The question on everyone's lips after the assassination attempt on
Donald Trump was how could this have happened?
And instead of getting closer to an answer, there only
seems to be more and more confusion.
Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in Butler,
PA on July 13th, 2024 when shots rang out.
One hit the former president on the right ear.
The attack injured two of the rally's attendees and killed
one, a 50 year old firefighter named Corey Camperator, who
was protecting his family.
Political assassinations and attempted ones are truly national tragedies, and
as such they generate a lot of scrutiny.
They also, without fail, in gender conspiracy theories.
Most famously theories about the assassination of John F Kennedy
in Dallas in November 1963 are still discussed even 60
plus years later.
The attempt to assassinate former President Trump is no different,
and there are some outlandish conclusions being drawn on social
media and elsewhere.
But there are also some events of the day that
simply don't make sense, at least not yet.
For one, witnesses had warned police of the alleged shooter,
who the FBI identified as 20 year old Thomas Matthew
Crooks, more than a full minute before the shots were
fired, according to the Washington Post.
A guy beside me looks over and said he has
a gun.
He has a gun.
He also took his shots from a conspicuously unguarded roof,
and recent developments have made the situation look even more
suspicious.
One particularly alarming new bit of information is that three
police snipers were reportedly inside the building from which Crooks
fired.
A law enforcement officer who spoke to CBS News said
the team saw crooks observing the roof and building before
the shooting.
The suspect allegedly left their view twice, the second time
pulling out a range Finder, before returning a third time
of the backpack and appearing to head to the back
of the structure.
When they saw Crooks the second time, one of the
snipers was said to have snapped a photo of him
and radioed the command center to warn of the potential
threat.
Police eventually arrived for backup, but not before Crooks had
already climbed onto the building.
A Secret Service sniper killed him before officers got onto
the roof after he had already got off several shots.
One of the snipers inside the building not intercept crooks
sooner, particularly since bystanders also noticed the shooter as he
scaled the building from the outside.
Joseph Lasorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on
the presidential detail, told Reuters There is going to be
an intensive review of the attack and a, quote, massive
realignment of Secret Service operations.
What's even more confounding is that, according to NBC News,
officials had identified the building, which is around 148 yards
from the rally site, as the security vulnerability days before
the rally took place.
Even so, the Secret Service left oversight the building, which
is owned by American Glass Research, to local police.
Secret Service head Kimberly Cheadle told ABC News there was
local police in the area that were responsible for the
outer perimeter of the building.
How was it that no one was stationed on the
roof, especially considering that three snipers were inside?
A former senior Secret Service agent told NBC News Someone
should have been on the roof for securing the building
so no one could get on the roof.
In the days since the assassination attempt, some interdepartmental finger
pointing has taken place.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said security was entirely
the responsibility of the Secret Service.
Who were at the top of the command hierarchy and,
quote, designated who did what.
Former Secret Service agent Jason Russell noted to the BBC
that the agency is limited in the number of agents
it can post, having to delegate some coverage to local
law enforcement.
Former agent Evie Pampora said something similar on Today.
And Secret Service works with local police.
You have to think of the Secret Service like they're
the conductor of the orchestra.
On the day after the attack, President Joe Biden said
he directed the Secret Service to conduct an independent review
of its handling of the rally.
The FBI is also conducting an investigation.
Here's hoping for some answers, and soon.