Trump Shooting

[Fiver]

The U.S. came within a whisker of returning to some state of normalcy yesterday.

No we didn't. Trump is a symptom of populist rage. That won't go away if he is murdered. It will make it worse and turn him into a martyr. And it would leave a power vacuum for a smarter, more competent man to take advantage of.

[GBinOz]

Some interesting stuff here, making some sense of the actions of the secret service snipers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKHqxPNNxfA&ab_channel=Task%26Purpose

The snipers appear to be equipped with modified Remington 700's firing the Win 300 Magnum round. This is a serious piece of kit designed for targets out to 1200 yards. So their job was to protect against long range threats, which is where they would have been looking. You can see that when the first shot is taken by the shooter the snipers suddenly lower their line of sight. Just for comparison, here is the 5.56 NATO round probably used by the shooter, next to the Win 300 Mag. The other is a 12 Gauge shotgun shell.




That said, if they were the only snipers they would seem to be undermanned to deal with the 18 long range clear line of sight positions shown here:



Cheers, George

[GBinOz]

There is some very interesting footage here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSjKh1NXfGw&ab_channel=TIMESNOW

It appears that the secret service sniper was actually watching the shooter make the first shot?

The secret service were trying to surround and protect Trump on the podium after the shots were fired, but Trump twice insisted on poking his head up to make his gestures and, in doing so, present an easy target to any possible second gunman located to Trump's left. How could he know that there was only a lone gunman, or is this an application of Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."?

With regard to Jeff's post, we are now seeing interviews with Crookes classmates indicating that he was an intelligent loner who was constantly bullied, contradicting the initial classmate opinions.

Cheers, George

[Pcdunn]

My brother just texted me saying that he’d read that the gunman was a Republican. How true that is I haven’t a clue?

Confirmed as true. Some confusion about a small donation to a Democratic PAC was dimissed today when it turns out a man with the same name made that donation.

[Pcdunn]

A few things I noticed.

Trump hit the deck like a trained soldier, no hesitation at all, straight down.

Where was the adrenaline? When he got up he was as ruddy as before, no sign of any paleness, absolutely no sign of shock whatsoever.

When he got to his feet, rather than try and get out of there asap, he was doing clenched fist salutes shouting "Fight! Fight! Fight!

A good deal of chatter on my Threads account is about these strange details. Saner heads are telling us not to spread conspiracy theories, as that is what the Far Right want us to do.

Still, I think these things are odd, to say the least:
-- Prior to the shooting, numerous shouts of "He's got a gun! It's on the roof, don't go over there!" are heard on a rally attendee's video.

-- As soon as the shots start, Trump clamps a hand to his ear, then drops to the stage, before an agent even gets to him.
-- When we see him standing again, after the agents assure him "We got him, he's down", we can see a red streak on the top of his right ear and down his cheek. (Some posters remark on possible stagecraft with a razor blade or fake blood pack.)

--The audio from the Secret Service agents' m
ics include crosstalk, the instruction, "hold your hand up to your ear, you're bleeding,"
then a short pause and "we're waiting on you; on you, let's move!" while Trump mutters about needing his shoes, then insists on fist-pumping and mouthing "Fight!" 3 times.

-- Some posters say a bullet of that type would have done much more damage. They think Trump was hit by a shard of glass from the teleprompter, but others say it seemed to be undamaged.

Finally, far-right Republicans are calling for Biden's "arrest"(!) and claiming he is responsible for the violence. Yet the dead young gunman was a registered Republican, using his father's rifle (which was legally purchased). I have seen speculation that Trump's recent distancing himself from Project2025 might have been a motive for this attack. Others just say Crooks was mentally ill.

[GBinOz]

I've read the shooter was identified by a rapid tracing of the rifle, which was owned by the shooter's father. He was a registered Republican at the time, but prior to that had some links to supporting the Democrats? Basically, probably not someone strongly connected with either party, rather someone who didn't feel strongly connected to any particular part but rather someone who felt disconnected from everything. Generalised anger towards society and so targeting someone who many strongly support would be part of their motivation I bet. If you take down someone who is idolized by many you can extract revenge for your own sense of being rejected by inflicting damage on a large number of people (take away their idol). As more becomes known about the shooter, I suspect we will see they are a typical loner, who felt rejected by all, and so in their mind this was their moment in the sun - a chance to become "known". While there might be some writings where a political motive is mentioned, even that will just be a mask for their own sense of inadequacy, or their belief they have not received the recognition they believe they deserved. Latching on to various political ideologies, particular extreme ones, is not uncommon for those who feel they are being unjustly ignored. What also tends to be found is that they are being rejected by others because their beliefs, and actions, are in truth extreme, selfish, and unpleasant to be around. They blame others for not accepting their unacceptable actions.

- Jeff

Hi Jeff,

It seems that we are once again suffering from conflicting press reports. I saw it reported that he was a registered Republican, but had donated $15 to a Democrat cause around the time of the attack on the Capital building. I also saw an interview with a former classmate who said that he was well liked at school and excelled at science and mathematics.

Stepping back from reports to actual video, it can be seen that some of the audience and the secret service snipers were aware of his presence before he fired a shot. It almost seemed that they waited for him to get a few shots away before eliminating the "patsy"? The more probable explanation is just incompetence. I do wonder how Trump managed to grab his wounded ear without getting blood on his hand, but there is probably a reasonable medical explanation.

Best regards, George

[Wickerman]

The U.S. came within a whisker of returning to some state of normalcy yesterday.
I don't have any sympathy for a man who himself thought he should have the right to assassinate his opposition, that women should be punished for getting pregnant out of wedlock, and who wants to pull the U.S. out of NATO, and fully intends to make himself the first U.S. Dictator - President for life.

I've heard a lot of Brits support this fool, I can't imagine why.

[JeffHamm]

I've read the shooter was identified by a rapid tracing of the rifle, which was owned by the shooter's father. He was a registered Republican at the time, but prior to that had some links to supporting the Democrats? Basically, probably not someone strongly connected with either party, rather someone who didn't feel strongly connected to any particular part but rather someone who felt disconnected from everything. Generalised anger towards society and so targeting someone who many strongly support would be part of their motivation I bet. If you take down someone who is idolized by many you can extract revenge for your own sense of being rejected by inflicting damage on a large number of people (take away their idol). As more becomes known about the shooter, I suspect we will see they are a typical loner, who felt rejected by all, and so in their mind this was their moment in the sun - a chance to become "known". While there might be some writings where a political motive is mentioned, even that will just be a mask for their own sense of inadequacy, or their belief they have not received the recognition they believe they deserved. Latching on to various political ideologies, particular extreme ones, is not uncommon for those who feel they are being unjustly ignored. What also tends to be found is that they are being rejected by others because their beliefs, and actions, are in truth extreme, selfish, and unpleasant to be around. They blame others for not accepting their unacceptable actions.

- Jeff

[Sam Flynn]

I was impressed with his reactions. Most bullies are cowards.

His narcissism is so great that he seemed furious that someone had the effrontery to shoot him. As he yelled "Fight! Fight! Fight!" his face was a mask of sheer rage - all tightly pursed lips and glaring, angry eyes.

[Karl]

I’d say that someone else wrote it for him Karl.

No hsit, Herlock. I saw the golden opportunity for a joke and I took it.

[Herlock Sholmes]

His tweet after this event was both generous, empathetic and non-inflammatory, and with perfect grammar and spelling to boot. Maybe that's attributable to shock? I was certainly shocked.
.

I’d say that someone else wrote it for him Karl.

[Karl]

It has been reported that the shooter had no criminal record and no identification on him at the time. It is reported that he was identified from DNA. While Rapid DNA provides a quick profile, does anyone know how authorities could so quickly match a DNA sample to an identity without resort to a criminal database? Just asking about something I don't know.

That's what I've been wondering with Bin Laden as well. Immediately there was a DNA match with his family members. No pictures or footage - oh, except there was, but we're never going to show them to you, sorry. And a hasty and clandestine burial at sea because... well, we wouldn't want his burial site to become a pilgrimage site, or something.


As for courage under fire, I didn't see anything courageous or cowardly. Just a reaction. Here is the sort of reaction that impresses me:
King Charles deals with shots fired near him in Sydney in 1994 | RetroFocus (youtube.com)

[barnflatwyngarde]

I was impressed with his reactions. Most bullies are cowards.

I'm still never going to vote for him.

Good point Fiver.

Am I the only one who immediately thought of the pivotal scene in the movie "The Dead Zone"?

[GBinOz]

Hadn't heard the DNA angle yet, i just assumed fingerprint matched to a drivers license database or something.

Perhaps it was a reporting error, it's early days yet. But watching the video and noting that Trump said that he felt a bullet rip through his ear, I saw blood on his ear and on his face, and would have expected to see blood on the right hand that clutched at the wound.

[Duran duren]

It has been reported that the shooter had no criminal record and no identification on him at the time. It is reported that he was identified from DNA. While Rapid DNA provides a quick profile, does anyone know how authorities could so quickly match a DNA sample to an identity without resort to a criminal database? Just asking about something I don't know.

Hadn't heard the DNA angle yet, i just assumed fingerprint matched to a drivers license database or something.