The Unvarnished Story of the Trump Assassination Attempt

photorandy2023

2 years ago

I have written several articles on our President Trump. A list of the links have been provided at the bottom of this article for your convenience. This article will, however address different aspects on President Trump’s Presidency.

First of all I want to make a statement on my slowness to post an article on the Donald J. Trump assassination attempt. I have been feverishly watching You Tube Videos, CSPAN and reading articles on the subject. One thing I can comment on is that there is a lot of information ot there, and unfortunately most of it is just click bait or totally BS. That is why I have waited so long. I don’t like having to make corrections. I try to be factual in my postings, unless otherwise stated.

To understand what is going on with President Trump, you have to go back to the Obama presidency. His presidency in my opinion was an attempt to destroy our country. An opinion I might add which is held by many reputable sources. He began his presidency by going on an apology tour around the world, which basically made us a laughing stockin the international arena. He even bowed to Arabian princes, something the leader of the most powerful nation should never do. The next thing he did was to insinuate all of his loyal followers throughout the government. We are still dealing with his agents in the Justice Department and even the CIA.

When President Trump came into office he faced many roadblocks in getting his appoints approved by Congress. He also got a lot of bad advice on many appointees. He had to settle with leavig a lot of people in power, because it was either do this or have nobody in charge of these departments or agencies. Many of these “Obama agents” served to spread discord and to leak important information. They immediately started investigations and made impeachment plans. He fought the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax for his four years. When none of these tactics worked, they created a pandemic, which basically decimated our economy. Even with all of this, he almost won a second term. We won’t go into the 2020 election hoax. After he lost they tried a second impeachment, which also failed. During the last 3-1/2 years he has faced multiple lawsuits and felony charges. They even have tried the insurrection hoax in January 6, 2021. The swamp have destroyed many of his loyaly followers in the hopethat they would testify against him. Every swipe thay took at him only made him stronegr and moe popular with his followers. They even tried to bankrupt him and he only ended up becoming richer than he ever was before. This brings us to July 13, 2024 and his political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the day DJT almost lost his life to a “lone” assassination’s bullet.

I will start with a detailed time line, which will be pulled from multiple sources to ensure its accuracy and to make it as complete as possible.

Leading up to the rally

Over several months prior to the July 13 attack on former President Donald Trump, the man ultimately identified as the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, receives multiple packages at his Bethel Park, Pa., home that are marked “hazardous material,” according to The New York Times, citing a federal law enforcement memo.

Also, at some point prior to the rally, the National Security Council warns the U.S. Secret Service and the Trump campaign of an increased threat to Trump coming from Iran, and the Secret Service boosts protection for Trump in light of that, a national security official confirms to NPR. It’s unclear exactly when the warning is issued.

July 3: The Trump campaign announces that the former president will hold a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Mr. Crooks typed in an ominous phrase.

“He did a Google search for ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’” Mr. Wray told a congressional committee last week.

July 6: Crooks searches online for the dates of Trump events and for the date of the Democratic National Convention, investigators say.

July 7: About a week before the rally, Crooks visits the site where it is set to take place.

July 8: Crooks had been scouting the rally site even before the Secret Service conducted their first walk-through on July 8. He used a drone to survey the area and had researched past assassinations, including that of JFK.

It was then that the Secret Service decided to exclude the entire warehouse complex owned by AGR, including Building No. 6, which Mr. Crooks would later use, from its inner security perimeter. This meant that on the day of the rally, Mr. Crooks was able to approach the building without passing through security screening.

There is still confusion about which agency was supposed to oversee the roof. Kimberly A. Cheatle, then the director of the Secret Service, told a House committee on Monday that she did not know whose job that was. She resigned the next day.

After their walk-through, the Secret Service had asked local agencies to provide more help. Text messages show that Beaver County struggled to find enough volunteers to cover the 12-hour shift. A leader says that one of the available snipers could arrive at 8 a.m. but would need to leave by 4 p.m. “That works,” another leader responded in the texts.

July 11: The Secret Service returned to the site for a final walk-through with its local partners.

July 12: Crooks goes to the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, where he is a member. The club is located near his home in Bethel Park, about 50 miles south of Butler, the site where the Trump rally is to be held. Crooks practices on the rifle range, The Associated Press reports, citing a federal intelligence briefing.

July 13: On the morning of the day of the rally, set for early evening, Crooks visits the site again, this time flying a drone over the area where the rally will take place, a source familiar with the matter who isn’t authorized to speak publicly later told NPR. The drone traces a programmed flight path, the source says. Officers from several local law enforcement agencies were scheduled for a briefing at 9 a.m. at the Brady Paul Lodge in Butler, according to a plan shown in the text messages. The after-action report indicates the Secret Service was not in attendance.

July 13: Crooks searches online for a local gun store, where he buys 50 rounds of ammunition for an AR-style rifle that his father had purchased in 2013, according to the AP. The store he purchased the ammo was the Allegheny Arms & Gun Works. At 9:30 am he purchased a ladder at the Home Depot in Bethel Park, which he later used to gain access to the roof of his sniper’s nest. Crooks drives to Butler and parks his car outside the Butler Farm Show grounds at 3:35 PM according to geolocation information on his cell phone, where the rally is to take place.

July 13: 3:50 PM he flew his drone over the site for 11 minutes, including in a path about 200 yards from Mr. Trump’s podium. He finished using his drone and sat at the picnic table, where the countersniper spots him.

July 13: Around 4:19 pm, a local countersniper, who was part of the broader security detail, texted his colleaugues to notify them that his shift was ending. “Guys I am out. Be safe,” he texted to a group of colleagues. As he exited his post on the second floor of a warehouse overlooking the rally site leaving two other countersnipers behind, he observed a young man with long, stringy hair sitting on a picnic table outside the fenced area of the Butler Fair Show grounds. The countersniper texted his colleagues at 4:26 pm about the man, who was outside the fenced area of the Butler Fair Show grounds where Mr. Trump was to appear. He said that the person would have seen him come out with his rifle and “knows you guys are up there.” The person, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, aroused suspicion.

July 13, about 5 p.m. ET: The Secret Service is made aware of a “suspicious male” loitering near the rally, but it apparently loses track of him. It is during this time that he returns to his car, where he leaves his drone and returns to the warehouse complex.

July 13: By 5:10 pm, the young man was no longer on the picnic table. He was right below the countersnipers, who were upstairs in a warehouse owned by AGR International.

July 13 5:14 pm One of the countersnipers took pictures of him, according to a law enforcement after-action report, which along with the texts from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit was provided to The Times by the office of Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. The text messages were independently verified by The Times. A Beaver County countersniper shared two photos of Mr. Crooks with his colleagues.

July 13: At 5;38 pm, text messages revealed that Crooks had been seen using the range finder to survey the stage area, prompting further concern. However, due to a shortage of volunteers and a lack of communication, the Secret Service and local enforcement struggled to keep up with Crooks’ mvements. One of the two remaining countersnipers “ran out of the building attempting to keep eyes on Crooks until other law enforcement arrived,” according to a statement by Richard Goldinger, the Butler County district attorney, who supervises some of the law enforcement units.

But Mr. Crooks ran off, taking a backpack with him, Mr. Goldinger said. When the officer was unable to find Mr. Crooks, he returned to his post.

Four Butler Township police officers who had been directing traffic joined the manhunt.

At 6 p.m., one officer in the group texts guessed that Mr. Crooks was moving toward the back of the complex of AGR buildings, “away from the event.” Instead, Mr. Crooks clambered onto the low-slung building in the complex closest to the stage.

The rally begins and shots are fired

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives for the campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

Evan Vucci/AP

July 13, 6:02 p.m. ET: Trump takes the stage as “God Bless the U.S.A.” blares from the public address system.

Trump speaks at the campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

July 13: 6:03 pm, As Trump took to the stage, to a roaring crowd.

July13, 609 pm,rally attendees noticed Crooks on the roofand begin pointing. Either through luck or preparation, Mr. Crooks had found a place on the roof that let him see Mr. Trump clearly, but also seemed to keep him somewhat hidden from the Secret Service countersnipers.

Though Mr. Crooks did not bring his newly purchased ladder, he managed to climb onto the roof and walk across a complex of interconnected roofs, Mr. Wray testified.

Evan Vucci/AP

July 13, 6:05 p.m. ET: Trump begins addressing the rally, acknowledging that “this is a big, big, beautiful crowd.” In the first few minutes of the speech, the focus is on President Biden’s record and immigration.

July 13, 6:09 p.m. ET: About two minutes before shots are fired, several attendees notice an armed man on a rooftop about 450 feet away from the stage where Trump is speaking. In a video posted to social media, the attendees are heard trying to alert law enforcement. In the video, a man can be heard saying: “Someone’s on top of the roof. Look!” A woman yells, “He’s on the roof. … Right there. Flat on the roof.”

Some moments before the shooting takes place, a Butler Township police officer encounters the shooter, later identified as Crooks, on the rooftop of a nearby building, according to Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe.

A news release issued days later by Tom Knights, the Butler Township manager, says that as Trump arrived, “a call went out for a suspicious male” near the building and that “several officers broke free from their traffic intersections of responsibility and responded to the area to aid in the search.”

The news release says that no one was found in a subsequent search, but that “A Butler Township officer attempted to gain access to the roof by being hoisted up by an assisting officer. The officer was pulling himself up to the roof when he made visual contact with an individual who pointed a rifle at him.” With no hands left to pull his own gun, the officer dropped breaking his ankle. The two officers immediately reported via their comms.

“The officer was in a defenseless position and there was no way he could engage the actor while holding onto the roof edge,” the news release says, adding that the officer “immediately communicated the individual’s location and that he was in possession of a weapon. Moments later, the individual commenced firing.”

Trump starts ducking downward after gunfire rings out during the campaign rally in Butler.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

July 13, 6:11 p.m. ET: As Trump is speaking, he turns to his right, suddenly stops talking and reaches for his right ear. As three shots ring out, the former president crouches behind the lectern.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reaches for his right ear as multiple shots ring out during the campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Secret Service agents scramble onstage, shielding Trump and yelling, “Get down!” Several more shots are heard. Heavily armed federal law enforcement officials rush onto the stage area.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is covered by U.S. Secret Service agents during the campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13.

Evan Vucci/AP

According to recordings from rally attendees located within 40 feet of the building Crooks fired from there were three rounds of fire, 3 shots followed by a short pause od a second or so and then 5 more rounds, then a slightly longer paused where the 2nd counter sniper team killed Crooks with a single head shot.

July 13, 6:12 p.m. ET: Secret Service agents call for a vehicle to evacuate the former president. As shots continue, a woman can be heard screaming.

A 50-year-old former fire chief, Corey Comperatore, is hit by one or more of the gunman’s bullets. Two other rally-goers, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, are seriously wounded. Comperatore is later declared dead.

Members of the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team return fire, fatally wounding Crooks with a shot to the head. About 42 seconds after the first shot is fired, an agent says, “Shooter down.”

New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills apparently catches an image showing the precise moment a bullet grazes past Trump. Speaking later to NPR’s All Things Considered, Mills says that initially he doesn’t realize the loud pops are gunshots. Then he sees that Trump is bleeding. “I kept taking pictures, and then I realized that he had grimaced and then he grabbed his ear and then he took his hand off his ear and there was blood on his ear and then he went down,” Mills says. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s been shot.'”

Trump holds a fist in the air as Secret Service agents surround him as he is rushed offstage at the campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

Evan Vucci/AP

July 13, 6:13 p.m. ET: The former president is helped to his feet by Secret Service agents. He’s heard saying: “Wait, I want to get my shoes.” Blood can be seen on his right ear and right cheek. After looking around, Trump raises his fist to the crowd and appears to mouth the word “fight” three times as he’s led from the dais.

One of Trump’s feet has lost its shoe, which is seen at left on the stage where he was speaking when a gunman attempted to assassinate him.

Evan Vucci/AP

Blood is on Trump’s face and right ear as Secret Service agents surround him and take him offstage amid the assassination attempt.

Rebecca Droke/AFP/Getty Images

July 13, about 6:50 p.m. ET: A spokesperson for Trump says the former president “is fine” after the attack. Trump is evaluated and treated at nearby Butler Memorial Hospital, according to CBS.

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while former President Donald Trump was speaking at the campaign rally on July 13.

The body-camera footage shows officers climbing a ladder to find Mr. Crooks lying dead on the roof: a slight man, wearing black sneakers, a T-shirt and cargo shorts. His backpack and rifle lay nearby. A long trail of blood ran from his body down to the roof’s gutter.

“Looks like, what, at least eight,” one of them says, counting shell casings around him. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. At least eight.”

Lawmakers react to the shooting

July 13, 6:57 p.m. ET: Less than an hour after the shooting — and before authorities release the identity of the gunman or any possible motive for the attack — Republican and Democratic lawmakers begin weighing in with posts on X and other statements. One of the first is from Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who suggests charges should be filed against Biden “for inciting an assassination.”

July 13, 7:05 p.m. ET: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posts on X: “I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country.”

July 13, 7:31 p.m. ET: In a post on X, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refers to the 2022 attack on her husband, writing, “As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”

July 13, 8:20 p.m. ET: Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who is soon to become Trump’s running mate, posts on X: “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

July 13, 8:42 p.m. ET: Posting on Truth Social, Trump, whose right ear was wounded, writes: “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”

July 13, 8:49 p.m. ET: Anthony Guglielmi, the chief of communications for the Secret Service, posts on X: The gunman “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue. US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased.”

July 13, 8:59 p.m. ET: Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., posts on X: “Let’s be clear: This was an assassination attempt aided and abetted by the radical Left and corporate media incessantly calling Trump a threat to democracy, fascists, or worse.”

July 13: A search of Crooks’ car and home after the shooting on Saturday finds two improvised explosive devices in his car and one in his Bethel Park home.

July 13: In a brief statement from the White House, Biden says of Trump: “I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.”

FBI identifies would-be assassin

July 14, 1:32 a.m. ET: The FBI officially identifies Crooks as the shooter. A search of Pennsylvania voter registration and Federal Election Commission data shows he was a registered Republican who also donated $15 to ActBlue, a Democratic-allied organization, in 2021.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, appears in this undated photo from his time at Bethel Park High School. He graduated in 2022.

Bethel Park High School

In a Sunday briefing with reporters, FBI investigators say Crooks used his father’s rifle in the attack, describing the weapon as an AR-style rifle that was purchased legally. “We do not know specifically how he accessed the weapon and whether he took it without his father’s knowledge,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office, says.

July 14, 7:36 a.m. ET: Posting on Truth Social, Trump says of the attempt on his life, “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

July 14, 2:05 p.m. ET: In remarks in the White House briefing room, Biden says he spoke with Trump the previous night and says, “I’m sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering.” He expresses condolences to Comperatore’s family and wishes for the recovery of the two injured men, Dutch and Copenhaver. He cautions: “We don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter. We know who he is. I urge everyone — everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations.”

July 14: The FBI says its investigators have yet to identify a motive or any clear political ideology for the shooter.

July 14, 8:02 p.m. ET: In an address to the nation, Biden encourages Americans to “remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies.” He notes the “need for us to lower the temperature in our politics.”

Members of the FBI’s Evidence Response Team work near the building from which a gunman attempted to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

July 15: In a statement, the FBI says its “technical specialists successfully gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone, and they continue to analyze his electronic devices,” adding, “The search of the subject’s residence and vehicle are complete.” NPR has also confirmed that Crooks’ phone had a saved photo of James Crumbley, the Michigan man who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over his teenage son’s mass shooting at a Michigan high school.

July 15: Trump, with his right ear bandaged, appears alongside his newly announced vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, on the first night of the Republican National Convention.

July 15: In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Biden calls it a “mistake” to have said it’s time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye on a recent campaign call.

Lawmakers are briefed by the Secret Service

Law enforcement investigates the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at the site of the campaign rally in Butler, Pa., where a gunman opened fire.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

July 17: The Secret Service briefs House and Senate lawmakers about the July 13 shooting, acknowledging that it knew of reports of a suspicious person nine minutes ahead of Trump taking the stage, according to Axios.

July 17, 4:30 p.m. ET: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a post on X, calls the assassination attempt “a grave attack on American democracy,” adding that the country “deserves answers and accountability.”

“New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction,” McConnell says.

July 17, 4:52 p.m. ET: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., posts on X, “I am appalled to learn that the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage.”

July 17: Local police officers who worked the rally tell NPR they’re fielding a barrage of hostile calls from people, some of whom have bought into conspiracy theories. “People call and they just want to call us cowards for not doing our job. Well, we did our job,” says Sgt. Tony Sawl of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. “Hopefully the truth will come out, and if there were mistakes being made, hopefully we can learn from that.”

July 18: NPR confirms that the FBI has been reviewing the contents of Crooks’ electronic devices, including a laptop and two cellphones — one his primary phone and a second one found at his home. Crooks’ primary phone has 27 contacts saved on it, and investigators are tracking those individuals down. He had saved images of Biden, Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and the Princess of Wales (the former Kate Middleton). He also searched “major depressive disorder.”

Trump’s speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is introduced during the final night of the Republican National Convention.

Evan Vucci/AP

July 18, about 11 p.m. ET: In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, a somewhat subdued Trump recounts the July 13 attempt on his life. He says he “felt very safe, because I had God on my side.”

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump says, as the crowd responds, “Yes, you are!”

“Not supposed to be here. … I thank you, but I’m not, and I’ll tell you, I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God,” he says.

July 19: The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., says Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify at a July 22 hearing at 10 a.m. ET. “Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about the Secret Service’s historic security failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump, murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd,” Comer says in a statement.

July 22: Cheatle, in her first testimony before Congress since the July 13 assassination attempt, tells lawmakers that her agency failed in its mission to protect the nation’s leaders. She calls the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant failure in decades.” In a contentious hearing, Cheatle repeatedly declines to answer specific questions or offer details about the incident, citing ongoing investigations. It prompts members of both parties, including the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Mark E. Green, R-Tenn., to call for Cheatle’s resignation.

July 23: Under intense pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the Secret Service’s handling of the July 13 shooting, Cheatle, the agency’s director, resigns her post. In a letter to staff, she says she doesn’t want calls for her resignation to be a distraction “from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.” In accepting the resignation, Biden says he’s grateful for Cheatle’s decades of public service. “She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service. We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our Administration and we are grateful for her service to our family,” Biden says in statement.

The FBI will interview Former President Donald Trump as part of its investigation into the assassination attempt against him. The bureau says it wants to get Trump’s perspective and learn what he observed that day. At this point, the FBI has interviewed more than 450 people, including people who knew the shooter, Thomas Crooks.

Former President Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

🎧 NPR’s Ryan Lucas tells Up First that the FBI still hasn’t determined a motive in the case, but has provided a more detailed timeline of events. It’s believed that Crooks planned carefully ahead of the rally and tried to hide his activities. He used aliases to buy guns and explosives online, and his online search history included information on mass shootings and the attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister. Investigators believe Crooks was able to get on the roof by climbing piping on the side of the building. A police officer was lifted to the roof but dropped back to the ground after Crooks pointed a gun at him. Just 25-30 seconds later, Crooks fired eight rounds before the Secret Service killed him.

Follow-up on text Messages

Taken together, the text messages provide the most detailed picture yet of the hours before the assassination attempt. They reveal that the gunman, later identified as Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., aroused police suspicion more than 90 minutes before the shooting, rather than about 60 minutes, as has been previously discussed in congressional hearings.

The messages also add to the evidence that the would-be assassin was often one step ahead of security forces, and in particular the Secret Service.

Mr. Crooks scoped out the rally site a day before the Secret Service did. He used a drone to survey the site while the Secret Service did not seek permission to use one for the rally. He researched how far Lee Harvey Oswald was from John F. Kennedy when he fatally shot the president in 1963 — the answer is about 265 feet — and managed to climb onto a roof that was about 400 feet from Mr. Trump at its closest point. The Secret Service left that roof unmanned.

And while countersnipers were assigned to surveil the rally, Mr. Crooks was also in a position to watch them.

Even after the episode ended, the police seemed confused about what Mr. Crooks had done and how.

“So, on TV, they’re saying Trump was shot at, and he got hit, but I don’t believe that,” one local police officer said to another 17 minutes after the shooting, in a conversation captured on a body-worn camera.

As the officers in the video walk toward the warehouse on which Mr. Crooks’s lifeless body lay, one can be heard saying, “I’m trying to figure out how this guy got here.”

Investigators are still trying to determine Mr. Crooks’s motivations and his actions in the days before the rally, in part from what they have found on his personal devices. But the texts and footage, combined with interviews by The Times and public testimony by investigators, have filled in some of the answers.

Mr. Crooks already had the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle he brought to the rally. He purchased it in October from his father, who had acquired it legally in 2013.

He began to receive packages at his house in the Pittsburgh suburbs, including fertilizer pellets and radio devices. He would later use some of this material to build rudimentary bombs, two of which were found in his vehicle after the shooting and another in his home.

Mr. Crooks had started searching online for information on famous people, including the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, President Biden and Mr. Trump. He also looked up “major depressive disorder.”

Col. Christopher Paris, the Pennsylvania State Police commissioner, testified in a congressional hearing on Tuesday that officers were busy that day, responding to more than 100 heat-related emergencies. There were also other suspicious people whom security officials were trying to assess at the rally, which is not unusual for such events, Colonel Paris said.

Conclusion

There has been a lot of erroneous information about the shots being fired and where they came from. There is an old saying “crap in, crap out.” This is what we had initially with the audio recordings. They were all from the stands and not from the actual shooting location. Supposed audio experts said that the sounds of the gun fire were from diffeent guns and locations, which led me to believe that there were more than one shooter and fired from different locations. There were also rumors that shots were fired from a window overlooking Crooks. After further analysis this was rulled out, because of the limited visibility from the this location on President Trump. I also came to a faulty conclusion or at least theory due to the faulty audio analysis that a second shooter fired from further away, the gymnasium locatged a couple of hundred of yards further back. When I watched the video that was shot close to the sniper’s nest, I was at first troubled by the incredibly poor video quality. However, more importantly the sound quaity was excellent. You can hear the sounds distinctly. With this recording there is no confusion in where the shots were taken from. The first two volleys came from the same location and were fired by the same gun, the only round that sounded at all different was from the counter sniper. There was also a long enough pause to give the counter sniper time to locate the firing location. The second and longer volley aided in the echo location. If Crooks had just fired the first 3 volley series and instead of making a second attempt on Trump, he might have been able to get away. Because anybody trying to echo locate with only a single sound being made, it is virtually impossible to figure out where the sound came from.

There was also misinformation about where Crook’s loyalties lie. There were rumors that he was a Trump supporter, but after more information became available, it was discovered that he was not a Trump fan but an ardent hater.

The problem arises now in not that there was just a single shooter, but how did it even happen. This is where the real issue lies. Was it MIHOP (made it happen on purpose) or LIHOP (let it happen on purpose)? I can’t believe that after all the presidents and key figures that have either been assassinated or seriously wounded that we have not learned our lesson. The Secret Service has an annual budget of over three billion dollars. I have listened to the ex-Secret Serice director, the interim director and the director of the FBI, and all of them would not pass the Pinochio test. Are they covering up incompetance or something more nefarious? Only time will tell. There is also the evidence of advanced knowledge. For one there are the rumors that the Financial advisory company Austin Private Wealth shorted 12 million shares of Trump Media July 12, the day before former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination. I refernced the Politicat fact checker for information, even though I don’t trust their fcat checkers, just to get background information.

After a gunman tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump July 13, social media users looked into trading activity of Trump Media stock and said there was something suspicious.

“Austin Private Wealth shorted 12 million shares of Donald Trump stock on July 12,” a man in a July 21 Instagram post said.

In a July 18 Instagram post, a woman said, “Why did the firm Austin Private Wealth take a huge bet against Donald Trump’s stock the day before the assassination attempt? The firm just happens to be majority held by BlackRock and Vanguard.”

But legal filings and a statement from the firm showed that the number of shares and the date cited in this claim were inaccurate.

Austin Private Wealth is an investment advisory company based in Austin, Texas. Securities and Exchange Commission records show that the firm filed a July 12 report that did show a “put” amount of 12 million on Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., or DJT. (DJT is the company’s stock ticker symbol and the former president’s initials). The report said the put was for the quarter that ended June 30 — several days before the assassination attempt. In a July 17 statement, Austin Private Wealth said the July 12 report reflected its positions on June 28.

A Business Insider article defined put options as “contracts that allow investors to sell a specific number of securities at a predetermined price within a specified timeframe.” Traders typically buy them when they expect the stock’s underlying asset to fall, according to Business Insider.

Buying put options is similar, but different from short selling or shorting, where “investors sell borrowed stocks in the hope of buying them back for a lower price.”

Austin Private Wealth’s statement said the amount of shorted Trump Media shares reported on the July 12 filing was “incorrect” and that it was amended when the error was found.

“No client of APW holds, or has ever held, a put on DJT in the quantity initially reported. The correct holding amount was 12 contracts, or 1,200 shares — not 12 million shares, as was filed in error,” its statement read. “We deeply regret this error and the concern it has caused, especially at such a fraught moment for our nation.”

The financial advisory company added that a third-party vendor increased the number of shares by a multiple of 10,000 for DJT and other contracts, an error that was not caught before the filing.

The report was amended July 16, but the Trump Media put options were absent in the amended filing. In a published FAQ, the company said “the total holdings of the underlying stock and related options were below the de minimis amount (or threshold) for actual reporting” after the error was corrected.

Securities and Exchange Commission rules state that for Form 13F, the one Austin Private Wealth filed, a manager may choose not to report holdings of less than 10,000 shares.

The company told PolitiFact in an email that it did not short-sell or buy put options of Trump Media shares “between June 28 and July 13.”

In response to claims that Austin Private Wealth is “majority-held” by BlackRock and Vanguard, the company told PolitiFact, “Austin Private Wealth is a firm owned solely by individual partners based in Austin — BlackRock and Vanguard are not and have never been shareholders.”

Austin Private Wealth did not short 12 million shares of Trump Media the day before the former president was targeted in an assassination attempt. We rate that claim False.

I will make one statement about this, there was evidence that the stocks had been purchased, then the money was refunded after the assassination attempt failed. Is this true or not, only the people involved and God himself knows for sure.

There is one thing that might in fact point towards this being a false flag operation. Would a large and powereful corporation rely on a 20 year old pimple faced nobody for such an important operation? I think not, that is why I was so sure that there were two shooters and Crooks was just a patsy. There is a famous quote written by the great author Sir Conan Dolye and attributed to his legendary character Sherlock Holmes, “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

There is also the question of the presence of Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo’s presence at the RNC, neither one of them are exactly fans of Trump. I know I probably left you with more questions than answers. Don’t worry, this is just the beginning, there will be more follow-up stories as more information comes forward.

Resources

npr.org, “Trump’s close call: A detailed time line.” By Scott Neuman and Eric Westervett; timesofindia.indiatimes.com, ” Trump assassination attempt timeline: Text messages reveal key details ofhow Thomas Crooks was aften a step ahead of secret service.” By TOI World Desk; nytimes.com, “Gunman at Trump Rally Was Often a Step Ahead of the Secret Service.” By Haley Willis Aric Toler David A. Fahrenthold and Adam Goldman; politifact.com, “No, Austin Private Wealth did not short 12 million shares of Trump Media on July 12, 2024.” By Loreben Tuquero;

Leading up to the rally

The rally begins and shots are fired

Lawmakers react to the shooting

FBI identifies would-be assassin

Lawmakers are briefed by the Secret Service

Trump’s speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination

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