PA - Assassination attempt, shooting injures former POTUS Donald Trump, leaves 1 spectator deceased two in critical condition, 13 July 2024 #3

[JennieM]

Donald Trump ducked at a rally as shots appeared to be fired at the former president.

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.

The shooting unfolded as Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Shots fired at Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania

Donald Trump ducked at a rally as shots appeared to be fired at the former president.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thread #1. Thread #2

 

[Tricia]

Hey Everyone,
You are seeing many members on timeouts. We put up several warnings asking you not to post unapproved sources, not to post wild "facts" without linking to an approved source, and to stop being political. When members post things like this, it creates so much work for our mods because a ton of members report it. We have to check it out and deal with it again and again.
I don't like having to do this but I don't know how else to get our message across.
We want you to discuss, but you know the rules. It's why Websleuths is considered a reliable source for the public and law enforcement.
Thank you,
Tricia

 

[Tricia]

My Friends,
I don't like taking my blood pressure medicine however, due to the fact that some members have been making blatant political posts about this situation has caused me to double my medication today.
WE DO NOT ALLOW POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS. This is about the horrific crime of an attempted assassination of a presidential candidate. Please keep on topic.
The on-topic discussion includes what is uncovered about the shooter. His information is relevant.
Thank you very much. My blood pressure thanks you as well.
Tricia

 

[Knitty]

Please continue here.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Now 5 days later, should there not be a medical report, or a least a public briefing on the injury Trump sustained?

The general health and well-being of a President/candidate/former President is generally public knowledge.

Trump’s campaign has given no official info about his medical care following assassination attempt

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

So Crooks had 2 cell phones, not surprising, and they're picking up his digital trail now. I wonder why initially they stated that they hadn't found anything suspicious on his phone (singular), knowing they had 2 to analyze. Kind of misleading to the public. Turns out he wasn't some genius who obliterated his trail after all.

 

[Inthedetails]

Bringing over from the last page of the previous thread:


"As well as researching Trump and Biden, Crooks also searched for FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and a member of the British royal family, the Times reported, without specifying which royal it was."

Failed assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks researched Trump and Biden — and even a UK royal before shooting

Thomas Crooks researched Trump, Biden, and a UK royal before his assassination attempt. Learn more about the investigation.

nypost.com

Report

 

[nerosleuth]

Each passing day the bombshells keeps getting worse concerning the security at the rally event.

A volunteer firefighter and GOP activist from Pennsylvania says that the Butler event was the least secure venue that he has been to.

A walk through on the evening before the rally event had multiple concerns about security issues involving parking, too many points of entry, lack of barricades, and too many open rooftops.

Pennsylvania GOP Activist Says Butler Event Was The Least Secure Venue

 

[savysheart]

I agree with @Inthedetails that radicalization doesn't seem like the catalyst here. At least not the main cause. He searched for both presidential candidates and the Democratic convention, it doesn't strike me as being tied to one political movement if he was exposed to any though. I know that "mentally ill" is the catch-all phrase for mass shooters nowadays, but I really do think that Crooks was unwell and additionally wanted to end other people's lives before his own. Obviously, anyone firing into a crowd of innocent people is not mentally sane or healthy in any way.

The royal family member is quite odd, though it seems he was researching many high-profile people and fantasizing about an attempt on anyone with a bit of popularity really. He had photos of multiple political figures on his phone. It seems like he wanted to cause damage on a catastrophic level, but it needed to be someone famous for him. He wanted to be someone, maybe even for once in his life. I guess in a way he got it. My opinion...

Honestly, my mind is still blown over this event. The amount of failures that had to happen on the inside for this to occur is astonishing. Nobody stopped a 20-year-old college kid climbing up on a roof and getting a shot at a former president, one with planning and definitely not without warnings. They had him on the radar for 60 minutes, yes? That's plenty of time to assess a threat and neutralize it. Nobody could have gotten hurt that day. Nobody should have been hurt. Now a father has lost his life, innocent bystanders were critically injured, many people are traumatized, and a family has lost their young son who did the unspeakable.

 

[Betty P]

Apologies if this has been posted, but it appears the shooter made a post on a gaming site before the shooting.
He sounds like the type who did it for fame.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/politics/thomas-matthew-crooks-steam/index.html?Date=20240718&Profile=CNN&utm_content=1721305938&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

(He) wrote on the popular gaming platform Steam that “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds,”

JMO, as for LE missing opportunities to note his behavior in the weeks leading up to the rally, it's a small town-ish type of area. As in many cases, LE doesn't automatically think that the monster who commits crimes comes from their town. People want to think their town is nice, friendly and law abiding and that violence and crimes come from outsiders.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Trump shooter requested Saturday off from work and told colleagues he'd be back at work Sunday, officials say

one of the four counter-sniper teams observed Crooks looking at their position through the rangefinder, according to the senior law enforcement official. "They were looking at him while he was looking at them,” the official said.

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1813625754636186025

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/17/secret-service-trump-rally-shooting-homeland-security-investigation/

 

[Inthedetails]

I agree with @Inthedetails that radicalization doesn't seem like the catalyst here. At least not the main cause. He searched for both presidential candidates and the Democratic convention, it doesn't strike me as being tied to one political movement if he was exposed to any though. I know that "mentally ill" is the catch-all phrase for mass shooters nowadays, but I really do think that Crooks was unwell and additionally wanted to end other people's lives before his own. Obviously, anyone firing into a crowd of innocent people is not mentally sane or healthy in any way.

The royal family member is quite odd, though it seems he was researching many high-profile people and fantasizing about an attempt on anyone with a bit of popularity really. He had photos of multiple political figures on his phone. It seems like he wanted to cause damage on a catastrophic level, but it needed to be someone famous for him. He wanted to be someone, maybe even for once in his life. I guess in a way he got it. My opinion...

Honestly, my mind is still blown over this event. The amount of failures that had to happen on the inside for this to occur is astonishing. Nobody stopped a 20-year-old college kid climbing up on a roof and getting a shot at a former president, one with planning and definitely not without warnings. They had him on the radar for 60 minutes, yes? That's plenty of time to assess a threat and neutralize it. Nobody could have gotten hurt that day. Nobody should have been hurt. Now a father has lost his life, innocent bystanders were critically injured, many people are traumatized, and a family has lost their young son who did the unspeakable.

The only thing I can think of about the royals is a couple who live in USA. Otherwise, I can't see how a royal would be a realistic target. (I'm not saying anyone is a realistic target - it's an absolute horror to think of anyone plotting to attack anyone.)

It's also possible he knew his searches would be discovered so he threw in red herrings. Not sure how conniving he was.

jmo

 

[Betty P]

I agree with @Inthedetails that radicalization doesn't seem like the catalyst here. At least not the main cause. He searched for both presidential candidates and the Democratic convention, it doesn't strike me as being tied to one political movement if he was exposed to any though. I know that "mentally ill" is the catch-all phrase for mass shooters nowadays, but I really do think that Crooks was unwell and additionally wanted to end other people's lives before his own. Obviously, anyone firing into a crowd of innocent people is not mentally sane or healthy in any way.

The royal family member is quite odd, though it seems he was researching many high-profile people and fantasizing about an attempt on anyone with a bit of popularity really. He had photos of multiple political figures on his phone. It seems like he wanted to cause damage on a catastrophic level, but it needed to be someone famous for him. He wanted to be someone, maybe even for once in his life. I guess in a way he got it. My opinion...

Honestly, my mind is still blown over this event. The amount of failures that had to happen on the inside for this to occur is astonishing. Nobody stopped a 20-year-old college kid climbing up on a roof and getting a shot at a former president, one with planning and definitely not without warnings. They had him on the radar for 60 minutes, yes? That's plenty of time to assess a threat and neutralize it. Nobody could have gotten hurt that day. Nobody should have been hurt. Now a father has lost his life, innocent bystanders were critically injured, many people are traumatized, and a family has lost their young son who did the unspeakable.

It's interesting that so many mistakes happened at this event and not at others. High profile political events are always very high risk in the US. There are many times when close calls happen, but they seldom escalate to an incident. The news media and public often never hear of them.

Overall, outdoor events are always extremely risky and difficult to monitor and control for safety.

 

[Fabled Automatic]

I agree with @Inthedetails that radicalization doesn't seem like the catalyst here. At least not the main cause. He searched for both presidential candidates and the Democratic convention, it doesn't strike me as being tied to one political movement if he was exposed to any though.

Given his, according to his classmates, political leanings, along with the point you mentioned above, and his last social media post.. I'm wondering if it wasn't motivated by attention seeking and notoriety more than political motivation. Time may tell, or it might not.

 

[Betty P]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1813625754636186025

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/17/secret-service-trump-rally-shooting-homeland-security-investigation/

Interesting. Local LE didn't have enough manpower to place a patrol car and officer where needed for full security. Secret Service doesn't have patrol cars or LE officers, so it's possible their only option was to cancel or move the event indoors. That may have been met by resistance from the campaign. JMO

 

[Betty P]

Given his, according to his classmates, political leanings, along with the point you mentioned above, and his last social media post.. I'm wondering if it wasn't motivated by attention seeking and notoriety more than political motivation. Time may tell, or it might not.

Yes, JMO, he seems to fit that profile - someone who seeks notoriety. He wanted to commit an assassination attempt on any high profile politician or celebrity just so he could become famous for doing it.

ETA: It's possible he chose Trump simply because he was the most famous person who came near his community. Fame + proximity. He probably didn't have the financial resources to travel long distances to engage other famous "targets". I'm guessing he probably enjoyed searching online for all this information and fantasizing about carrying it out. Maybe it was like a game to him.

In this case, he was a shy and mild-mannered person who didn't attract attention.

 

[Sprigs]

Is it my eyes? I watched the crawl across the roof video on CNN earlier this week, and attached this clip to the post - seems like he’s wearing pants? I keyed in on that as written and televised reports had mentioned shorts.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/us/video/shooter-seen-by-attendees-one-minute-before-trump-shot-digvid

But photos of the suspected shooter on the same roof show him in shorts?

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump, was a registered Republican

Thomas Matthew Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania , was identified as the shooter by the FBI following the shock incident that took place during a rally in Butler.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Am I seeing things?

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Is it my eyes? I watched the crawl across the roof video on CNN earlier this week, and attached this clip to the post - seems like he’s wearing pants? I keyed in on that as written and televised reports had mentioned shorts.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/us/video/shooter-seen-by-attendees-one-minute-before-trump-shot-digvid

But photos of the suspected shooter on the same roof show him in shorts?

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump, was a registered Republican

Thomas Matthew Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania , was identified as the shooter by the FBI following the shock incident that took place during a rally in Butler.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Am I seeing things?

That is a bit peculiar. Seems he was wearing pants in another pic...

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Is it my eyes? I watched the crawl across the roof video on CNN earlier this week, and attached this clip to the post - seems like he’s wearing pants? I keyed in on that as written and televised reports had mentioned shorts.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/us/video/shooter-seen-by-attendees-one-minute-before-trump-shot-digvid

But photos of the suspected shooter on the same roof show him in shorts?

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump, was a registered Republican

Thomas Matthew Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania , was identified as the shooter by the FBI following the shock incident that took place during a rally in Butler.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Am I seeing things?

I watched it a few times in slow motion and it almost looks like he's wearing pants when you first get a good look at his legs in the CNN footage, and then it looks like shorts, to me, a few seconds later in the same footage. Maybe his pants got shoved up toward his knees? Or it's just an illusion of pants because they were skin colored?