FL - West Palm Beach - Trump Assassination Attempt

[StarryStarryNight]

Is it a funding issue or a motivation issue? What say you?

Incompetence issue I think.

 

[Love Never Fails]

The Secret Service didn't see the assassin during the 12 hours he was there is becasue they didn't look. An obvious failure in security.

Doing a "sweep" at the last minute with President Trump coming within maybe 300 yards of the armed suspect is also not doing a good job. JMO.

Don’t forget though that SS took a shot and missed.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Incompetence issue I think.

Whatever it is, for the sake of everyone involved, both candidates and voters, I hope they remedy the issue quickly!

 

[RANCH]

Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not announced any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf.

So there was no public announcement for President Trump to go golfing on Sunday. Does that mean the Secret Service also didn't know? I think they were aware in advance but it's only my opinion right now.

Trump was the subject of an apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf club, the FBI says

It's been just nine weeks since the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life. The former president says he's safe and well.

apnews.com

 

[Sundog]

Per Presser:
" Known to the FBI" since 2019.

Shocked, I tell ya......

I think the FBI rep was trying to get ahead of this story before it appears in the media. He said that in 2019 a tip was made to the FBI in Honolulu that RR was a convicted felon but had a firearm. The FBI referred it to local LE at some point when the tipster failed to provide additional information, or something like that.

I was unable to hear all of the press questions, was it ever asked if the SS put a drone up before Trump arrived to scout and survey? I mean surely they have them at the ready, correct? Or, are they that under-funded?

I believe that Rowe said that aerial surveillance was included but I would need to listen again to be 100% sure.

 

[Love Never Fails]

The Secret Service didn't see the assassin during the 12 hours he was there is becasue they didn't look. An obvious failure in security.

Doing a "sweep" at the last minute with President Trump coming within maybe 300 yards of the armed suspect is also not doing a good job. JMO.

Don’t forget though that SS took a shot and missed.

Can you provide a link to this? I haven't read of heard anything about the suspect knowing about the change of plans, or that the USSS didn't know. Secret Service was with DJT, so I imagine that they did know/were told about the impromptu golf outing. TYIA and IMO.

press conference posted just a few pages back at 4 pm said SS didn’t know.
My question was how did the perp know?
I guess he had been stalking the spot so no one saw him? Guess not.

 

[Cryptic]

Trump should ... as any free American citizen should ...be able to golf where he chooses...As we know... Biden has been enjoying open and un-walled beach activities...

Though Trump is technically free to golf where he chooses, presidential candidates of the two major parties are not "just like any Americans".

Likewise, Biden very likely enjoys seemingly open beach activities at very selected locations in an easily controlled environment.

LE (ATF) can look at personal firearm purchase histories of individuals (Routh in this case) and 'read between the lines' so to speak, as to where and when that firearm was purchased. The fact that they can't retrieve any such info leads me to believe other avenues were used. JMO

Though the use of other avenues is still a possibility, it does not automatically follow from the circumstances. Rather, it gets uhhhmmm..... complicated, very complicated

The records in question do exist, but they are not records of purchases per se. Rather, they are records of background checks- which, as you observed, also just so happen to contain detailed information on the gun being purchased.

Semantics aside, these records are only kept for:
A- Fire arms purchases made through licensed dealers.
B- Fire arms purchased in private transactions- if the particular State requires background checks for private transactions.

One more complication: Biden, via executive order, made background checks for most private transactions (those primarily done for financial reasons mandatory. But.... "primarily for financial reasons" is not defined and I bet very few people selling weapons via private transactions in my red state are following that regulation.

So, at the end of the day, I bet one can purchase fire arms via private transactions in Florida and North Carolina with out getting a background check.

 

[Sundog]

Per Presser:
" Known to the FBI" since 2019.

Shocked, I tell ya......

I think the FBI rep was trying to get ahead of this story before it appears in the media. He said that in 2019 a tip was made to the FBI in Honolulu that RR was a convicted felon but had a firearm. The FBI referred it to local LE at some point when the tipster failed to provide additional information, or something like that.

I was unable to hear all of the press questions, was it ever asked if the SS put a drone up before Trump arrived to scout and survey? I mean surely they have them at the ready, correct? Or, are they that under-funded?

I believe that Rowe said that aerial surveillance was included but I would need to listen again to be 100% sure.

 

[Sadi]

They didn’t look because he wasn’t scheduled to be playing golf that day.

Thinking out loud….Even if golf was a last minute decision, why didn’t SS tell him they need to sweep the area first before he could golf? Or did they tell him and he decided to go ahead?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Former president Donald Trump stands beside a golf cart while speaking to his son Eric Trump and colleagues at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., in 2022.

Soon after Donald Trump became president, authorities tried to warn him about the risks posed by golfing at his own courses because of their proximity to public roads. Secret Service agents came armed with unusual evidence: not suspect profiles or spent bullet casings, but simple photographs taken by news crews of him golfing at his private club in Sterling, Va.

They reasoned that if photographers with long-range lenses could get the president in their sights while he golfed, so too could potential gunmen, according to former U.S. officials involved in the discussions who, like most others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

But Trump insisted that his clubs were safe and that he wanted to keep golfing, the former officials said. These preferences posed problems for his protection that former Trump aides, Secret Service officials and security experts said have only intensified in the years since he left the White House, as his security detail shrank and agents no longer maintained as extensive a perimeter guarding his movements.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/16/trump-golf-courses-secret-service-protection/

 

[Cryptic]

Trump should ... as any free American citizen should ...be able to golf where he chooses...As we know... Biden has been enjoying open and un-walled beach activities...

Though Trump is technically free to golf where he chooses, presidential candidates of the two major parties are not "just like any American".

Likewise, Biden very likely enjoys seemingly open beach activities at very selected locations and at very selected times.

LE (ATF) can look at personal firearm purchase histories of individuals (Routh in this case) and 'read between the lines' so to speak, as to where and when that firearm was purchased. The fact that they can't retrieve any such info leads me to believe other avenues were used. JMO

Though the use of other avenues is still a possibility, it does not automatically follow from the circumstances. Rather, it gets uhhhmmm..... complicated, very complicated

The records in question do exist, but they are not records of purchases per se. Rather, they are records of background checks- which, as you observed, also just so happen to contain detailed information on the gun being purchased.

Semantics aside, these records are only kept for:
A- Fire arms purchases made through licensed dealers.
B- Fire arms purchased in private transactions- if the particular State requires background checks for private transactions.

One more complication: Biden, via executive order, made background checks for most private transactions (those primarily done for financial reasons mandatory. But.... "primarily for financial reasons" is not defined and I bet very few people selling weapons via private transactions in my red state are following that regulation.

So, at the end of the day, I bet one can easily purchase fire arms in private transactions in Florida and North Carolina with out getting a background check.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Since then, the agency has allocated even more resources to Mr. Trump’s protective package, such as ballistic glass to protect him at outdoor campaign rallies.

But there is always the issue of how many resources are actually available. The Secret Service has a certain amount of detection equipment like drones or infrared radar detectors and may not be able to spare them to secure a former president if those resources are already in use for the sitting president, for instance

The Secret Service has long operated under the plan that it provides protection to major presidential and vice-presidential candidates within 120 days of the general election. This year, however, it broke with that model and provided security to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate at the time, whose campaign had been asking for a protective detail for months.

The homeland security secretary, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, decided to extend protection to Mr. Kennedy after the Butler rally. Mr. Mayorkas consults with a panel of top congressional lawmakers on such decisions

How Secret Service Details Are Assigned

Levels of protection depend on a protectee’s position and the assessment of risk.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Sundog]

At the end of the press conference today with the FBI, SS, ATF, U.S. Attorney's Office, the Sheriff from Palm Beach County stated that he received a phone call from President Trump who thanked him for his work and the Sheriff stated that his department has a good working relationship with President Trump.

The statement was very heartfelt and brought tears to my eyes as it made the point that what this incident is also about on a personal level is the life of a human being whose wife, children and grandchildren will now have to deal with a second attempt on his life. At that level, any decent person has to be feeling incredible empathy for President Trump and his family.

 

[Megnut]

Don’t forget though that SS took a shot and missed.

Which means, in the negative, the SSA who took the shot didn't have a solid target which means it was arguably a reckless shot. Not sure how near an innocent pedestrian could have been but it is supremely fortunate that no one was injured by that stray bullet.

I do not envy SS their job, their responsibility, their duty or their trigger.

JMO

 

[Friday Fan]

Do you have a link to the statement that the penalty for an assassination attempt on a former president is up to five years? I think that five years is the penalty for making a threat against a former president, but not the penalty for attempted murder of a former president. I wasn't able to find information on the penalty for attempted murder/assassination attempt on a former president, just information on charges of making a threat against a former president.

So, I'm looking at attempted murder, but caution is involved here. Because it's from a defense lawyer's site. (Federal statutes don't define the "attempt" part of attempted murder)
However, this lawyer includes it with:
Stalking, tracking, or ambushing
Luring.
Breaking-in.
Constructing (as in making a bomb)
Soliciting.


So, we know that Routh was involved in the stalking, tracking and ambushing part.

There was someone who was charged with a plot to assassinate Trump via murder for hire. (Soliciting) So I guess it would fall under attempted murder? But it also includes a count of attempt to commit terrorism. So this is also confusing....

Asif Merchant, 46, entered his plea to one count of attempting to commit terrorism across national boundaries and one count of murder for hire at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pa...-court-assassination-plot-charges-2024-09-16/

It's confusing and this a defense attorney's site and I don't know. But anyway if solicitation is considered attempted, then stalking, tracking and ambushing could be considered attempted. However, I urge caution because I don't know the laws. I don't know if it's state laws or it applies to federal laws. Are federal laws vague with "attempt" on purpose for a larger umbrella? I have no idea!

 

[Love Never Fails]

At the end of the press conference today with the FBI, SS, ATF, U.S. Attorney's Office, the Sheriff from Palm Beach County stated that he received a phone call from President Trump who thanked him for his work and the Sheriff stated that his department has a good working relationship with President Trump.

The statement was very heartfelt and brought tears to my eyes as it made the point that what this incident is also about on a personal level is the life of a human being whose wife, children and grandchildren will now have to deal with a second attempt on his life. At that level, any decent person has to be feeling incredible empathy for President Trump and his family.

I do!
I was a young teen when JFK was assassinated. An older teen when Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. I remember Reagan being shot. And attempts on Gerald Ford. If someone cannot feel for these guys, and their families, they aren’t human. It’s gut wrenching.

 

[nao]

Moo....in regards to US presidential assination attempts. Have any been professional hits or has it been fringe thinkers? Moo

 

[Friday Fan]

Moo....in regards to US presidential assination attempts. Have any professional hits or has it been fringe thinkers? Moo

Not since John Wilkes Booth that I know of.

It's fringe because it's a lost cause.

In the days of olde...as in very old assassination may have been a vehicle for "regime change", and hence was professional, political etc. These days it's pretty much a suicide mission.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“I think the American people are going to be shocked and appalled by our findings as to the lapses and failures on that day,” Blumenthal, (D - Connecticut), said during an unrelated press event in Hartford.

He was quick to credit the Secret Service for their handling of Sunday’s incident, when officers noticed a rifle protruding from some shrubs on a Florida gold course.

“Political violence is unacceptable,” he said. “It has no place in America.”

Blumenthal is also chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one of several legislative bodies looking into the July 13th incident when a gunman fired at Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Blumenthal: People will be ‘shocked', ‘appalled' by report on first Trump assassination attempt

Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned Monday that an upcoming report will give a damning review of shortcomings that led to an assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. While reacting to a second assassination attempt Sunday, he said a report is coming “very soon” summarizing the...

www.nbcconnecticut.com

 

[SMK777]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/09/16/us/trump-shooting-news