Staff Reports
The chaos surrounding Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is the kind of scandal that almost writes itself. Leave it to the Biden administration to fumble something as critical as the security for a former president. The initial misinformation regarding denied security resources has been cleared up, revealing an even more jaw-dropping failure on DHS’s part. Trump, with an assassination plot against him by the Iranians, did indeed have bolstered security. Yet despite these measures, a startling breach occurred on July 13 when the former president narrowly escaped a fatal headshot. How close? Millimeters.
Now, The New York Times reports that Secret Service snipers identified the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a full two minutes before any shots were fired. Just imagine—an assassination attempt two minutes in the making, all while the snipers were busy recalibrating their scopes like it was another Tuesday. Social media videos from the rally show the Secret Service team moving into position in the direction of Crooks but apparently deciding a leisurely approach was best.
HOW IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S HOLY DID THE USSS ALLOW TRUMP OUT ON THAT STAGE?????
Wait, That's How Long the Secret Service Sniper Team Observed Trump's Would-Be Assassin? https://t.co/Yl5wCLZgYY
— L (@QRU4Now) July 17, 2024
As Trump commenced his speech, the Secret Service snipers and a spotter turned their attention northward where the shooter was later pinpointed. One video captured one rally attendee’s ominous realization just under two minutes before shots rang out. Meanwhile, another clip from Facebook showed that even the crowd had better situational awareness, pointing law enforcement to the rooftop well in advance.
In yet another moment of sheer incompetence, one minute and thirty-five seconds before the shots, a second sniper team finally decided to join the party by turning their weapons north as well. All of this action, yet no preemptive measures were taken to prevent the shooter from getting into position. The roof Crooks used wasn’t even secured, simply because it was deemed “unsafe” for snipers, according to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Please, you can’t make this up if you tried.
If one needed any more evidence of how laughable this security debacle was, just check the reports from CBS News. Despite the rooftop being less than 200 yards from Trump, snipers inside the building who spotted Crooks did nothing until it was too late. The visual on this complete failure couldn’t be clearer: massive holes in security setup, a shooter in plain sight, and no logical answers from the powers that be. It begs the question—what were they thinking?
One might even argue Trump would’ve been safer if they had enlisted a day laborer from the Home Depot parking lot with more common sense than those supposedly trained to protect him. Maybe next time, the Biden administration will put as much effort into ensuring a former president’s safety as they do into distributing talking points. Don’t hold your breath.
