UPDATE 9.20PM – Three hours after the assassination attempt against President Trump several questions have arisen regarding the security procedures at the rally in Butler, PA. Why wasn’t the building about 125 yards away checked since it had a direct view of the podium at the rally? Why were the police and the security service late when they warned about a man with a rifle on the roof of this building? Why did DHS deny extra security for Trump’s rallies? Yes, it’s still early for conclusions but the questions are big and wide open. We already know that the shooter and one spectator are dead, while two other spectators are critically injured. Trump stated the hospital, while Joe Biden did not yet call the event an assassination attempt….
By Nick Stamatakis
Today America experienced what we all fear for quite a while: An assassination attempt against President Trump… It happened a few minutes after the start of his speech in a “run of the mill” rally in Butler, PA (north of Pittsburgh). Everybody heard 8-10 shots apparently from a “muffled” gun. But if you take a careful look at the video below you will see that a sharp left turn of his head in the last possible millisecond saved his life!!
The Trump campaign announced that the former President is safe: Statement: “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.”
The secret service announced that a bullet grazed the former president.
We also heard that the assassin was killed – but there is not yet confirmation.
We have to note that on July 8, Biden said, “I have one job and that’s to beat Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that.”
Biden continued, “So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a Bullseye.”
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BREAKING NEWS – Trump is SHOT in the side of the head and left with blood strewn across his face in horrifying assassination attempt
Donald Trump appeared to be shot in the ear as gunshots were fired at the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump grabbed at the side of his face and blood spattered across his cheek as several popping sounds were heard, sending supporters running for safety.
The former president quickly pumped a fist at the crowd to show he was not severely injured, as Secret Service agents raced to the stage to hurry him away.
Trump’s campaign said he was taken to hospital following the incident, but said he is ‘fine’, and ‘thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act.’
Donald Trump appeared to be shot in the ear as shots were fired at the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania
Trump pumped a fist at the crowd and did not seem to severely injured as he walked on his own off the stage, surrounded by secret service
Secret Service agents raced to the stage to rush the former president off the stage.
The shooting unfolded as Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon.
Frantic scenes took hold as shots rang out, sending Trump supporters streaming out from the stands and away from the event.
Within seconds, Trump was put to the floor by several Secret Service agents as they protected him from the shooter.
Early reports indicate that around eight to 10 shots were fired, and the press pool said ‘residual bangs’ were heard after Trump hit the floor.
Trump stood up shortly after and pumped his fist at the crowd, leading to chants of ‘USA’ and ‘Make America Great Again.’
He appeared to mouth the word ‘fight’ to supporters at the same moment.
Trump grabbed at the side of his head as he appeared to be hit
Secret Service raced to the stage to protect Trump after shots were fired
Trump had blood streaming down his cheeks as Secret Service agents put him to the floor
The extent of Trump’s injuries are not clear, although he appeared to want to show his supporters that he was okay within seconds of being shot
Trump’s campaign said he was raced to hospital after the shooting, but is ‘fine’
As Trump pumped his fist to the crowd, some were heard cheering his name and chanting ‘USA’ and ‘Make America Great Again’
As he was rushed into SUVs, Trump again flashed a fist at his supporters
The former president appeared to be shot in the ear
Blood can be seen pouring from the side of the former president’s head
There is no early information regarding who the shooter may have been or if any arrests have been made at the event.
Moments before he appeared to be hit, Trump was using a graphic at the rally to speak about illegal immigration.
Secret service encircled Trump within seconds of the shots being fired, and the agency said in a statement that the former president is ‘safe.’
‘The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available,’ the statement read.
The extent of Trump’s injuries are not clear, although he appeared to want to show his supporters that he was okay moments after being shot.
Witnesses hug after seeing the assassination attempt
The Secret Service said in a statement it ‘has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe’
Trump’s campaign said in a statement that he ‘thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act’
The extent of Trump’s injuries are not clear, although he appeared to want to show his supporters that he was okay within seconds of being shot
Trump’s rallies are a heavily guarded event
Attendees point to the crowd shortly after shots rang out
Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence was the first to issue remarks on the shooting, saying on X: ‘Karen and I are praying for President Trump and urge every American to join us.’
A spokesperson for the ATF said agents from the bureau have been deployed to assist with the aftermath of the chaos.
The White House confirmed that President Biden was briefed on the shooting following the incident.
Although shots continued to be fired after Trump ducked, there are no early reports of any others injured at the rally.
Moments before, Trump was using a graphic at the rally to speak about illegal immigration
Although shots continued to be fired after Trump ducked, there are no early reports of any others injured at the rally
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro condemned the shocking scenes in his state.
‘Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,’ Shapiro said on X.
‘It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States. I have been briefed on the situation. @PAStatePolice are on the scene in Butler County and working with our federal and local partners.’
God Save The King!🇺🇸
America just elected Trump again + history is made!!
I like his triumphant look in those great pictures.
GO TRUMP 2024!!
Trump is a fighter who never gives up. The courage he displayed today is what will save America when he returns to the White House. God protect President Trump!!
It is very clear, that God saved Donald J. Trump from being assinated this afternoon.
The Dems stole a duly won election by DJT in 2020 and have a puppeteer with serious mental illness and derangement syndrome sitting in the White House acting as “President.” They have tried over and over again to embarrass and humiliate DJT in public view for the world to bear witness. They have tried to bankrupt, convict and jail him while the real thieves continue to run the White House and skim off the top selling favor to the world’s most wanted enemies of the state while running this great country into the ground for fear of being exposed as rotten to the core. DJT is so feared that he has world leaders shitting in their pants should he get re-elected for fear of being exposed as part of the global cabal deep swamp.
The Demonocrats have clearly demonstrated how today, they all have blood on their hands straight from the pit of hell! They are the mark and stain of the beast. They know deep down that they can NOT possibly win or steel another election, so they have stooped to the lowest of lows in order to assassinate a former President and Candidate Elect only days before a Republican convention which will nominate him for a clear road to victory in November of 2024. The only way the Demons in the White House think they can win an election is by way of murdering their opponent. Biden clearly stated this week, when he said “enough talking about the debate, to beat my opponent we have to have a “bullseye” on his back.” Think about that…Coincidence?
Margaret – well stated.
Trouble ahead. Big time.
Gods hand is on America!
Yes, there is no doubt that the last second “turn of the head” we see in the videos appears to be a life saving factor.
The difficult questions that need to be answered (not conspiracy theory questions) looking at the video evidence that we have been shown on media so far are as follows:
1) The “neutralization” of the threat appears to take place within 1.5 to 2 seconds of the assassin pulling his trigger. Think about it…a couple of seconds. This strongly suggests the USSS anti-sniper team had already spotted this guy and was tracking him, but for an unknown reason, they allowed time for the bad guy to make the first move…why? Were they not permitted to preemptively neutralize the threat by whoever (supervisor) they were in communication with?
2) Since it is appears from the quick retaliation that the perpetrator had likely been already “spotted” the the USSS agents that took him out within a couple of seconds of his action, the following questions arise:
a) exactly how many seconds / minutes earlier had they spotted this bad guy?
b) was there not sufficient time to say on the radio “hey, there’s an unknown dude on a roof…can you all take the President off stage for a minute while we figure out who he is and what he is up to?”
3) Obviously, there is plenty documented evidence of rally attendees and even a BBC reporter trying to get law enforcement’s attention to the guy crawling on that roof…that’s some valuable time lost, and someone will have to account for that.
4) The larger question of claims that the USSS Directors have not been supplying enough of a security detail to the campaign such that the perimeter can be expanded with additional personnel will also be a factor in the investigation of this incident. If that is the case, high ranking people will need to resign.
5) This is perhaps a DEI oversight, or at least a stupid decision by high ranking people, but if Trump is so tall, why would you assign short USSS people to “protect him” only “partially” with their bodies, leaving his head exposed as they were taking him off stage? Look at the videos as to how short-sighted and incompetent that image of the “short protection detail” looked. That makes no sense, either.
Either way, the USSS will be tarnished for a long time as a result of this incident…hopefully they will reassign anyone that is found to be incompetent (however high ranking they are) to “horse stable cleaning” duty for the mounted Park Police, because there is no room for even a single error in their line of business, let alone so many that appear to have transpired. This level of security breech is totally unacceptable.
Great post Markos. Its a bit refreshing to not pile on the hate against unknowns. The questions you’re asking are legitimate and well thought out. I was reading an article in the NYT that confirmed that the USSS sniper had asked for permission to shoot the (soon to be) assassin wannabe, but permission was not granted. And the fact is that the shooting range of an AR-15 was not taken into account, in which case the safe perimeter should have been expended. Americas is flooded with guns. Guns plus hateful talk, no matter who the shooter votes for is a deadly combination.
Guns is not the issue. Those who are illegally or inappropriately use them are… We have plenty of car deaths but do you ask to make cars illegal? You have been part of the hate talk… Change yourself first.
Bob,
The NYT commentators that you cite seem to be wrong on that point about not taking into account the range of an AR-15.
Ever since the JFK incident, the concept of a “security perimeter” takes into account “long range” rifles, period. 130 yards is actually not considered “long range” for a rifle. Many outdoor sporting rifle ranges in the US start at 200 yards, and some go up to 800. This is well-known.
I was occupying a short-term corporate rental apartment near work in a tall building that was at least 200+ yards away (with “direct line of sight” from the higher floors & roof) from a specific venue that Pope Benedict visited back sometime around 2015, and the USSS took control of the roof of my building for 48 hours…we were specifically told by building management “not to look out the windows” or “walk outside in the yard” during the 2 hour visit, because USSS was watching all those windows with scopes and spotters from a distance…(I chose to leave town altogether to avoid the hassle and “lockdown”).
Therefore, I don’t buy the opinion that “the range of an AR-15 was not taken into account”. That makes no sense, and contradicts standard protocols used in the past (per above). At the end of the day USSS is tasked with doing everything necessary to secure the perimeter, and that includes supplying sufficient manpower and logistical support for each situation.
Yesterday’s blunder appears to partially be a lack of investment in manpower to secure “all elevated positions” within a standard USSS security zone, compared with the model they used when the Pope visited in 2015. The reasons for this lack of investment remain to be investigated…
There is no question that the USSS dropped the ball. Maybe the fact that there has been no serious attempt at a president’s life for over 40 years, had an effect on preparedness.
There are more serious reasons to consider. Try to be sincere: Markos lists the reasons clearly…
Hey Bobbi .. law enforcement dropped the Ball of JFK, Robert Kennedy, Martin luther King Jr. . and in all cases , like Trump .. they were going to withdraw from a War and all cases .. The FBI , C.I.A and Mafia were implicated in there murders! As a matter of Fact in 1997 loretta King filed a “Civil Suit” in Tennesse agaisnt the state for the Assassination of her husband! The case decided by a Jury of 12 found that James Earl Ray was not responisble for the killing of Martin luther King jr. and found the FBI. Government officials , C.i.A and Mafia of killing Martin luther King Jr. a year after his Silence is Betrayal..Beyond Vietnam speech which would have a major impact on ending criminal war in Vietnam! Donald Trump is a victim of gang warfare between the two competing Crime Syndicates of America ..the Republican and Democratic ruling Parties who are the common denominator in the Assassination and Regime change Wars of foreign countries and of course America ! .Hey Bobbi .. of course we know who has been trying to get rid of Trump since 2016! Pentagon Papers, Twitter files, Weeki leaks , Julianne Assange, House Committee of the Weaponization of Biden white house with law enforcement agencies and Justice department, Tucker Carlson, … and most importantly, the Durham report ..
“The FBI, Law enforcement Agencies and the Justice Department colluded with members of the U.S . Congress and Media to fraudulently promote a “Campaign of misinformation and Disinformation ” to charge Donald Trump — President of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia of colluding to interfere and meddle in the internal affairs and interfere in the 2016 elections ” Which led to the Impeachment Hearings by the U.S congress
to remove Donald Trump from Office , which failed!
Bobbi .. there is no deep state but right in front of you .. just think “No International Crime Syndicate can succeed without the cooperation of the law enforcement agencies and Justice Department of the United States!
Hey Markos. Here’s a report from the NYT on what you were saying
Former Secret Service leaders said that it is common, at outdoor events like Trump’s rally on Saturday, for bystanders to report a suspicious person or package. But the service fears the consequences of overreacting.
“You can’t freak out every time and rush the protectee off the stage,” or open fire on an innocent person, said Bill Gage, a 13-year veteran of the agency who retired in 2013. He said that the reaction is to send a “counter-sniper response” — typically a Secret Service agent and a local police officer — to investigate what counter-sniper teams report. Then a Secret Service leader in a command post decides whether the threat is real.
Gage said that in his experience protecting President Barack Obama, bystander reports were often unfounded. A group of men in camouflage spotted near Martha’s Vineyard turned out to be paintball players, and a sniper in India turned out to be a police officer. The events were never disrupted.
He said he felt that there should have been more counter-sniper teams in place at Trump’s event.
Jeffrey James, a 22-year veteran of the Secret Service, said he felt that the team around Mr. Trump had done a good job of covering him up with their bodies after the shots were fired. But he faulted what happened next: They allowed Trump to linger onstage as he asked for his shoes and pumped his fist at the crowd.
James said that counter-sniper teams are trained to shoot from 1,000 yards away, and typically scan an area that wide at an event. He said that may have been one reason that they were slow to detect the gunman: He got so close that he was in an area snipers do not watch as closely, believing that it would be watched by others on foot.
There were “multiple people” reporting the same thing, including a BBC reporter who is on the record claiming to try and alert authorities for 3-4 minutes prior to the incident about the guy climbing onto the roof…this was not a “singular report” that can be compared to the types of reports Mr. Gage is referring to. The Communication breakdown and reaction to the multiple reports is disastrous. With multiple people reporting the suspicious activity in the 3 to 4 minutes prior to the incident, they should have pulled the President off stage until they figured out who was on that roof, and in hindsight they had ample time to do this, but the decision makers and communications process proved too slow and ineffective in this instance. Almost appears like they put the “rookie team” on the job.
Either way, some sort of law enforcement should have been on that roof for the duration of the event, even if it was not USSS. Plain and simple. Anything less is inexcusable, amateur, and unbecoming of the USSS standards. High ranking people should be reassigned to “horse stall cleaning duty” after this, to see if they are at least capable of excelling in that department. In the corporate world, we would have already expected “C-level” resignations to have been submitted for such level of failure.
And here’s a 4 minute video with an authoritative opinion on “technical details” about the distance and even “skill level” required for this kind of act, etc…(and commentary about the security blunders, too)
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6357999137112
Hey Nick. Why are you not publishing my comments? You’re publishing Margaret Karakas trash talk, who knows not what the fuck she’s saying and not mine. What’s the matter? Any comment that doesn’t pile on the hate is against your religion?
Because you are a prime example of hateful talk.
https://x.com/DC_Draino/status/1812642041391915384
You are a rude sniffling child. You ridicule people on this site. Thanks for showing us your true character. It stinks.
The area where the wannabe assassin lived is middle to upper middle class. The gunman was a registered Republican, his mother was a Democrat and his father a Libertarian, a fairly typical mix for the area. A fellow student who had some of the same classes as the shooter said that he was “right leaning”. The shooter had made a $15.00 donation to a liberal cause in 2021. The gun was his father’s. Not known if his father gave it to him, or he stole it.
He was a lone wolf, bullied and isolated by his fellow students. Registered republican means not much. He appeared in an ad for Blackrock. The main issue here is what the USSS did and did not do…
Hey. I agree that the USSS did not do what its motto is: “Zero failure”. They failed Trump, the other 3 victims and the American people.
https://x.com/DC_Draino/status/1812642041391915384
In September of 1995, at a large social gathering, I encountered a “20 year old” college student of Slovakian background, born and raised in the US, who at some point during a global events discussion proudly displayed bruises that he acquired at the hands of Serbian police a few weeks earlier when he was caught distributing Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army propaganda folios in Kosovo. He never explained who exactly funded his “Balkan summer internship” and there was no real logical or ideological explanation for a US citizen of Slovak background to engage in rebellious acts in a 3d country for a cause that had nothing to do with him. Until this day, I retain my own perspectives about what was going on with that example.
Of course, there is no evidence today that this latest incident in PA was not perpetrated by a “lone wolf”, but that perhaps he may have been encouraged or hired…However, let’s just say that sometimes, 20-year olds (and younger) get selected (or at least are easily influenced) to do illogical things because it is scientifically known that the human brain doesn’t fully develop prior to the age of 25, and if you add any psychological problems to the equation, the results can easily become disastrous. This is the same reason why historically soldiers are recruited at 18 for war by the military, and not at 30…so they “don’t think too much” when it is time to pull the trigger, and thus they can be more effective in war. This is a well-documented military fact.
A worthy Substack Read:
https://open.substack.com/pub/theamericanfaithandfreedomblog/p/not-one-but-thousands-shot-at-trump?r=16n39g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web