Attempted assassination of Donald Trump 13 July 2024

[suffolkowner]

As I've gently indicated above, I'm pretty much done with the thread.

What I will say to you is that I don't see your point here.

It is - as I've said more than once - not my specific area of expertise. You seem to think that that fact should preclude my noticing the alarming fact that it also doesn't appear to be a particular strength of the former Director of the USSS either.

If no one who wasn't also in that business was allowed to notice that she was - at best - incompetent, then she would very likely still be in a job today and still endangering the proper functioning of democracy in the USA.

I think the Director was dancing on the head of a pin. Rather poorly at that. She either didnt have the information or is trying to avoid saying anything incriminating or accusatory. Im sure theres a report/audit being done, but has it been completed yet?

 

[KevinB]

Keep in mind that an open hearing the Director is very restrained in what can be said - as a number of things regarding to security zones are classified.

There are several investigations being done.

I can boil down a few issues I am aware of.

1) Send an advance team that has knowledge of Protective Operations (At least 1 agent with PPD experience and 1 CS member) for POTUS there is an SOP on that of X (I can't say) days of X many personnel (and their qualifications).
The positioning of the venue was very poorly done - and the podium and bleachers could have been easily altered to protect from several of the potential threat areas.

2) Do not let the SAC of the local Field Office conduct the Advance if they have no knowledge of PPD requirements. Also don't let that same SAC accept the local LE recommendation not to occupy the roof.

3) Fmr. President Trump's campaign should pay their security bills for the previous events where they are reported deadbeats -- I am guessing that few local agencies want to sent folks out to work overtime if they aren't being reimbursed.

A lot of these issues occur because the security for a Former President was never expecting someone like DJT - most go off and have fairly quiet lives - where they do some travel and some venues - but never before has someone been in a position like his - where he has many enemies foreign and domestic.

Given the shooter was identified inside the perimeter by CS earlier - there should have been a CSU or local plainclothes officers around to stain him then and there, not let him get lost in the crowd.
- the fact he had a range finder should have been an immediate alarm bell - and the Bulter PD and SO should have been demanded to occupy the roofs on those building regardless of their opinion on the matter.

The report of man with a gun came in before Trump went on stage - the SAC of his detail should have held him from the stage.
The Bulter PD officer who confronted the shooter at the roof, should have fired his weapon - either into the ground* or at the suspect - simply to alter everyone - his radio isn't compatible with the USSS radios - and as such there was radio tag and a delay in the messages getting to the CS teams.

* I do get why the officer who confronted Crooks backed down the ladder, seeing a rifle aimed at ones face is not fun - but if he was not going to take one for the team, he needed to do something to immediately warn everyone there was a shooter - and putting 3 pistol rounds into the dirt in the circumstance is probably the easiest and safest way to do it.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Just watched a short video by Brandon Webb over at SOFREP who states that the rifle used by Trumps would-be assassin as a Panther Arms AR-15; no mention of any optics.

He also talks about how air temperature can impact a 5.56mm bullets trajectories,, which correct me if I'm wrong, applies to all rifles/rounds, especially at long ranges.

Navy SEAL Sniper Analyzes Panther Arms AR-15 Rifle Used by Trump Shooter

Check out SOFREP Founder and CEO Brandon Webb's video evaluation of the Trump shooter's weapon of choice.

sofrep.com

 

[brihard]

Just watched a short video by Brandon Webb over at SOFREP who states that the rifle used by Trumps would-be assassin as a Panther Arms AR-15; no mention of any optics.

He also talks about how air temperature can impact a 5.56mm bullets trajectories,, which correct me if I'm wrong, applies to all rifles/rounds, especially at long ranges.

Navy SEAL Sniper Analyzes Panther Arms AR-15 Rifle Used by Trump Shooter

Check out SOFREP Founder and CEO Brandon Webb's video evaluation of the Trump shooter's weapon of choice.

sofrep.com

At the ~130m quoted, with accuracy of probably a couple MOA on the rifle, you could expect even perfectly fired shots to drift an inch or two in any direction from the mean point of impact at that distance and with that zeroing. The shot was well within ‘margin of error’ of being fatal.

 

[OldSolduer]

At the ~130m quoted, with accuracy of probably a couple MOA on the rifle, you could expect even perfectly fired shots to drift an inch or two in any direction from the mean point of impact at that distance and with that zeroing. The shot was well within ‘margin of error’ of being fatal.

IIRC the standard for a rifleman with the C7 was a four inch group at 100 m, although two inches or less were quite common.

 

[KevinB]

Just watched a short video by Brandon Webb over at SOFREP who states that the rifle used by Trumps would-be assassin as a Panther Arms AR-15; no mention of any optics.

There was a red dot optic.

He also talks about how air temperature can impact a 5.56mm bullets trajectories,, which correct me if I'm wrong, applies to all rifles/rounds, especially at long ranges.

Temperature, Air Density (Altitude/Humidity, Wind, and longer ranges spin drift (due to rifling twist) and Coriolis effect.

David Tubb has two identical rifles one with a 1:6 left hand twist and one with a 1:6 right hand twist - it’s really interesting to shoot them side by side as you can see the effect of headwinds (what most call a zero value wind) on the bullet.

David Tubb Accuracy & Precision Gun Parts
I’ve trained with him and gotten a lot more from him than Todd H, but they are basically collocated in Canadian Tx, and highly recommend both if you’re serious about long range shooting

Navy SEAL Sniper Analyzes Panther Arms AR-15 Rifle Used by Trump Shooter

Check out SOFREP Founder and CEO Brandon Webb's video evaluation of the Trump shooter's weapon of choice.

sofrep.com

It’s a 13 yr old 16” barrel DPMS ‘Panther’ AR-15 model.

 

[The Bread Guy]

On the symbolism front, "the bandage" seems to be catching on (at least a bit) elsewhere ...

Orban Allies Show Trump Solidarity With Ear 'Bandages' At Closely Watched Gathering

The chairman of the Hungarian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and the organizer of an annual political boot camp for Hungary's ruling Fidesz party in neighboring Romania made a show of solidarity with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the opening of the five-day event on July 24.

www.rferl.org

 

[Halifax Tar]

On the symbolism front, "the bandage" seems to be catching on (at least a bit) elsewhere ...

Orban Allies Show Trump Solidarity With Ear 'Bandages' At Closely Watched Gathering

The chairman of the Hungarian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and the organizer of an annual political boot camp for Hungary's ruling Fidesz party in neighboring Romania made a show of solidarity with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the opening of the five-day event on July 24.

www.rferl.org

 

[KevinB]

Interesting revelations, looks like the shooter had been unhinged for a while. Doesn’t appear to be significantly politically motivated due to the other information, and it seems that Former President Trump was just a target of opportunity for someone wanting fame/infamy…

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-shooter-bought-guns-bomb-making-materials-more-than-a-year-ago-fbi-says-c09af7d5

 

[OldSolduer]

Interesting revelations, looks like the shooter had been unhinged for a while.

there's a lot of folk like that everywhere.

 

[medicineman]

Interesting revelations, looks like the shooter had been unhinged for a while. Doesn’t appear to be significantly politically motivated due to the other information, and it seems that Former President Trump was just a target of opportunity for someone wanting fame/infamy…

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-shooter-bought-guns-bomb-making-materials-more-than-a-year-ago-fbi-says-c09af7d5

Ahh, that's what "they" want you to believe...

 

[Brad Sallows]

Interesting revelations, looks like the shooter had been unhinged for a while. Doesn’t appear to be significantly politically motivated due to the other information, and it seems that Former President Trump was just a target of opportunity for someone wanting fame/infamy…

How odd. Usually these people turn out to have coherent well-developed rational internally consistent philosophies.

 

[RangerRay]

I wonder if he was trying to impress Jody Foster?

 

[Haggis]

I wonder if he was trying to impress Jody Foster?

Jodie Foster is old enough to have been the shooter's grandma.


I visited the area where that was filmed, including the store in Newtown PA, where the characters purchased their book. However, the two locations are about 5 hours apart, unless traveling by UFO.

 

[dapaterson]

Jodie Foster is old enough to have been the shooter's grandma.

 

[Maxman1]

I wonder if he was trying to impress Jody Foster?

Maybe he read The Catcher in the Rye.

 

[PuckChaser]

Recent eyewitness footage has been released from a bystander who was actually on the AGR Industries property, looks less than 50 feet from the video. The youtuber breaks down the video in a pretty detailed fashion with some overheads to orient everyone to the ground. By the rifle sounds, seems like Crooks got off 7 shots, 3 initially at Trump and 4 more in rapid fire before you can hear the counter sniper shot take him out.

 

[jackamela]

Recent eyewitness footage has been released from a bystander who was actually on the AGR Industries property, looks less than 50 feet from the video. The youtuber breaks down the video in a pretty detailed fashion with some overheads to orient everyone to the ground. By the rifle sounds, seems like Crooks got off 7 shots, 3 initially at Trump and 4 more in rapid fire before you can hear the counter sniper shot take him out.

It seems quite extraordinary that a shooter on top of a relatively close, relatively open roof - and having been flagged as a person of interest 10, 20, 30 minutes ago or whatever the story is at now - could manage to get off 7 shots before the counter sniper who was aiming right at him was able to shoot him.

Are the radio communications for that time period available to be analysed by the investigators?

 

[brihard]

I was wondering when this would make it here. I’m already seeing tons of smooth-brained takes on this over on Twitter.

What do you mean “gun shy”? If this story is accurate, and the officer popped his head up from a ladder - a single predictable point of access to the roof - and saw a gun pointed at him, would you suggest he should just hang out and get shot in the face? Because that would be truly stupid. There’s no win, no positive contribution to the situation from that. Officer climbing a ladder, dude on a roof with a rifle at short distance- dude with the rifle wins a hundred times out of a hundred. It’s like whack-a-mole with only a single gopher hole. If a dude with a gun gets the drop on you and you cannot immediately shoot back, you use cover, access your own gun (tough to do while climbing a ladder), reposition, and call for backup.

In this case that likely caused the shooter to break his concentration and point of aim, to rush back to it, and to miss by just enough.

All of this presupposes the story is true. Were still only 24 hours in.

Followup on this: there’s now body cam video of this encounter available. The officer was not on a ladder; another officer was giving him a boost to pull himself up on the roof. As he was starting to do so - a both hands exercise and most of us have experienced - the shooter pointed his gun at the officer. The officer could not both draw his firearm and keep his grip on the roof; he let go, and fell off. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the officer’s actions here, and any assessments of his response that were predicated on assuming he was on a ladder or otherwise has steady footing are void.

Audio unfortunately doesn’t start til a minute and a half in.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1821639181875212601

 

[RangerRay]

Some more information on the shooter’s activities leading up to the assassination attempt.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-shooting-gunman-1.7307179

"We saw ... a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets," Kevin Rojek, the FBI's top official in western Pennsylvania, said in a telephone briefing to reporters.