By Jo Nova
We knew this was coming
Donald Trump barely survived an assassination attempt while on stage in Pennsylvania. The bullet hit his ear. Other bullets killed someone behind him, and critically injured two others. The assassin was on a rooftop just 130 yards away, and was shot dead. (How convenient). He has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, aged just 20. He probably had no idea how expendable he was.
Someone on twitter — “This will be the most iconic photo in the history of this country”.
ZeroHedge reports that the BBC interviewed a witness who says he saw the assassin on the roof before the shots were fired and warned the secret service, but they didn’t prevent this. He wonders why they didn’t have their own guys on every roof.
The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign https://t.co/ihlEC5NP1w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2024
“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” Biden said.
The Democrats and the Media hounds have been making Trump out to be Hitler and a threat to Democracy for the last year. They feed the hate, and wind up the crowd.
CNN rush to bury the story:
As Tucker Carlson says “You don’t hate the media enough”.
This can only be a huge boost to Donald Trump’s chances of winning the election
As ZeroHedge points out, searches for “donate to Trump” are surging, and so are his odds of winning in November.
If there is any way to suggest that he faked this to boost his popularity and play the victim card, the misinformation industry will find it. But the death of the person behind him might be harder to explain.
Afterwards Trump was not cowed but stood up defiantly and declared “Fight! Fight!” tot he crowd as the Secret Service tried to bundle him away:
Ever been in combat? Ever been shot at? I haven’t. Neither, until today, has President Trump.
But one thing that combat veterans tell me, over and over, is that combat reveals character. The experience of being under fire exposes who you are in fundamental ways. You don’t really… pic.twitter.com/6dBjrqX3Vi
— Brooke Rollins (@BrookeLRollins) July 13, 2024
Trump has been released from hospital and released this statement:
NY Post has this map showing how close (and obvious) the shooter must have been:
Elon Musk has made a major donation to the Trump campaign, and “fully endorsed President Trump”.
Elon Musk goes all in for Trump after Pa. rally shooting: ‘I fully endorse President Trump’
NY Post: President Trump has a new super fan in billionaire Elon Musk, who officially endorsed him for president after Saturday’s assassination attempt, saying “the last time we had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X, which he owns, 30 minutes after Trump was shot at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The system is crooked to the core. They won’t give Robert F Kennedy Jnr secret service protection, even though his father and uncle died by assassination and he is third most popular candidate for the Presidency. Tell that to friends who think the US Intelligence agencies are patriots concerned about democracy.
Trump’s VP pick is crucial. If he chooses anyone compromised, weak, or with any sympathy for the Uniparty he would be a dead man walking. They could solve the Trump problem with one bullet. Neutralize those inconvenient voters!
h/t To Scott of the Pacific, Pierce,
UPDATE: Robert Philpot in Butler noticed that security was not on the rooftops this time, but four years ago he saw them on every roof when Trump arrived at the airport.
Terrible events. Thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and the Trump family. Very bad day in America, and no doubt increased security must be in place for the rest of the campaign, to ensure the safety of Donald Trump & all his supporters.
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Requests for more security were denied and RFK Jr still has none, last I heard.
Biden is a detestable little man.
360
Yep
RFK Jr has been begging for Secret Service protection for months due to his family history. His concerns have been dismissed out of hand.
The Trump Secret Service detail has been begging for more resources for weeks since the campaign heated up and has been repeatedly denied or stonewalled. I can only imagine the laughter in the White House after receiving those budget requests.
Biden LITERALLY said to ‘put Trump in the bullseye’ a few days ago in a donor meeting. Well, someone just did. Fortunately, leftists can’t shoot straight.
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Steve4192,
It’s called a metaphor. English is full of them and it would be a much duller language without them. A few years ago there was a lot of fuss about Sarah Palin putting gunsights on Democrats. I hope we can leave literal-mindedness to the humourless lefties.
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I agree with you.
I’m just trying to figure out the rules. Palin’s campaign was ruthlessly excoriated for the graphic of gun sights being placed over congressional districts (not the actual candidates). So why isn’t Biden’s statement, which literally named Trump as the target, treated with greater or at least equal outrage?
Why is it OK to speak about Trump in hateful and ways that would not be OK in regards to any other politician? When people hear them say Trump is an existential threat and claim he is worse than Hitler, some of them surely believe it and are determined to prevent the Fourth Reich by any means necessary. You don’t mess around with existential threats. You kill/eliminate them before they kill/eliminate you.
40
They can shoot straight and had training. The Shooter went for the back of the head kill shot. Trump turned at the last moment as he noticed the chart he was referring to was two months old.
10
An online friend in the Southwest state of New Mexico shared his surmise, parallel to Jo’s:
“IMO this sinks the election for Trump.
“Trump is now the brave outsider literally risking his life to oppose the Establishment and getting shot.
“Biden is the corrupt senile old politician now exposed after being protected for years by the party, the media, academia and Hollywood.”
Not a stretch to foresee these consequences.
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Difference between Trump and Biden – Trump bled for his country both figuratively and literally whereas Biden has bled the country both figuratively and literally.
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The phrase “sinks the election for Trump” makes it sound like your friend thinks Trump’s chances have been torpedoed, and his campaign is on its way to Davy Jones’s locker. But I think you mean the opposite. Did your friend want to say “clinches the election” instead? Or maybe “makes his election a cinch”?
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CNN – Only those with the mental capacity of Joe watches or believes their garbage.
Isn’t it interesting how everyone now refers to him as “President Trump”?
Curious…
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Standard practice in the US. Former Presidents are always referred to as “President” after they leave office.
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Yes, that is the convention, but until recently he has been plain Trump, Donald Trump, or convicted felon Donald Trump.
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They call ex presidents president like monarchies do the King. They replaced the idea of King with a straight substitute – The President. But interestingly, continue the habits – like voting in relatives of the former – far more than constitutional monarchies do.
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There will be the usual call to ban guns . The deep state is getting busy . The heat is being turned up and this is just the start……If this had been successful , civil war would have been a distinct possibility . If the fighting starts it will be hard to stop as hysteria rules .
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Will be interesting to hear what Trumps stance is on the gun issue , it was a gun involved in the shooting but it was a gun that ultimately saved him .
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IMO, as a lifelong liberal New Yorker (his conservative turn only happened in the last couple of decades), Trump is probably a gun control advocate in his heart of hearts. But as a consummate showman he knows his audience, and knows that he would lost a HUGE chunk of his base if he came out in favor of gun control. Guns are just tools. They are harmless until a human with a vision and will to make it happen picks them up. If a gun hadn’t been available, maybe this guy would have chosen to drive a truck through the crowd or rig a fertilizer bomb or send Trump a ricin ‘poison pen’ letter or charge the stage with a knife (as happened to Jair Bolsonaro in 2018). So Trump will honor the wishes of his supporters and the 2nd Amendment.
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Threats to ban guns increase their sales. And the increase is usually of the black rifle types. The potential of CW makes gun owners more defiant and less likely to comply.
30
Very sad for the victims. Trump was extremely lucky to have survived this. He turns his head just as the shooting starts. We already know the first bullet just missed and the second obviously 1 inch more and he would be dead.
It is almost comical how bad security was. This guy was just prone on the downward sloping side of a gable shed roof, in full view of anyone who had a scope or binoculars. Several people alerted security about him because he could be seen by people when walking in.
Either there was a break down in liaison, or they deliberately let him get a few shots off.
The shooter has already has his ID leaked and is a self proclaimed ‘anti-fascist’.
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mundi >It is almost comical how bad security was
Agreed. I’ve commented enough on the Open Thread but basically:
“These USSS guys need to go back to counter sniper school”
Worth repeating some X comments from US though, something of a synopsis:
These posts are below an Alayna Treene thread header previous are absolutely scathing of the secret service. Some examples:
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You don’t have to be good at your job, you just have to show up on time everyday. Their scopes must have been dirty..
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Counter snipers didn’t see a perfect roof for sniping and do anything about it?
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Excellent work gentlemen but do better next time
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For an event that covers a large area such as these rally’s, they don’t use drones as part of the crowd surveillance?
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Wonder why they weren’t on a roof 150 yds from the stage?
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Pretty sure these guys are getting fired.
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Problem: the US Secret Service was playing DEFENSE when they should have had sniper details on PERIMETER BUILDINGS in offense positions. Aerial views showed the sniper’s spot was not only in range, but also had clear line-of-sight to the stage. Definite opportunity to improve.
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Hell of a job they missed the guy standing on one of three buildings
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I wanna know how someone just happened to put a ladder up to access the roof of a building and no one noticed. [3 photos]
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Crazy they weren’t watching the other roofs while the crowd was waving pointing at the gunman.
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Both of these men fired without readjusting their aim. They had a bead on the shooter before he fired. WHY was his detail not already covering him? These men and women are trained to call out over radio the instant a gun is spotted. This whole incident STINKS. SOMETHING IS WRONG
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So how come they didn’t see shooter if he was up on a roof? Isn’t that what snipers do? Keep eyes on surroundings to make sure there are no “bad guy” snipers on other roofs? I’m feeling pretty down right now about how close a shooter got to Trump. Scary.
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>Alayna Treene
Political Reporter @CNN covering Trump’s 2024 campaign. Header was:
Peasant H @c_gt1982
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Clean headshot, were their scopes adjusted for that range in advance, something not right.
See the interview with the ginger , says he was waving and pointing to the shooter, SS saw and just gawked and did nothing.
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Ronin
Bumped from the main thread – basically no need to adjust sights out to 300-ish yards
“Here is a ballistics table for a Remington 222R which I used for kangaroo harvesting –
https://gundata.org/cartridge/6/.222-remington
The top line is for a 50 grain bullet, which is common fodder for them. So it has dropped about 4 inches by 250 yard.
Hold-over depends on how you have sighted in. I used to zero for about 150 yards, which puts you a bit high in the flatter part of the trajectory. My light was good for about 300 yards so around its “realm of darkness” I’d lift a bit to about the top of the kangaroo’s head.
And I missed very few – you can’t afford to.
An AR uses the Remington 223/NATO 5.56 mm with bit more powder and a somewhat heavier bullet
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Looked like a moderately straight forward 1st shot with a 223 and scope at that range but harder under the pressure of shots 2 and 3. I was surprised at the slow reaction of the security detail. Trump survived by good fortune. Even a glancing blow to the skull from a high speed projectile would have done serious damage.
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Ian,
Good comment. Dad carried a ‘270, I had a 30-06 (thirty-aught-six). We memorized charts like you link to. We did not call them “sniper” rifles.
50
John
You could likely talk powder types, loads and velocities too?
If any readers are wondering what is going on here – welcome to Applied Ballistics
00
Not really. You don’t need to be adjusted precisely at that range (just need to know what you have zeroed to and the rifles performance). Their type of rifle shoots pretty flat for fair way, but they can offset on the fly if needed. All scope shooting isnt necessarily cross hairs on desired impact spot.
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If the suspect was shooting a semi auto like an AR would be , accuracy is an issue with self loaders and why target and sniper rifles used for long range are bolt action .
Another aspect to consider is what projectile the cartridges had , an FMJ projectile normally associated with military or target shooting would not fragment when it hit someone’s ear and just pass straight through .
If the projectile was a HP however and there are some that fragment extremely easily and that would have resulted in a lot more damage to the side of Trumps face .
There is a huge market for surplus military ammo especially this calibre and it’s even available here in Oz , usually the cheapest ammo available.
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NOBODY seriously in that business twiddles knobs to adjust for range, wind, etc.
If, as reported, the rifle involved was a .338 Lapua magnum, these shoot a serious bullet VERY flat for a considerable distance.
All “serious” optics of this nature are fitted with a “Horus” reticule which is not your Hollywood fantasy reticule, but an array of straight and curved lines, etc. that are are used to compensate for range and windage. Out of most people’s wallet range, however.
There nay also have been a bit of “operator error” involved at the assassin-buster was observed “fiddling” with his scope; possibly fooling around with the magnification. If it was one of the 6 to 24-ish variable power types and set on maximum magnification, at 130 M or so, the shooter would have been seeing an extreme close-up of the bad guy. and NO peripheral info in the ocular lense. NOT a good look for a “professional”.
It might be interesting to discover whether the guilty bastard has been in psychiatric “care” and been prescribed psychotropic drugs. “Lone wolf” or “KNOWN wolf”?
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“Both of these men fired without readjusting their aim.” How do you you know what they did? they would be zeroed for what they thought they needed, any adjustment if it could be called it that is just an offset of aim point in their sight. What they did is what I would expect them to be able to do. Hitting something 150 meters away with a good set up is not hard, most people could do it, but doing it quickly under real pressure is another thing. Its surprising that the original shooter missed. It appears that he was not well prepared or he wouldnt have missed.
The big question as you say in your list is, how could he even be there unspotted (by anyone in security) until he fired.
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They were praised for bravely shielding their protectate.[Not a word but I hope you know what I mean]
Bloodyell! That’s your job, like thousands of ordinary blokes on D Day.
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The 20-year-old sniper knew that the “perfect roof for sniping” would have no security sweep and counter snipers would ignore it until immediately after shots were fired.
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Fell on stage?
He most certainly did not!
In fact it worried me that he took so long to hide.
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At 8 pm AEST it seems to me that the assassin fired only one shot.
As I look at the two streaks of blood on his face, one seems to terminate in broken skin on his lip.
Were they caused by bullet fragments travelling under his skin?
His injuries might be a lot worse than at present appear. By Tuesday he might be unable to carry on campaigning.
When he has had time to think about it he might even lose his enthusiasm for the job.
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Something is queer in my communications.
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I think the blood streaks are just drips from his bleeding ear while he was pinned down on the ground. He might have also taken some minor abrasions as the secret service piled on top of him, but his only shooting related injury is having the tip of his ear cartilage shot off.
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Yep
He intentionally dropped down below the lecture once he realized someone was shooting at him. He didn’t ‘fall’. He must have lost a shoe too, because you can hear him arguing with his secret service detail to let him grab his shoe before they hustled him off, then he stopped them again to do his fist pump and the ‘fight, fight, fight’ chant. Then the crowd went nuts and started chanting ‘USA USA USA’ in response.
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I posted this photo on Instagram this morning with the comment “Blodied but Defiant, this photo will win the election for Trump”
Funnily enough, none of my leftist family or in-laws have liked it. Strange that.
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Yes I hear you loud and clear.I’ve spoken to left leaning friends who are bemoaning the missed shot.I can’t believe anyone would condone this but when the media and political opponents call you hitler and a dictator who will destroy democracy they think that justifies cold blooded murder.
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I had that. It shocked me. From a doctor. Indoctrinated by Australian journalists at the Age to hate Trump.
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Greg >left leaning friends who are bemoaning the missed shot
Something like this lays the inner heart and mind bare.
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I would have difficulty describing someone with that heart and mind-set a friend.
Acquaintance maybe, but not friend.
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How about a relative?
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No heart, just a black pea.
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I’ve thought for a while that zombie movies were something sinister. Too many and few that were actually entertaining.
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During the day I kept an eye on Hotcopper, possibly Au’s most active politics forum, and victim blaming was order of the day. With one possible exception, all the TDS sufferers were justifying the hit. [Is a nick a “real” or “attempted” hit?]
I wish we could post memes, I love the one of Killary in her kitchen “What do you mean you missed?”
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https://x.com/RealChrisHack/status/1812311255274688826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1812311255274688826%7Ctwgr%5E0087a9f869660b82c9856e51c7a1f742b2d8a5c9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wionews.com%2Fworld%2Ftrump-assassination-attempt-memes-surfacing-on-social-media-740691
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The only President in history to win an election 5 months before the said election!!!
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Dunno. TDS is widespread and this won’t soften any opinions, merely deepen the divide.
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Hanrahan. It’s the fence sitters this will shift.
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Yep
The American electorate is basically divided into thirds.
One third are voting Trump, no matter what.
Another third are voting Biden, no matter what.
A final third are leaning one way or the other, but are open to changing their minds.
It’s that final third that decide elections.
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He had it in the bag already but this just nails it.
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You are assuming that the election will be a fair one and not the kind that would shame even a semi-totalitarian third world country.
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The problem for the Dems is that Trump’s lead has outstripped the margin of fraud. That’s why biden was administered the placebo. And following that proving counter productive….
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What worries us the most is the 6-8 million illegal immigrants that have poured over the Southern Border and given a Social Security number and an enrolment form to vote in November🤬🤬
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Which will be grounds for court cases on the validity of the voting in many US states. Long and drawn out and perhaps requiring a second voting day.
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Five days ago;
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That won’t sit well with the electorate.
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Now, that there sounds remarkably like incitement.
It’s hardly surprising that, setting aside the suspiciously abysmal performance of the secret service in securing the venue properly, some low IQ misfit has been incentivised to actually go and do Biden’s bidding.
For bidding it is, no matter how it was couched. It was an open invitation to loner losers with a leftist bent to go take a potshot at Trump.
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“low IQ misfit”
Apparently not. He “graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. He was one of nearly two dozen students from the school to earn a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.”
As yet, I haven’t read what his problem was.
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What was that wisdom from the Karate Kid?
“No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher.”
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/dozens_of_public_school_teachers_involved_in_antifa.html
Would be interesting to know how many BAMN teachers are operating in that area. That’s how they do the recruitment … get the teachers onside, and then those teachers look for students to subvert. Spend a bit of time looking for where BAMN get their money … this is a well supported organization.
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And just a day or two after that esteemed leftist rag The New Republic put out it’s American Fascism issue, complete with mocked up cover art of Trump as Hitler. The entire issue was dedicated to the ways Trump would bring about the Fourth Reich and end democracy in America, with each article more unhinged than the last.
https://newrepublic.com/series/37/trump-2024-american-fascism-series
Is it any wonder someone tried to kill the guy with that kind of poisonous rhetoric not only floated around by randos on the internet, but by some of the most respected political periodicals in the country?
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In its full two sentence form, it is a MAJOR gaff (if you could call it that). Usually, I just hear the last sentence of ‘the bullseye’. But this is literally mafia-esque “we’re done talking”
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In Australia since 7 October 2023 hate speeches, angry crowds gathering at Sydney Opera House, at universities and in the streets of cities, Jews targeted and authorities stand by and take no action.
Prime Minister Albanese today said;
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Albanese might be able to go to the shopping centre, but he and his staff can’t go to his own electorate office due to protests. Totally weak leader.
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Missed a bullet but won the more votes.
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>”Missed a bullet”
I don’t want to detract from “the most iconic photo” but there’s another that is wild. Can be viewed a few X posts down at Zero Hedge:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-bleeding-rushed-stage-after-shots-fired-pennsylvania-rally
X post is this:
Bullet passing President Trump’s head [Photo]
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GSaDvF6XYAA7rR1?format=jpg&name=small
10.4M Views, 70K Likes. Stuff of folklore.
Meanwhile, in other news, Joe Biden’s uncle was eaten by cannibals.
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Never trust a man whose uncle was eaten by cannibals.
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The alleged shooter’s age is reported as 20.
He wasn’t old enough to cast a vote in 2020.
This year would have been his first vote in a US national election.
Sadly he decided to use a gun instead of the ballot box…. and lives have been lost.
He wasn’t born hating Trump. He was groomed and indoctrinated by those who should know better. The usual suspects.
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Larry Johnson on Shots fired at Trump rally (video)
– shot from outside the area probably with a .22LR (small calibre) rifle. 22’s can be very effective at short range but larger calibre bullets are usually used at long range such as a 270. To get the hitting power a larger shell is needed. Were there other shooters? and was the kid being used as a patsy? Apparently a secret service sniper blew his head up. Was it deliberately staged as a warning to Trump?
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Looks like it was an AR15 which chambers a 223 Remington or 5.56 round.
https://www.caclubindia.com/assets/thomas-crooks/
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Bunch of interesting stuff in that article – Background on Thomas Crooks:
Donation to ActBlue Progressive Turnout Project.
Involved in violent Antifa Seattle protest.
Involved in Antifa riot Portland.
Part of Antifa demonstration Minneapolis.
Affiliations:
Portland Black Bloc
Seattle Antifa Collective
New York City Antifa
Los Angeles Antifa Network
Chicago Anti-Rascist Action.
# # #
Mainstream media/Dems – Antifa is not a thing and Brookes is a Republican.
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Thanks for the link.
Interesting – and probably well-merited – caveats at the end of that article.
Auto
50
Looks like it was an AR15
That was agreed to many hours ago.
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The medico’s mention of blood and brains from the head wound of one of the casualties about nixes it being from a 22LR, particularly at the range here
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No way was it a 22LR.
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A lot of combat (excluding building clearance) occurs within 350m, and 5.56mm (approx 0.223) is still easily fatal at that range. The main reason the US Army and some others have chambered their next generation weapons in 6.8mm (0.277) is to defeat body armour, with extra range being a bonus.
22LR, or 6.8mm or anything in-between – I would not like to be on the receiving end of any of it, thanks.
60
Staged? Imagine Trump. You have to stand there while our man tries to shoot the top of your right ear from 200 metres away across a field in the open with wind. And as he is on your right, you have to turn your head at exactly the right time because he is shooting straight at your right ear. Don’t worry, he’s 20 years old and a great shot. And he will keep shooting until the secret service ask him to stop.
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The shooter is a registered Republican (far right faction) who was a supporter of the gun lobby.
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>The shooter is a registered Republican (far right faction)
And far left apparently.
Just posted his background at #12.1.1:
Donation to ActBlue Progressive Turnout Project.
Involved in violent Antifa Seattle protest.
Involved in Antifa riot Portland.
Part of Antifa demonstration Minneapolis.
Affiliations:
Portland Black Bloc
Seattle Antifa Collective
New York City Antifa
Los Angeles Antifa Network
Chicago Anti-Rascist Action.
My comment:
Mainstream media/Dems – Antifa is not a thing and Brookes is a Republican.
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Have you never heard of people registering with a party so s/he can make a spoiler vote in the primaries?
This is something/nothing.
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Yep Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, meaning only Republicans can vote in Republican primaries. Lots of Democrats changed their registration in order to vote for Nikki Haley in the primary to try and prevent Trump from winning the nomination.
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Yep. I did that years ago to vote in a primary.
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Thanks Hanrahan, I didn’t know that.
The idea of American Exceptionalism is flawed.
20
Not 200m… only 120m! It is such an easy shot, that it really was that slight movement of his head just as the shot came which saved Trump. Even a novice could have made that shot with a scoped rifle (assuming the scope had been at least remotely calibrated for around that range).
5mph wind was in play too … not much impact on a 5.56mm round, but might have also been part of the reason it just missed.
How he could get on a roof only 120m from the stage is hard to believe…
60
It is interesting also how,like all famous murderers, the press use his three names. Thomas Matthew Crooks.
He joins Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth. But not Sirhan (Bishara) Sirhan.
And the research into Thomas Matthew Crooks and his training and motivation will start. You can be sure that the FBI/CIA will hide the details
if they are unfavorable to the Democrats. As happened to Hunter Biden’s missing laptop and Weiner’s/Abadeen’s laptop. And the missing recording of
Biden’s interview on which they have claimed executive privilege, but not the alleged transcript.
It is inconceivable that the Secret Service on a clear blue summer day in the open did not see a man reclining alone with a tripod and rifle on a nearby rooftop, when that is precisely their job. People in the crowd could see him clearly without telescopic sights minutes before the shooting. Why were the secret service waiting?
But you can be sure he will never talk. No need for another Jack Ruby to turn up.
350
And when you check the area for snipers, you look for sight lines. Their job is to check rooftops with sightlines to the podium. Blind Freddy would have seen this man with his tripod and rifle and telescope. And a professional FBI sniper looking for villains on rooftops did not see what the public could see? They took him out after the job was done.
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No need to call Jack Ruby – onto Arkancide next?
80
The sniper must have been in the sights of the counter-sniper for some short time before shots were fired. My guess is that his attention was drawn to the sniper belatedly.
Given that only a week ago President Biden made a veiled threat that Trump would be shot, there should have been more comprehensive security arrangements.
60
>He has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks
NY Post:
Crooks was a registered Republican, according to state voting records.
The shooter made one singular $15 donation to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on January 20, 2021 — Biden’s Inauguration Day, the Intercept reported.
At the time of the donation, Crooks was 17-years-old. He registered to vote upon turning 18 in September of that same year as a member of the GOP, records show.
Why Crooks fired on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is unclear.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/13/us-news/thomas-matthew-crooks-idd-as-gunman-who-shot-trump-during-pa-rally/
Doesn’t seem to be a MAGA kind of guy.
My radio station news was quick to isolate the republican part though.
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Lefties register as R to vote in their primaries. In some states, they don’t need to even register as R. It probably is why Trump beat Cruz back in 2016.
110
Is it just me, or is it a red flag that the guy was making political donations at 17 years old? All I was concerned about at that age was chasing girls, playing sports, and getting drunk with my friends (provided we could find someone to buy us beer). The last thing that I would ever have spent $15 on was making political donations to some old fart politician.
Touch grass dude.
Life isn’t about politics.
I swear some people today treat politics as if it were secular religion (because they despise the traditional kind), complete with unambiguous good (Vote Blue No Matter Who) and evil (Bad Orange Man).
100
If Trump can be indicted for inciting an insurrection – by telling his supporters that they need to be prepared to ‘fight like hell’ for their country.
Why can’t Biden be indicted for inciting an assassination – by telling his supporters ‘it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye’?
350
They certainly did, I believe it was just last Monday.
120
What DH chose that spot for a rally, sheds everywhere, security just stood there and let it happen and then conveniently killed the shooter.
I always thought they would be standing on stage back a bit, ready to surround Trump but they were down at crowd level.
70
” Mr Joe Siracusa described the shooting at Mr Trump’s rally as a “catastrophic failure” of the Secret Service.”
Just like in Dallas , November 22, 1963.
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Main picture reminds me of another iconic photo.
https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f4b0a25e-2883-4df3-8e15-674c89b332fd/iwo-jima-flag-raising-joe-rosenthal-world-war-two.jpg
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Yes, I thought that too.
This will live on in infamy.
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I posted that photo on Hotcopper as a response someone saying that the clenched fist photo was iconic.
Got the usual disparaging responses.
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Iconic only in the minds of some.
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I can’t get over how many women today are happy to tell people how much they wish that the shooter didn’t miss, inbetween telling everyone how much they are good people.
I really thought the examples of comments on twitter were few and far between. What an eye opener.
They really have been brainwashed to be Brown shirts.
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R.B.
“They really have been brainwashed to be Brown shirts.”
Very much so.
The power that resides in the media – collectively – is astonishing. Something like this brings it to the surface.
Unhappily, some, at least, of those ‘guiding’ the media seem likely to make many thousands of millions out of Nut Zero.
* That said, are they going to back off?
We may have some straws in the wind – but as we see from Mr Miliband, the war most certainly isn’t over yet.
He is a True Believer – no fact will change his mindset.
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shrooms
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It seems to me that some women of both genders haven’t forgiven Trump for baiting Billy Bush.
They must have lived very sheltered lives.
(I didn’t think that up, I inherited it. Before my time an Irish parish priest in our town was annoyed with the young men for sitting down the back of the church. In his sermon he announced that in future the two back rows of seats were to be reserved for women with babies and old women of both sexes.)
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I just needed to explain to one that I wouldn’t make comments about shouldn’t have missed, even if it were Penny Wong or Kate Gallagher.
Not so sure about Malcolm Turnbull.
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Not women.
Almost exclusively professional class unmarried white women (also known as AWFULs [Affluent White Female Urban Liberals]).
Being obsessively political and on the ‘right side of history’ is their way of distinguishing themselves from those lowly deplorable working class white women with their backward ideas on marriage and children. Plus, it’s one of the few avenues available for a straight white lady to elevate herself ever so slightly from the next to last rung of the progressive stack (with straight white guys being the bottom rung).
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Accidental red thumb, sorry! Fingers a bit chilly here this morning.
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It doesn’t have to be racist.
I’ve seen the same phenomenon in a variety of hues.
Affluent Woke Female Urban Liberals, AWFULs.
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But, but, that abbreviation stands for American’s who figuratively use “literally” (as in I literally exploded).
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I had to check the CNN heading. Wow. Not fake.
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Megyn Kelly: Donald Trump Survives Assassination Attempt at Rally, with Lowry, Sexton, Prager, Bolling, and More (video)
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I wonder what impact this has on the black voting community?
They are already very angry as mass migration taking their jobs. And identify with the attempts to lock Trump up as a criminal in so many courts on fake charges.
Now he has been shot by a white person just for being who he is and standing up to the FBI. If that doesn’t ring true with a lot of black people I would be very surprised. And the secret service let it happen.
He will be amazingly popular because he has courage and stood up and because he is hated simply for fighting back.
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Orange (man) is the new Black
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In the Brooke Rollins X thread – video of Donald Trump at 34 being asked why he doesn’t run for office:
Prescient, for a future President.
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This looks as bad as it gets for US politics. The BBC interview with a man who claimed they were yelling at the secret service and police that a shooter was on the roof, 2-3 minutes before the shooting and they did nothing. Then footage emerges of the secret service snipers already locked onto the shooter whilst Trump was still speaking and they only fired shots after the shooter had fired first. No warnings of the threat they had in their crosshairs were conveyed to his minders, which is standard protocol, so they can drag him off the podium. When the shooters identity is revealed, it conveniently emerges that he was a registered Republican.
The miracle is that Trump survived because he moved his head just at the right moment. Perhaps Trump moving his head at this moment is a defining point in history for the survival of western democracy.
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As you say, indeed.
Also, I am – very possibly naively – astounded at the comments that there were DNA tests being done by 0600, to confirm the identity of the shooter.
To me – naively – that suggests that some DNA from the ‘claimed’ [at that stage] shooter was on file.
Now if he had been involved in ‘mostly peaceful’ ‘events’ in Portland etc. [as claimed at 12.1; Kim’s link], why would his DNA be on file?
Or is there a wider DNA database – based on collected placental remains, amongst others?
Surely not stored an a server in – say – Wuhan?
And, it seems, access by the ‘forces of law-enforcement’ on this occasion – at a weekend, at night.
I emphasis I have no law-enforcement experience, so am probably very naive in this matter.
But still – I do try to link reported ‘facts’ …
Maybe adding two and two, and making eighty-seven point one.
Or, to be really scientific – 87.10438!
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If you submit to a DNA test for an ancestry (website) service. They keep your record and it is available to the authorities. You and anyone related to you can have their DNA from a crime scene checked against those records and matched or partially matched. Nothing’s free.
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Kim, thanks.
It still seems pretty rapid for a weekend.
Surely this deceased ‘alleged shooter’ was not flagged up beforehand?
It does allow all sorts of possible ‘conspiratorial’ worm-holes to be viewed, if not opened or entered.
I simply do not trust much I read [the date … okay] now.
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There are many questions including the DNA tests that need answers. For example, he lived 76km away which is not close and he’s only 20yo. How would he know that a shed roof 76km away had a clear shot to the stage and would be not covered by the SS security ?. The 20yo shooter had no social media acocunts. That’s highly improbable for a 20yo. Were his accounts deliberately deleted before or after the shooting ?. He donated to the Democrats in 2021 but was a registered Republican voter. That makes no sense. When did he register as a Republican ?. Was this done very recently as a way of creating a false alibi for himself if he managed to survive and escape or was it done by a 3rd party afterwards to deflect blame from one side of politics.
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America was 1″ from a civil war…. and they might just get one yet.
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You may be right. There has been so much corruption in plain sight for eight years [never took notice of US politics BT] that the perps know that if Trump is elected their only possibility will be in safety in numbers.
I could imagine a memo circulating that if lower ranked lieutenants just go quietly into the night there are bigger fish to fry.
I’m an unabashed friend of the US internationally but they are corrupt to the core politically.
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To inject some ‘balance’ here, the UK’s Daily Telegraph (without doubt an example of ‘controlled opposition”), told us “several more would-be assailants have planned to kill Joe Biden”.
Did any of those make the headlines? How did I miss them?
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“several more would-be assailants have planned to kill Joe Biden”.
Would a headshot make a difference?
OK’ I’ll go sit in the naughty corner.
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But if they interdicted his ice-cream … ?
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Biden is a liability for the Democrats. I suspect “planning” is a drunk mouthing off.
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Forget western democracy. That boat sailed a while back.
This whole thing has all the hallmarks of an inside job. Anyone with any common sense at all could have run a security detail better than that lot.
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A few days after JFK was shot there was another shooting/clean-up event. Not applicable in this case but if anyone digs too deeply into the official narrative, watch out. The Bobby Kennedy narrative has fallen apart in recent years, he was clearly set up.
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The edit function isn’t working for me. Changes appear to be accepted but then only the original version is retained.
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Wow, I managed to post something that wasn’t intercepted by the mods!
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It works for me. It may be a browser problem – a cache issue.
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Up at zero dark thirty here on US east coast.
Turned on media looking for news on the incident.
Quick survey …
click on JoNova and the best consolidation is is here.
Thanks Jo, and all the informed commenters that take time to post links.
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FWIW
“SPECIAL BULLETIN: America Teeters on the Abyss
Trump shot in assassination attempt in Butler, PA”
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/special-bulletin-america-teeters
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More interestingly, Simplicious has the orders given to the press to NOT say it was an assassination attempt, don’t say it was a shooting targeting Trump and no need for a ‘serious face’ when presenting the story…
Hence- “Trump removed from stage by Secret Service after loud noises startles former President”
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FWIW – read the “Official reporting instructions”!!!
Including that “assassination must not be mentioned”
“Secret Service Makes Statement on Trump Assasination Attempt—Social Media Erupts — Elon Musk and Dan Bongino Demand “Political” Secret Service Director “Step Down Immediately!”—Bongino: “It’s time for Trump to have full presidential protection package!” [VIDEO]”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/secret-service-makes-statement-trump-assasination-attempt-as/
AND
“Don’t Worry if You Missed FBI Presser on Trump Assassination Attempt. You Didn’t Miss a Thing.”
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2024/07/14/fbi-and-secret-service-chief-too-busy-to-go-to-presser-on-trump-assassination-attempt-n4930665
And who weren’t there
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Hmm …
US Secret Service fails to secure a rooftop 100 yards from open air speaker’s platform.
I’m sure there will be a committee that will issue a report.
And most of the evidence will be made public in about 60 years.
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Sadly it’s no surprise that this has happened, given the incessant hatred of Trump promoted by those with power to influence and deceive.
With regards to the secret service ignoring the reports they were given, one has to ask, how often are secret service people approached and told “there’s a strange person over there” by people in crowds. This could be because they really think there’s a problem, or for many other self-serving, loony, or outright nefarious reasons.
Presumably there is some discretion involved in assessing these claims by officers on the ground, and while I don’t discount the possibility of deliberately allowing it to happen, I also think it could equally be a combination of decisions, maybe with each being individually justifiable, but together, resulting in tragedy.
I guess the timer is ticking on the story that will claim that Trump is risking and indeed, taking innocent lives by running for President, and he should stop. That, or there will be calls to charge him with the murder of the person on stage….
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Even the TDS BBC –
“US Secret Service facing questions after Donald Trump survives assassination attempt”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cljy6yz1j6gt
“At a news conference, an FBI agent said it was “surprising” the attacker was able to open fire”
I suppose it could be the legendary inefficiency we see from so many government organisations – certainly here in the UK.
But should the American people not expect better from the US Secret Service?
Unless, of course, they are now fully Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable?
[That is the mantra, I think]
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The crowd around the podium was huge. The job of the snipers on the other roofs was to scan for risk. And to check sightlines to the podium for snipers in elevated positions. They are not there to shoot members of the public. So it’s either very short range or very long. It’s unbelievable that a sniper alone in plain sight on a rooftop could be left alone to take his time. A warning shot alone would have ended it.
There is a prima facie case of intent with a reclining single male on a rooftop aiming a high powered rifle with a tripod and sight at the podium. So they watched to see what he would do with it? They must have been shocked that he missed by an inch. Most unprofessional. But they did kill him after he had fired seven shots. Of course.
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You can be sure they will raid his house and seize all the evidence. Like a laptop. Which will disappear. Put it with the others.
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Unless, of course, they are now fully Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable?
Or murderously corrupt.
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H.,
But, but …
If they are ‘fully Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable’ they simply cannot be corrupt … for ‘fully Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable’ is the epitome of perfection – are we not repeatedly told, never-endingly preached to?
Auto – my mind reeling at the merest suggestion of a thought that any organization that is ‘fully Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable’ could be one scintilla less than perfect, as only the Gods of The Climate-Book know how to create.
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Where were the security team helicopters?
Or even the surveillance drones with a team monitoring the cameras.
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Someone, somewhere mentioned that a ladder was used to climb onto the roof. Anyone heard about this?
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I saw a question about who put it there? Might have been on one of Jo’s threads
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Check out this video which does cover this aspect:
https://youtu.be/RGNRkumDjm0?si=3KLiybWp5j_8zTd6
I haven’t seen much more on it yet though, so hard to confirm…
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All those Dems virtue signalling about there’s no place for political violence … just a week after Biden says “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” Oh and let’s not forget Dem Congressman Dan Goldstein calling for Trump to be eliminated.
But apparently Republicans are causing this violence.
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Motherhood statements, like “thoughts and prayers”…. meaningless.
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And from the Australian’s Cameron Stewart and Adam Creighton, in Washington, the Australian’s Trump haters, the predictable headline is “Trump survives attempt on his life by young Republican”
A 20 year old ‘Republican’ who has never voted. An active and very open AntiFA member for years. Did he sign up as a Republican just to attend the rally and convention? That would be lying. A terrible thing to say about someone. And it’s too bad he’s dead after seven shots so no one can ask why he registered as a Republican.
It is the angle they will all adopt. So Trump is responsible for his own assassination attempt and failure to control guns. Trump’s no hero apparently.
Try telling that to the people who were there.
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If you as a Democrat supporter believe that Trump meant people to inject themselves with bleach then, obviously, you must also take literally Biden’s suggestion of putting Trump in the bullseye.
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This one seems to be overlooked:
A couple weeks ago, Orange Is the New Black actress Lea DeLaria uploaded an Instagram speech calling on the President to assassinate Donald Trump.
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Oh I’m sure the FBI as part of their investigation will be asking her a few questions. Not.
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To within an inch of his life,
Brings a heartfelt appeal from his wife,
For all sides toleration,
From all sides as one nation,
And to end all the hatred and strife.
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The same pattern as the JFK assassination, which I can remember. Get a useful idiot to attempt the deed – Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK’s case – and then kill him before he can reveal any info. Jack Ruby (Jacob Rubenstein was his real name) murdered Oswald as he was entering the courtroom.
That ended the FBI’s investigation. ”The chief suspect is dead so there is nothing else we can do.”
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Had this succeeded, we’d be looking at an America with a million new Timothy McVeighs.
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Or Kyle Rittenhouses
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Yes,they were quick to put out wicked comments about the failed attempt on Trumps life.
And I immediately unfriended a relative that I should have done long ago . .
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Further to my comment above, it is interesting that my wife informs me, the person I unfriended is a 58 year old schoolteacher. What chance do our kids have ? . .
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Should be an interesting, unbiased, Trump show in the 4 Corners slot tonight. Close to being a 4 Coroners!
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That crazed fool was 12 when Trump came to the fore in 2016. He was only 16 when Trump lost. A child. He has been exposed to and grown within a sick media narrative. He can only be the result of it.
For me the fact this was not an older person is a relevant fact. No kid killed those 18th Century Presidents. This is the big difference. (actually I only assume this, I don’t really know. Pretty sure I’d be correct though).
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America is an extremely violent country. The nation was born on violence and rebellion. Australia performed its evolution much more sensibly, like grown-ups. To me, the 4th of July is a day of shame, but they celebrate it.
This event (and the others) is the result of that.
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Not so violent if you look closer.
US crime statistics are broken up by racial heritage. Two groups are hugely over-represented, and one in particular. Remove the figures for those two groups, and then for all the rest of the USA with its enormous diversity of racial or cultural backgrounds, the data reveals the USA is less violent than most European countries.
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Are they broken up by wealth?
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If you are trying to imply that poverty is a significant criminogenic factor, then there’s plenty of research to help you with that. If it was that simple there’d be no middle class crime, no white collar crime, no political corruption, no embezzlement, no oil wars or bankers wars, no James Bond or Jason Bourne, and Agatha Christie would be out of business as would half of Hollywood.
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That’s really not how stats work is it? If it was really race, by your logic, there’d be no white crime right?
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But violent if you look at political assassination attempts. They’re not uncommon.
Aus has had a few, and they’ve been from foreign cultures. Italian, Asian, and an Irishman. But a Prime Minister in Australia is pretty safe. An assassination attempt is unthinkable here. Not really in America. It’s in their culture.
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The other problem with America is it is a neo liberal experiment gone wrong. This is what this current culture conflict is all about, ultimately.
And I am a liberal, John Locke variety.
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A lone shooter, aged 20, contacts and coordinates with the Secret Service to use a roof close to the rally stage to assassinate Trump? More than unlikely.
Much more likely is a professional assassin is told to shoot Trump, the Secret Service are instructed by dark forces to assist, to allow this to happen. The Secret Service identify this rally as his best opportunity to get Trump. At the same time as this lone gunman gets on the roof, the professional assassin is on another roof and is ready to take the kill shot with a professional snipper rifle. As soon as the patsy starts firing, the kill shot is fired by the professional assassin. The patsy is allowed to get a few shots off into the crowd, he has no military or gun experience, so the shots miss the target but cause chaos in the crowd; the patsy is then killed. The professional leaves without anybody suspecting there were more than one shooter.
Now which sounds more plausible?
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An even more likely scenario is that some other agency (FBI/CIA etc) asked the Secret Service to allow the patsy onto the roof, their excuse being that they were going to catch him in the act and that they would ensure that he was not able to fire at Trump. The Secret Service then waited for that agency to arrest the patsy, but that never happened, so only after the patsy started shooting did the Secret Service respond. They realised that the agency that was supposed to be arresting this guy were actually letting him shoot at Trump.
As for the real assassin, that could be a person or an automated snipper rifle, like a drone, attached to one of the buildings, looking like an electricity junction box, and later removed.
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Its more mundane, a troubled young man with a gun wants to start a revolution
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I tend to agree with El Gordo. Though the lack of security is a huge red flag. Can people be so incompetent? Especially when there were actually police snipers there?
Probably. There are a lot of chicks in those departments these days. More red flags. The response of some of those female guards around the scrum was pretty funny.
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It is always better to be a lucky President than a good one.
🙂
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Lucky they are not mutually exclusive.
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FWIW
“Near-Trump Assassination Product of ‘Malice or Massive Incompetence’ by U.S. Secret Service”
https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/14/erik-prince-near-trump-assassination-caused-by-malice-or-massive-incompetence-by-u-s-secret-service/
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hiefio’s “Government Razor”
“@Plot vs Accident:
At this point, my “Government Razor” (created some months / year or two back) that says “What you get from the Government is to be considered as what was intended; absent hard evidence for incompetence.” as opposed to “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity” that has ceased to be valid in Government in the era of Cloward-Piven and Rules For Radicals / Marxism et.al.) is now saying “This is what was desired”. Not quite a formal Plot but at a minimum action from spite to keep detail too small for the task.”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/06/14/w-o-o-d-14-june-2024-eu-steals-russian-money-russia-advances-usa-sticks-eu-with-guarantor-role/#comment-171380
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This is not just an attack on Donald J Trump. This is an attack on Freedom. This is an attack on Democracy.
MUST WATCH: How Did Trump Survive? The Answer is Simple If You Open Your Mind!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WTwQVL_q6M
Go look it up before it gets deleted.
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>The Answer is Simple…
2 hours and 32 minutes!
The intro was great but he’s not getting to the point.
Can you give us a clue? What IS the answer?
At my age I don’t have the patience or the spare time to wade through two and a half hours of monologue.
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Just for interest I sketched a 400ft circle and divided by 360º. A one degree arc is 82 inches at 400ft. The bullet missed Trump’s skull by ~3/4″ or ~ a 100th of a degree. Close call. Probably a slight cross-wind and the target moving slightly during the projectile’s air time.
We should all be thankful that America is not in a Civil War to-day. All of their pollies need to wake up, Kennedy included, and do something about the demise of the formerly great United States of America.
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🙂 !
https://joannenova.com.au/2024/07/the-contradictions-in-the-narrative-break/#comment-2782045
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