As I have observed in previous columns, our era in the United States is frequently beset with incidents characterized by a catastrophic loss of competence. Decades of procedural knowledge seem to
Trump Shooting Round Up Videos
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - July 14 - Donald Trump Shooting Roundup
NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - July 14 - Donald Trump Shooting Roundup
Witnesses recount the moment gunman fired toward Trump; New details on shooter behind Trump attempted assassination; Victims of attempted assassination at Trump rally identified; and more on tonight’s broadcast.
Latest updates on Trump rally shooting investigation after portrait of suspected gunman emerges -
Latest updates on Trump rally shooting investigation after portrait of suspected gunman emerges -
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in a deadly shooting at a campaign rally for Donald Trump.
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What we know about the Trump rally gunman so far What we know about the Trump rally gunman so far CNN
What we know about the Trump rally gunman so far What we know about the Trump rally gunman so far CNN
CNN's Danny Freeman breaks down what investigators have uncovered about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who authorities say tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump during his Pennsylvania rally. #CNN#News
Reporter describes what Trump told her in his first interview after shooting
Reporter describes what Trump told her in his first interview after shooting
Washington Examiner reporter Salena Zito joins CNN’s Abby Phillip to discuss her interview with former President Donald Trump the day after he survived an assassination attempt.
Trump shooting: the security failures that let gunman mount assassination attempt | BBC News -
Trump shooting: the security failures that let gunman mount assassination attempt | BBC News
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania exposed a series of security lapses that allowed the gunman to mount his assassination attempt. The gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to access a roof around 130 meters from the podium where Mr Trump was speaking. It’s the job of the US Secret Service to protect sitting and former presidents. Somehow the gunman managed to breach the security perimeter with a rifle and reach an elevated position close to Mr Trump.
Video of the attack and the accounts of eyewitnesses suggest that members of the crowd became aware of the threat before the police and other security officials and attempted to alert them to the danger It was only when the gunman opened fire that officials recognised the danger and responded, with Thomas Crooks shot dead by armed officers. Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Gary O’Donoghue, Tom Bateman and Sarah Smith.
New details on shooter behind Trump attempted assassination
New details on shooter behind Trump attempted assassination
Officials are learning more about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Officials said Crooks had no criminal record or military experience. In addition to a semi-automatic weapon on the scene, authorities found suspicious containers in his car. NBC News’ Shaquille Brewster reports.
Trump Shooting Videos
FBI & Secret Service Pressor for The Trump Rally Shooting: Assassination Attempt Investigation
FBI & Secret Service Pressor for The Trump Rally Shooting: Assassination Attempt Investigation
Former Secret Service Agent speaks on deadly shooting at Trump rally
Former Secret Service Agent speaks on deadly shooting at Trump rally
Federal investigators trying to learn more about Trump rally shooter
Federal investigators trying to learn more about Trump rally shooter
Moment the Secret Service took down gunman in Trump shooting
Moment the Secret Service took down gunman in Trump shooting
Secret Service snipers made a split-second decision to take down the gunman after he opened fire on the former president. ABC News' Martha Raddatz shows us how it unfolded in real-time.
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Special Report: The Trump assassination attempt | ABC news
Special Report:
The Trump assassination attempt | ABC news
Moment gunman opens fires at Donald Trump rally caught on video | BBC News
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Attacker at Donald Trump’s rally killed by US Secret Service sniper | BBC News
Attacker at Donald Trump’s rally killed by US Secret Service sniper | BBC News
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Donald Trump Assassination Attempt
Analysis of the attemped assassination of Donald Trump
USWeekly.com.au Analysis of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump
1. Leroy Flecture Prouty a former CIA cornel stated in his book 'The Secret Team' that one can work out who was behind ordering, allowing, encouraging, arranging and/or ochestrating an attempted or successful assassination ..... one first has to find out who was responcible to reducing the amount if security protecting a politician, royal family member or other important public figure, that allowed such attempted or successful assassination to take place.
2. On the undisputable evidence, the USA Security Services allowed the opportunity for the shooter to set up an excellent firing pisition on a nearby roof which should have occupied by a USA Security Services Sniper.
3 A large tree protected Trump Shooter.
4. Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17.
Analysis
Open campaign events, such as Saturday's, are tough to secure against all threats, but insiders said they were surprised that the gunman was able to scale a roof overlooking the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump was speaking.
A "fundamental security failure" allowed a gunman to get close enough to Donald Trump to shoot him, according to an analysis of the scene of the assassination attempt.
Sky News analysis of the area where the former president was shot from as he gave a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, suggests a large tree blocked the view between the gunman and the closest armed protection unit.
Monday 15 July 2024 07:13, UK
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The 20-year-old nursing-home employee from suburban Pittsburgh who tried to assassinate former president Donald Trump was a registered Republican who packed explosives in the vehicle he drove to the campaign rally an hour from his home.
Law enforcement officials were trying to learn more about Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, to determine what motivated him to open fire on the rally from a nearby rooftop, killing one spectator, before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.
The FBI said on Sunday it has not yet identified any underlying ideology or threatening writing or social media posts from Crooks, who graduated from high school two years ago and had no past criminal cases against him, according to public court records. The FBI said it believes Crooks acted alone.
Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said on social media that the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting.
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Two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. The man killed was Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief from the area who Pennsylvania’s governor says died a “hero” by diving on to his family to protect them.
Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN on Saturday that he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would not speak about his son until after he talked to law enforcement.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. In a video of the school’s graduation ceremony posted online, Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to receive his diploma, appearing slight of build and wearing glasses.
Crooks tried to get into the school’s rifle team but was turned away because he was a bad shot, said Frederick Mach, a current captain of the team who was a few years behind Crooks at the school.
Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunch time. Other students mocked him for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, Mr Kohler said.
“He was bullied almost every day,” Mr Kohler told reporters. “He was just a outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays.”
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Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation.
Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, said in a statement she was “shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement”.
Ms Grimm added that Crooks had a clean background check when he was hired.
Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave money to a progressive political action committee on January 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger told AP on Sunday that Crooks had been previously unknown to investigators in his county and had not been on their radar.
He said the investigation had so far not turned up any evidence that he had co-ordinated with anyone else in the region.
A blockade had been set up Sunday blocking traffic near Crooks’ house, which is in an enclave of modest brick houses in the hills outside blue-collar Pittsburgh and about an hour’s drive from the site of the Trump rally.
Police cars were stationed at an intersection near the house and officers were seen walking through the neighbourhood.
Bomb-making materials were found inside Crooks’ vehicle near the Trump rally and at his home, according to two officials. A white Allegheny County Police truck identified as bomb squad pulled up to the home on Sunday.
Crooks used an AR-style rifle, which authorities said they believe was purchased by his father.
Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said that investigators do not yet know if he took the gun without his father’s permission.
One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer.
The officer retreated down the ladder and Crooks quickly took a shot at Mr Trump, and that is when Secret Service snipers shot him, said the officials.
A video posted on social media and geolocated by AP shows Crooks wearing a grey T-shirt with a black American flag on the right arm lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm showgrounds where Mr Trump’s rally was held.
The roof where Crooks lay was less than 150 metres from where Mr Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. That is a distance at which US Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle.
Images of Crooks’ body reviewed by AP show he appears to have been wearing a T-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel that regularly posts videos of its creator firing off handguns and assault rifles at targets that include human mannequins.
Matt Carriker, the Texas-based creator of Demolition Ranch, did not respond to a phone message or email on Sunday, but posted a photo of Crooks’ body wearing his brand’s T-shirt on social media with the comment “What the hell.”
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17.
Summary
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Biden orders review of how gunman got so close
Gunman worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home
Four-day convention gets under way on Monday
Trump to name his vice presidential running mate
MILWAUKEE, July 14 (Reuters) - Donald Trump arrived on Sunday in Milwaukee, where he will be formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate later this week after surviving an assassination attempt that has aggravated an already bitter U.S. political divide.President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ordered a review of how a 20-year-old man with an AR-15-style rifle got close enough to shoot at Trump from a rooftop on Saturday. Trump, as a former president, has lifetime protection by the U.S. Secret Service
.Trump, 78, was holding a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania - a key state in the Nov. 5 election - when shots rang out, hitting his right ear and leaving his face streaked with blood. His campaign said he was doing well.
"That reality is just setting in," Trump told the Washington Examiner on Sunday. "I rarely look away from the crowd. Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?"
One person in the crowd was killed and two others wounded before Secret Service agents fatally shot the suspect.
Both Trump and Biden on Sunday sought calm and unity.
Trump is due to accept his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention with a speech on Thursday. He pumped his fist in the air several times as he descended the stairs from his plane after arriving in Milwaukee.
"This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would've been two days ago," Trump told the Washington Examiner.
Biden delivered a televised address from the Oval Office in the White House on Sunday.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized," he said. "The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down."
Biden and Trump spoke to each other on Saturday night after the shooting. First Lady Jill Biden also spoke with former First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday afternoon, said a White House official.
Trump and Biden are locked in a close election rematch, according to most opinion polls including by Reuters/Ipsos. The shooting on Saturday whipsawed discussion around the presidential campaign, which had been focused on if Biden, 81, should drop out following a halting June 27 debate performance.The FBI said there were no known threats to the Republican convention - which kicks off on Monday - or anyone attending, while the Secret Service said they do not anticipate any changes to the security plan.The convention will feature televised speeches by rising Republican stars and Trump's choice for a yet-to-be-announced vice presidential running mate, while highlighting the party's stance on such topics as abortion, immigration and the economy.
SUSPECT A NURSING HOME AIDE
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect and said the shooting was being investigated as an attempted assassination.FBI officials said on Sunday that the shooter acted alone. The agency said it had yet to identify an ideology linked to the suspect or any indications of mental health issues or found any threatening language on the suspect's social media accounts.Item 1 of 13 A pro-Trump supporter holds a portrait of former President Donald Trump during a demonstration in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump who was shot the previous day in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania, in Huntington Beach, California, U.S. July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Etienne Laurent
]A pro-Trump supporter holds a portrait of former President Donald Trump during a demonstration in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump who was shot the previous day in an assassination...
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting he was employed as a dietary aide at a nursing home. The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean."The gun - an AR-style-5.56 caliber rifle - had been legally bought, FBI officials said, adding they believed it had been purchased by the suspect's father. The officials said "a suspicious device" was found in the suspect's vehicle, which was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe.The Secret Service denied accusations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected a campaign request for more security, saying that it recently "added protective resources and capabilities to the former President's security detail."Hours after the assassination attempt, the Oversight Committee in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives summoned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.The shots on Saturday appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said Butler Township police officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person, but were unaware he was armed. He said one officer helped hoist another officer up to look on the roof. As the officer pulled himself up he was confronted by the shooter."The shooter heard him or saw him, he turns around with his rifle and of course the guy just lets go and he falls to the ground," said Slupe. The shooter opened fire shortly afterwards, he said.
SPECTATOR KILLED PROTECTING FAMILY
The rally attendee killed on Saturday was identified by authorities as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania. He died trying to protect his family from the hail of bullets, said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro."Corey was an avid supporter of the former president, and was so excited to be there," Shapiro said, adding, "Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence."Two people wounded in the shooting were in a stable condition on Sunday. Pennsylvania State identified them as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.Residents of Bethel Park, where the suspected shooter lived, expressed shock at the news on Sunday."It's a little crazy to think that somebody that did an assassination attempt is that close, but it just kind of shows the political dynamic that we're in right now with the craziness on each side," said resident Wes Morgan, 42, describing Bethel Park as "a pretty blue-collar type of area."While mass shootings at schools, nightclubs and other public places are common in the United States, the attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party presidential candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.Americans fear rising political violence, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they worried violence could follow the election.After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a deadly riot fueled by Trump's false claims that his loss was the result of widespread fraud.
Reporting by Nathan Layne, Gabriella Borter and Soren Larson in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, Sarah N. Lynch, Richard Cowan, Caitlin Webber, Nandita Bose, Ismail Shakil, Joseph Ax, Andrew Hay and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Frank McGurty, Scott Malone and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.
Open campaign events, such as Saturday's, are tough to secure against all threats, but insiders said they were surprised that the gunman was able to scale a roof overlooking the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump was speaking.
Monday 15 July 2024 07:13, UK
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A "fundamental security failure" allowed a gunman to get close enough to Donald Trump to shoot him, according to an analysis of the scene of the assassination attempt.
Sky News analysis of the area where the former president was shot from as he gave a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, suggests a large tree blocked the view between the gunman and the closest armed protection unit.
Two armed units could be seen on the two warehouses behind Mr Trump, but because of the tree only the unit that was further away from the attacker had a clear view of him.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was on top of a warehouse between 130-140m from Mr Trump when he fired several rounds at the former president before being shot and killed by Secret Service agents.
Mr Trump was hit in the ear in the assassination attempt but has said "God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening", while one spectator - named as 50-year-old Corey Comperatore - was killed and two others seriously injured.
Security experts familiar with the demands of keeping politicians safe said "a fundamental security failure" occurred to allow the gunman to get close enough to carry out his attack.
Among those to comment was Steve Nottingham, who has helped provide security for visiting world leaders, including presidents.
The former Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team commander, suggested pre-event research and real-time monitoring of places a gunman could shoot from had broken down.
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1:34 What Trump said after being shot
He told NBC, Sky's US partner: "They were behind the curve, because they should have had those places covered ahead of time."
His comments come after the BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, who said he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event.
The person, who the BBC did not name, said he and other people he was with started trying to alert security, pointing at the man.
Retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Jim Cavanaugh said he was surprised the gunman was able to occupy a raised position within rifle range of the rally site.
Mr Cavanaugh said: "Whenever I've been with them, every single high ground is taken by them or the local SWAT police. There's nobody allowed walking on rooftops. They command the high ground."
He said a high-powered rifle like an AR-15 can hit targets 600ft (182m) away and Mr Trump was about 444ft (135m) from the rooftop where the gunman was found dead, NBC News said, based on an analysis of Google Earth images.
Mr Cavanaugh said: "Having been on Secret Service details, it's amazing to me that somebody was on an elevated position that they didn't know about."
But Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens defended those in charge of security, calling it "incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public and to secure that against any possible threat against a very determined attacker. That's a huge lift".
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its role, NBC said.
But a spokesman for the service has denied online reports that it refused requests from the Trump campaign for greater security.
Spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on the X social media platform on Sunday: "There's an untrue assertion that a member of the former president's team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed.
"This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo".
FBI special agent Kevin Rojek told reporters law enforcement was not aware there was a man on the rooftop until he started firing, and said it was "surprising" how many shots the gunman managed to fire.
Trump supporters in the front row of the rally heard a series of pops and saw Secret Service agents jump on the stage as Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in November's presidential election, ducked.
Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site a couple of hours later that a bullet "pierced the upper part of my right ear.
"I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening."
Former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras, who has protected multiple presidents, including Barack Obama and George W Bush, said it is impossible to eliminate every potential threat at a rally.
She said: "Somebody can be out in the distance and really engage your target from a long range, and there are weapons out there that allow you to do this.
"Let's say you hunkered [locked] this whole area down. You've got the magnetometers (instrument used for measuring magnetic forces); you've got the tactical element. Everything is locked and tight. How do you secure that outer perimeter? How far do you go? And can you cover everything? That's a problem.
"Even if somebody is in an elevated position or not, how do you secure all of those elevated positions when you have weapons with the capabilities that are able to shoot long distances? This is what you are up against."
Former New York City police officer Jillian Snider said it is routine for law enforcement to do a perimeter check extending a few hundred yards ahead of such an event.
"That doesn't mean that someone can't sneakily make their way to one of those positions afterward, especially if it was someone who had done some preplanning. There are a lot of places in that area to hide, and you can't monitor every possible position.
"Someone who is that driven to do something like this will find a way to try and get the job done."
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting he was employed as a dietary aide at a nursing home. The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean."The gun - an AR-style-5.56 caliber rifle - had been legally bought, FBI officials said, adding they believed it had been purchased by the suspect's father. The officials said "a suspicious device" was found in the suspect's vehicle, which was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe.The Secret Service denied accusations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected a campaign request for more security, saying that it recently "added protective resources and capabilities to the former President's security detail."Hours after the assassination attempt, the Oversight Committee in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives summoned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.The shots on Saturday appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said Butler Township police officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person, but were unaware he was armed. He said one officer helped hoist another officer up to look on the roof. As the officer pulled himself up he was confronted by the shooter."The shooter heard him or saw him, he turns around with his rifle and of course the guy just lets go and he falls to the ground," said Slupe. The shooter opened fire shortly afterwards, he said.
SPECTATOR KILLED PROTECTING FAMILY
The rally attendee killed on Saturday was identified by authorities as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania. He died trying to protect his family from the hail of bullets, said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro."Corey was an avid supporter of the former president, and was so excited to be there," Shapiro said, adding, "Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence."Two people wounded in the shooting were in a stable condition on Sunday. Pennsylvania State identified them as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.Residents of Bethel Park, where the suspected shooter lived, expressed shock at the news on Sunday."It's a little crazy to think that somebody that did an assassination attempt is that close, but it just kind of shows the political dynamic that we're in right now with the craziness on each side," said resident Wes Morgan, 42, describing Bethel Park as "a pretty blue-collar type of area."While mass shootings at schools, nightclubs and other public places are common in the United States, the attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party presidential candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Americans fear rising political violence, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they worried violence could follow the election.After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a deadly riot fueled by Trump's false claims that his loss was the result of widespread fraud.
Get weekly news and analysis on the U.S. elections and how it matters to the world with the newsletter On the Campaign Trail. Sign up here.
Reporting by Nathan Layne, Gabriella Borter and Soren Larson in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, Sarah N. Lynch, Richard Cowan, Caitlin Webber, Nandita Bose, Ismail Shakil, Joseph Ax, Andrew Hay and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Frank McGurty, Scott Malone and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.
Trump Shooter SUSPECT A NURSING HOME AIDE
Trump Shooter SUSPECT A NURSING HOME AIDE
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect and said the shooting was being investigated as an attempted assassination.FBI officials said on Sunday that the shooter acted alone. The agency said it had yet to identify an ideology linked to the suspect or any indications of mental health issues or found any threatening language on the suspect's social media accounts.Item 1 of 13 A pro-Trump supporter holds a portrait of former President Donald Trump during a demonstration in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump who was shot the previous day in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania, in Huntington Beach, California, U.S. July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Etienne Laurent
]A pro-Trump supporter holds a portrait of former President Donald Trump during a demonstration in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump who was shot the previous day in an assassinatio
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting he was employed as a dietary aide at a nursing home. The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean."The gun - an AR-style-5.56 caliber rifle - had been legally bought, FBI officials said, adding they believed it had been purchased by the suspect's father. The officials said "a suspicious device" was found in the suspect's vehicle, which was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe.The Secret Service denied accusations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected a campaign request for more security, saying that it recently "added protective resources and capabilities to the former President's security detail."Hours after the assassination attempt, the Oversight Committee in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives summoned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.The shots on Saturday appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said Butler Township police officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person, but were unaware he was armed. He said one officer helped hoist another officer up to look on the roof. As the officer pulled himself up he was confronted by the shooter."The shooter heard him or saw him, he turns around with his rifle and of course the guy just lets go and he falls to the ground," said Slupe. The shooter opened fire shortly afterwards, he said.
SPECTATOR KILLED PROTECTING FAMILY
The rally attendee killed on Saturday was identified by authorities as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania. He died trying to protect his family from the hail of bullets, said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro."Corey was an avid supporter of the former president, and was so excited to be there," Shapiro said, adding, "Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence."Two people wounded in the shooting were in a stable condition on Sunday. Pennsylvania State identified them as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.Residents of Bethel Park, where the suspected shooter lived, expressed shock at the news on Sunday."It's a little crazy to think that somebody that did an assassination attempt is that close, but it just kind of shows the political dynamic that we're in right now with the craziness on each side," said resident Wes Morgan, 42, describing Bethel Park as "a pretty blue-collar type of area."While mass shootings at schools, nightclubs and other public places are common in the United States, the attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party presidential candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Americans fear rising political violence, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they worried violence could follow the election.After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a deadly riot fueled by Trump's false claims that his loss was the result of widespread fraud.
Reporting by Nathan Layne, Gabriella Borter and Soren Larson in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, Sarah N. Lynch, Richard Cowan, Caitlin Webber, Nandita Bose, Ismail Shakil, Joseph Ax, Andrew Hay and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Frank McGurty, Scott Malone and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast. a look at some of our recent projects and see the quality of our work for yourself. We have worked with a wide range of clients across various industries and are confident in our ability to meet any challenge.
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A large tree protected Trump Shooter
Analysis
Open campaign events, such as Saturday's, are tough to secure against all threats, but insiders said they were surprised that the gunman was able to scale a roof overlooking the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump was speaking.
A "fundamental security failure" allowed a gunman to get close enough to Donald Trump to shoot him, according to an analysis of the scene of the assassination attempt.
Sky News analysis of the area where the former president was shot from as he gave a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, suggests a large tree blocked the view between the gunman and the closest armed protection unit.
Monday 15 July 2024 07:13, UK
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USA Secret Service Failed and Has Some 'Splainin to Do
As I have observed in previous columns, our era in the United States is frequently beset with incidents characterized by a catastrophic loss of competence. Decades of procedural knowledge seem to vanish from one day to the next, leaving sensible people wondering how it could possibly happen.
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump this evening at the the Butler Farm Show Grounds is a perfect example of this bizarre phenomenon. The shooter climbed onto the roof—purportedly with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle —120 meters from Trump on the stage. From this vantage point, he had a clear line of sight for a shot that would have been easy for even a middling marksman. The following aerial photograph shows the shooter’s position relative to Trumps.
As anyone who understands the rudiments of security knows, the FIRST thing you do is secure all rooftops within sniper range. Note in the following video that a counter sniper (with the word POLICE embroidered on the back of his vest) on the roof behind Trump is scoping the would-be assassin’s position.
He appears to see the would-be assassin and start to engage (while flinching) right before the would-be assassin’s shots can be heard. Clearly the counter snipers knew that the rooftop presented a high risk position or they wouldn’t have been scoping it.
Why wasn’t this building—AGR International Inc., a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm show ground—secured before Trump began speaking? It seems to me that this building would be the first thing a security detail would secure. The green pin on the roof to the east of Trump’s position marks where the counter snipers are posted. Again, why didn’t they just secure the building onto which the shooter climbed? This makes no sense.
The gunman apparently fired right as Trump looked to the right, towards the gunman. The grazing shot to Trump’s right ear was just a centimeter to the left (from the gunman’s POV) of a fatal head shot. I emphasize that the gunman was positioned at very close range. In the following video, I hit a small condiment package at 75 yards on the second shot with the same kind of rifle with open sights.
Note what appears to be a vapor trail behind the bullet.
The Nato 5.56 cartridge fires the bullet at a velocity of 3,250 feet per second — almost three times the speed of sound (1,125 feet per second). A bullet moving at this speed induces air pressure changes around the bullet that produce a contrail similar to those that form on the low pressure side of aircraft wings.
What could possibly explain the catastrophic failure to secure the perimeter around the stage? It’s hard for me to imagine a legitimate explanation for such a lapse of such elementary security procedures
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