Staff Reports
An attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump unfolded at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement officials were alarmingly aware of the situation nearly 100 minutes before Trump took the stage, according to emails obtained by The New York Times. It seems that despite all the security layers surrounding Trump, the antics of a 20-year-old would-be assassin, Matthew Crooks, managed to slip through the cracks, highlighting yet again the inadequacies of the current elite security measures.
The counter-sniper from a local agency, having already clocked out for the day, alerted his colleagues at 4:19 p.m. about a suspicious character he had spotted earlier. With Trump scheduled to speak, one might think someone would be fully focused on keeping him safe. Instead, this local hero was about to leave when he reported that Crooks was lingering at a nearby picnic table. Ironically, it appeared Crooks was fully aware of the counter-sniper’s presence, demonstrating an unsettling level of confidence – or perhaps a lack of fear of law enforcement that can’t help but make one wonder about the state of security protocols in place.
Would-be Trump assassin was on law enforcement radar nearly 100 minutes before shooting https://t.co/8YO266UZ0M via @JustTheNews. Unbelievable!! Totally incompetent or inside job? Don’t forget @SecMayorkas is in charge of this group of keystone kops!
— Bigmoe (@Bigmoe16574013) July 30, 2024
By 5:10 p.m., Crooks had decided to position himself beneath the very counter-snipers who had his number. The counter-sniper managed to snap a photo of the suspect, demonstrating that someone actually had their eye on the problem. Unfortunately, the communication of danger appeared scattered and less than effective. The counter-sniper, after taking the snapshot, went on to share it and mention that Crooks was equipped with a rangefinder, explicitly suggesting that a uniformed officer should investigate. One can only imagine how many hoops that request had to jump through to reach someone actually capable of taking action.
As anticipation grew with the arrival of Trump, law enforcement’s supply of common sense apparently diminished rapidly. By 6:11 p.m., clearly tired of waiting and not wanting to miss his chance, Crooks opened fire, taking eight shots. In the chaos, he tragically managed to kill one person and injure three others, including Trump himself, before being shot and neutralized by a Secret Service counter-sniper. It is a disheartening reality that the security of a former president could unravel in such a chaotic manner, all while sitting in the costly shadow of self-identifying “protectors.”
This incident serves as a reminder of the continuously deteriorating oversight of security measures surrounding political figures, raising necessary questions about the competence of the agents tasked with keeping them safe. It prompts the obvious thoughts: how could a lone wolf assassin slip through the cracks so easily, especially considering the growing threats from radical elements on the left? Once again, security protocols are put to the ultimate test; and tragically, they seem to fail spectacularly as chaos reigns while the rally unfolds.
