So I'm surfing the web and am shocked to see reports of shots fired at a Trump rally in the far western reaches of my state.
I wanted this to be fireworks or something instead of gunshots, because in this day and age, we don't need that kind of stuff. However the latest news reports are that the shooter is dead along with at least one audience member.
The potential assassin had stationed his sniper's nest on a rooftop outside the Trump rally. The conditions involved my be the reason Trump survived the shooting, with the shooter being downed by law enforcement.
No matter what you think about Donald Trump and his policies, a candidate should be defeated by ballots instead of bullets.
America went through a wave of political assassinations in the 1960s of left-wing politicians, and I don't want to see my country go through that again. Malcom X, JFK, Medgar Evers, Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, were all cut down for what they believed in.
As I've said before, I live in an area like a donut, with the hole representing our very liberal city and nearby suburbs surrounded by a vast ring of 'Trump Country' that fills most of our county. The city might be progressive, but once you enter the exurbs, its a whole nother story.
If something were to happen to Trump in the run-up to the election, I worry how his heavily-armed cohort might react.
Damn, this has me worried.
Can you imagine how MAGA would have reacted if Trump had been killed?
My state will be one of about six states that will decide the outcome of the presidential race, and it's looking like it will swing to Trump as things currently stand. He shocked everyone and won our state back in 2016, as many people aren't always truthful about who they're voting for.
So when I saw Clinton supposedly being six points ahead, it didn't jibe with the hard-core MAGA crowds that I saw attending his events, vs the polite applause of smaller and quieter crowds that greeted Clinton.
I have some friends that are MAGA, and this is not going to go over well with them. The latest reports say that Trump is fine, and the last thing America needs is to return to the political violence that I thought we'd grown out of.
Could a civil war happen here if something happened to him? I don't want to find out, and I hope to never see anything like that in this country that I love so much.
The BBC reports in the video below, that a witness saw the shooter climbing up to the roof of the building BEFORE he shot Trump:
Update: Shooter ID'd
The shooter was ID'd as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, PA. He is listed as a registered Republican, and made an ActBlue donation on the day that President Biden was inaugurated in 2021.
You can bet that the authorities will be going over all of his social media accounts and tracing anyone and anything that he was connected to. Online sleuths have already indentified the t-shirt that he was wearing when he was killed by Secret Service agents.
The company that sells this shirt is not going to want to be associated with this at all. But at the moment I write this, the shirt is still available for purchase online (after its exposure on social media, I wouildn't be surprised if they pulled it).
The FBI and Secret Service will be looking into anybody that had a significant connection to Thomas Matthew Crooks, and I wouldn't be surprised if their social media accounts aren't being wiped at this moment.
In the following video, you can see the perch where Crooks setup his shooting position, and hid himself behind an obstruction on the roof. This would have made it hard for agents on the ground to notice him before it was too late.
You can also see the ladder resting on a connecting hallway between buildings that he used to climb up to the roof. A witness saw him ascending that ladder, and reported it to law enforcement before the shooting started. There was a complete lapse in security planning that this rooftop was not secured, and someone will have to answer as to why.
Below, you can view a remarkable image taken by a member of the White House Press Corps, and actually see the bullet (circled), whizzing past Trump's ear:
The FBI has set up a special website where anyone can submit tips, videos or photos related to the shooting or has any information that might help the investigation:
The shooting may end up having the opposite effect intended, With images of a defiant Donald Trump saying "Fight! fight! fight!" Such an event will fire up MAGA voters even more, while eliciting sympathy for him among undecided voters.
Lets get through the conventions, and then head to the ballot box in November to cast our vote. After all, that's the American way.
We often read and hear about the not very strict gun laws in America. Are they still same?
Our Constitution ensures that each citizen has the right to bare arms (own a gun), which makes America unique among the countries of the world. The laws on that vary depending on which state you live in, with say New York state being less permissive, and say Texas being more permissive.
I would not want to live in an America where the people were disarmed.
It's one of those things that may be either good or bad depending on how you look at it. The 2nd Amendment was included in the Constitution as a reaction to monarchies of Europe having the authority to disarm the people. The founders of our country didn't want the people to be disarmed, and a despot leader running roughshod over the people. If a dictator tried to take over the US, he'd have to deal with the 400 million guns being owned by the people who would fight and die (if necessary) for their freedoms.
Oh! that's a new perspective but here education and a sense of great responsibility comes into play besides the law to not take the unfair advantage.
When I lived in Germany for 5 months back in 2017/18, I had to learn to relax from the constant vigilence needed here in the US. We hear gunshots here at night almost every week. My first week in Germany was tough because it was almost too quiet with no gunshots or the sound of cars blasting loud rap music at 1AM... I think I'd like a place like Switzerland, where they are armed but have a national sense of mission and are blessed with common sense.
I do pray he is okay. I don't care for the man's character, but wish him no ill will. I am hoping cooler heads prevail.
Trump just announced that the bullet actually grazed his ear, if it had passed another inch or so... If he had been killed, I'd be absolutely terrified for my country, as there are a lot of current and ex military/law enforcement in MAGA.
They have got to find out how that shooter got up on that roof, and if he's connected to any organized groups. We've got to nip this in the bud right now. The MAGA people in my area are beside themselves right now, thank God he's alright, or who knows how they might have responded.
I know I’m not sure the temperature here. I agree, they need to track it down fast.