigation (or the coverup, I guess we'll find out which in time), had tentatively identified the shooter as a 20 year old local man, but refused to release his name, pending proof of his identity, and, of course, saying the motive has yet to be determined. Will they claim "death by cop" the way they did for the shootings at the Republican baseball team practice?"

There are also reports that the Trump campaign had requested boosted security from the Secret Service, and was denied by Alejandro Mayorkas' Department of Homeland Security (who has also repeatedly denied RFK JR. bolstered protection). Was the snipers nest left uncovered by the Secret Service because of lack of resources? If so, heads should role at DHS and the Secret Service. 

Some Lefties, and left wing media reacted about as you would expect, CNN initially saying Trump "fell" at the rally. Russ Latino@RussLatino, "A field director for Congressman @BennieGThompson  (who headed the Jan. 6th Commission & recently proposed legislation to remove Trump’s Secret Service detail), wishing Trump’s assassin had better aim on social media. Unbelievable."  Tim Graham@TimJGraham "Trump's just been shot, and CBS anchor Margaret Brennan disparages him for not telling his followers to lower the temperature." I assume this kind of sentiment is widespread, but not universal.

UPDATE from Matt Vespa at TownHall, FBI Identifies Trump's Would-Be Assassin  " around 1:40 AM EST, the FBI finally confirmed that the shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel, Pennsylvania." No word yet on his social media or affiliations.