US - Shots fired at Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania as former president is seen with blood across his face, 13 July 2024

[JennieM]

11m ago

It is 'surprising' the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before Secret Service killed him, FBI special agent says

An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the scene of the Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the alleged shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage.

The roof where the body lay was less than 150 meters from where Trump was speaking. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which US army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle. The AR-15, like the shooter at the Trump rally had, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M-16.

Asked at a press conference whether law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing, Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, responded that “that is our assessment at this time”.

“It is surprising” that the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him, he said.

Trump rally shooting live: questions raised over security service failings after assassination attempt

Spectator and suspect, named as Thomas Matthew Crooks, killed in shooting at Pennsylvania rally

www.theguardian.com

 

[Seattle1]

Trump rally attendee says he saw alleged shooter "move from roof to roof"

An attendee at the Trump rally told CBS Pittsburgh he saw the alleged shooter on a rooftop about "200 to 250 yards" away

www.cbsnews.com

LE evacuated neighbors of the shooter's parents in the middle of the night and told them they could not return until noon on Sunday as they executed a search warrant on the family home of the shooter on Milford Dr in Bethel Park, and conducted a bomb sweep of the neighborhood.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organised by the current authorities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"But the atmosphere around candidate Trump...provoked what America is confronting today.

"After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena - using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate - it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kremlin-biden-administration-created-atmosphere-trump-shooting-2024-07-14/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-shooting-reactions-world-leaders-2024-07-14/

 

[Marantz4250b]

"We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organised by the current authorities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"But the atmosphere around candidate Trump...provoked what America is confronting today.

"After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena - using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate - it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kremlin-biden-administration-created-atmosphere-trump-shooting-2024-07-14/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-shooting-reactions-world-leaders-2024-07-14/

So, in three paragraphs he goes from:

We don't think Biden did it

To

Biden did it

 

[RichardKimble]

It is hard to believe the elite Secret Service could be so incompetent.

No wonder so many are thinking conspiracy.

No grassy knoll though.

 

[su5ie]

His agents had created a shield around him with their own bodies and had him covered completely as they were moving him off the stage. I am surprised he broke the shield of his agents to show his face.

If nothing else Trump is defiant imo it was to display a show of strength

 

[JennieM]

If nothing else Trump is defiant imo it was to display a show of strength

Those agents risked their lives to protect him.

 

[IceIce9]

Authorities have identified the gunman involved in the attack against former US President Donald Trump on Saturday as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene after the shooting.

The FBI named Crooks in a statement early Sunday morning, identifying him as a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – about 35 miles south of Butler, where Trump was holding his rally.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, according to a local media report and a video of the school’s commencement.

He was registered to vote as a Republican, according to a listing in Pennsylvania’s voter database that matched his name, age, and a Bethel Park address that law enforcement was searching Saturday night and is linked to Crooks in public records.

This year’s presidential election would have been the first he was old enough to vote in.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/14/us/trump-shooting-thomas-matthew-crooks-intl-hnk/index.html

 

[indicolite22]

Trump rally attendee says he saw alleged shooter "move from roof to roof"

An attendee at the Trump rally told CBS Pittsburgh he saw the alleged shooter on a rooftop about "200 to 250 yards" away

www.cbsnews.com

LE evacuated neighbors of the shooter's parents in the middle of the night and told them they could not return until noon on Sunday as they executed a search warrant on the family home of the shooter on Milford Dr in Bethel Park, and conducted a bomb sweep of the neighborhood.

Did he have Adam Lanza as a role model?

 

[IceIce9]

Those agents risked their lives to protect him.

If they had seen the shooter on the roof like others in the crowd did they could have prevented the shooting.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Watching GMA, they are saying he appears to have acted alone. But a senatorial candidate and first row witness, Dave McCormick, said he felt shots may have came from 2 directions.

 

[indicolite22]

So, in three paragraphs he goes from:

We don't think Biden did it

To

Biden did it

Don't expect the truth to come from Kremlin.

 

[Inthedetails]

His father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to figure out 'what the hell is going on' but would 'wait until I talk to law enforcement' before speaking.

State voter records show Crooks was a registered Republican. According to US media, when he was aged 17 he donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on January 20, 2021 - Biden's Inauguration Day.

Trump gunman is 20-year-old registered Republican who donated to Biden

Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead by a US Secret Service sniper after he opened fire on the former President during a rally in Pennsylvania.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Crooks was a registered Republican, the Associated Press reported. The election in November would have been the first time he had been old enough to vote in a presidential race.

But in 2021, Crooks, then 17, made a $15 donation to a political action committee that raises funds for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, the news agency reported, according to a Federal Election Commission filing

Trump rally shooting live: Trump shooter is 20-year-old Republican, says FBI

A 20-year-old registered Republican has been identified by the FBI as the gunman believed to have attempted to assassinate Donald Trump.

www.telegraph.co.uk

It's entirely possible that he is a Republican who doesn't like Trump. Just because you belong to one party doesn't mean you automatically approve of the leading candidates.

We don't know enough yet, imo. But, from what we do know, I don't think this 20yo was part of any powerful conspiracy. At this point, I am assuming he was a lone wolf, though possibly influenced by online communities, imo.

I also predict people will still believe conspiracy theories.

jmo

 

[IceIce9]

Watching GMA, they are saying he appears to have acted alone. But a senatorial candidate and first row witness, Dave McCormick, said he felt shots may have come from 2 directions.

Surely that will be able to be determined by the videos. Much more to work with than just the Zapruder film.

 

[Marantz4250b]

Watching GMA, they are saying he appears to have acted alone. But a senatorial candidate and first row witness, Dave McCormick, said he felt shots may have come from 2 directions.

Never take people's assessments on where bullets are coming from as being correct. The acoustics are such that you cannot tell. It sounds different to people in different positions.

 

[indicolite22]

If nothing else Trump is defiant imo it was to display a show of strength

Did he know that the shooter was dead by then? Also, he was likely still in a state of shock.

 

[JennieM]

Some supporters burst into tears, others were angry at the Secret Service

British journalist Tom Newton Dunn - who was at Saturday's rally - has just spoken to our colleagues on the BBC News Channel.

He describes supporters "in carnival mode" before the event started, adding that Trump was over an hour late but that they "didn't mind that at all".

Trump was "just getting into the meat on illegal immigration" when the shots were fired, he says.

Newton Dunn says a lot of people weren't aware what was happening - it was only as shouts to get down rang out that it started to sink in.

"Some people burst into tears [...] one lady next to me was crouching on the ground saying 'Oh Jesus, oh Jesus, oh Jesus, they got him'...

"Others reacted in anger [...] some blaming people for it, blaming the Democrats for it, blaming Biden, blaming CNN [...] and they were angry at the Secret Service."
Newton Dunn adds there was a digital billboard outside the event - within an hour of the shooting, it said: "Democrats attempted assassination, President Trump" and "Praying for President Trump".

Donald Trump rally shooting: Donald Trump calls on Americans to 'stand united' after assassination attempt

The Secret Service, which protects the former president, is facing questions after the shooting at Saturday's rally.

www.bbc.co.uk

Image of digital billboard at link…

 

[Marantz4250b]

Surely that will be able to be determined by the videos. Much more to work with than just the Zapruder film.

I think in the slowed down BBC film it shows the disturbance created by the bullet as it passes Trump's head.

 

[JennieM]

Did he know that the shooter was dead by then? Also, he was likely still in a state of shock.

There could have been more than one shooter.

 

[Marantz4250b]

"Some people burst into tears [...] one lady next to me was crouching on the ground saying 'Oh Jesus, oh Jesus, oh Jesus, they got him'...

"Others reacted in anger [...] some blaming people for it, blaming the Democrats for it, blaming Biden, blaming CNN [...] and they were angry at the Secret Service."
Newton Dunn adds there was a digital billboard outside the event - within an hour of the shooting, it said: "Democrats attempted assassination, President Trump" and "Praying for President Trump".

Donald Trump rally shooting: Donald Trump calls on Americans to 'stand united' after assassination attempt

The Secret Service, which protects the former president, is facing questions after the shooting at Saturday's rally.

www.bbc.co.uk

Image of digital billboard at link…

There are some very, very worrying people on the loose, quite frankly!