By: Matthew Polyak
He was impeached, he was arrested, he was convicted, he had his money taken from him, he was nearly assassinated, and he still stands.
July 13th, 2024 was a quiet Saturday–until 6:11 PM. The nation watched in horror as former President Donald J. Trump was nearly murdered on national television.
The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired 8 shots into the crowd–injuring three and killing one. Trump was hit in the ear while an attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed instantly. The 2 others who were injured, as of Friday, July 19th, are in critical condition but expected to survive.
The truth of the matter is that we were a millimeter away from a national crisis. We were a small, little margin away from becoming a very different country. Just before the shots rang out, Trump turned his head to look at a graph.
This movement, only a couple of degrees, saved his life. With just a little twitch, this country was saved from a tragedy.
Was it a divine intervention? I certainly believe so.
Even if you don’t, we can all acknowledge that the former President is very lucky to be standing today, especially with non-severe injuries.
Of course, there are a lot of questions to be asked–both operational and provocative. As the days go on, new material and information will hopefully give us clarity.
A major question to ask is how did this happen? Clearly, this is a case of immense failure on behalf of the Secret Service. From what we know, The Secret Service was in charge of the security perimeter, while Butler Township Police (the rally was held in Butler, Pennsylvania), were in charge of traffic and security outside of the Secret Service’s perimeter. Pennsylvania State Police also assisted with the security efforts.
On the morning of July 13th, Thomas Crooks left for the rally with his father’s rifle, which was legally registered. He was spotted buying 50 rounds of ammunition and a ladder.
A Daily Wire report even says that the shooter was at the site 3 hours before the shooting.
Crooks was photographed twice by security officers and was eventually reported by a different officer before 5:45 PM. Officers tried to search for him but for some reason, were unable to locate him.
These officers believed that Crooks was displaying suspicious behavior, also citing that he was ‘scoping out’ the rooftop of a building with a golf range finder.
Why was he not questioned? Shouldn’t reasonable suspicion be enough to merit some sort of investigation, or at least, a check?
Numerous bystanders reported that they spotted a man with a rifle on top of a roof before Trump entered the stage. Police were eventually alerted.
Why was Trump allowed to enter the stage? This was either a horrific incident of malpractice, which I hope is the case, or something much more worse.
After Trump entered the stage, police finally went to check on the threat. An officer helped prop up another officer on the roof, who was holding on with two hands. The gunman pointed the rifle at the officer, who was unable to neutralize the suspect since he was hanging onto the roof. The officer fell 8 feet, hurting his ankle severely. Seconds after, Crooks fired 8 shots into the rally.
Trump fell while holding onto his ear. People in the crowds ducked and covered. He was tackled by the Secret Service, who according to Mr. Trump, “hit me so hard that my shoes fell off”. Crooks was shot dead immediately by counter-snipers on top of adjacent buildings.
A journalist immediately photographed Trump folding his fist up in the air after being lifted by the Secret Service. He chanted ‘Fight’ and ‘USA”. This photograph, which is the cover of this column, will become one of the most famous pictures in American history–one truly for the history books.
Another journalist snapped an astonishing picture of the bullet whizzing through Trump’s ear.
The former President was ushered into an SUV and was rushed to a nearby hospital with blood gushing from his ear.
Following the news, politicians and public figures on both sides, including President Biden and Vice President Harris, condemned the shooting, citing it as political violence.
Unfortunately, Corey Comperatore was killed instantly by the bullet while shielding his family. He died a hero.
Crooks was registered as a Republican but donated to a Democratic cause through ActBlue in 2021. He was often bullied in school and was reportedly kicked from his High School shooting team.
Explosives were eventually found in his car. Investigators also found a post on the gaming platform Steam, reading: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds”.
After seeing this, how did the Secret Service still fail so miserably? Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted that it was all on the Secret Service, but she would not resign. She has presided over one of the biggest security failures in modern political history, which should lead her to a resignation
A Daily Wire report states that “Whistleblowers told House lawmakers that the Secret Service knew it had “limited” resources to protect former President Donald Trump in the days leading up to the rally in Pennsylvania where he was nearly assassinated.”
This is all on the Secret Service. Why did they do nothing to up security after finding out that a police department with only 21 officers would have trouble patrolling both traffic and the outside of the perimeter? Even though Pennsylvania State Police were there, that is still unacceptable.
Another reasonable question would be why there was no Secret Service on top of that specific roof. Director Cheatle gave quite a puzzling answer.
This response is utterly despicable. The buildings which the counter-snipers were on were also sloped. These are experienced professionals and she believes that it’s a ‘safety factor’? The primary goal is to protect the person by any means, right?
If this is what increased security looks like, this should be a national scandal. The fact that this was allowed to happen while the Iranians were simultaneously plotting to kill Trump is absolutely disgraceful.
Secret Service Director Cheatle has been officially subpoenaed, meaning that she will have to testify on Monday in front of the House Oversight Committee. Hopefully, she will give us answers to this atrocity but I am quite doubtful.
Anyway, how did we get to this level of political violence?
Well, when you call your political opponent a threat to democracy and compare him to Adolf Hitler, you get this level of violence.
What Biden fails to recognize is that he is the main perpetrator of this rhetoric.
‘Do as I say, not as I do’
Of course, it’s not only Biden. Just a few days before the shooting, The New Republic published their magazine with the cover picturing Trump with Adolf Hitler’s mustache.
Wouldn’t murdering Adolf Hitler be justified? Certainly. As a Jew, I absolutely believe that it would be justified. I’m sure anyone would do so if they could go back in time.
So if Trump is ‘literally Hitler’, why are Democrats ‘grateful’ he is not seriously injured? Of course, this is because they don’t even believe their own remarks.
In the newspaper The Hill, Op-Ed contributor Derek Hunter worded this best.
There is one thing for sure—Trump is not Hitler. This claim that suddenly all future elections will be suspended and that Trump will be a dictator is completely false.
This type of rhetoric contributes to raising the temperature in this country, which I am certain played some sort of role in this case.
Now, does that mean that Democrats are fully responsible for the near-murder of the former President? Of course not. Only the shooter is responsible for that.
Similarly, I believed that Bernie Sanders was not responsible for one of his supporters shooting House Representative Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball game in 20.
However, politicians have a responsibility to ensure that they keep their political rhetoric in check. And clearly, calling your opponent Hitler for 8 years doesn’t help. They take Biden’s claims out of context and purposely mislead the American people.
This shooting has united the Republican Party and brought people together.
Having seen his life flash before his eyes, his campaign message has definitely changed. Donald Trump has had to overcome numerous obstacles throughout this campaign.
As he continues to pass over each one, he makes his case even stronger.
Sources:
- washingtonexaminer.com
- nypost.com
- dailywire.com
- politico.com
- nbcnews.com
- cnn.com
- abcnews.com
- foxnews.com
- wsj.com
- newrepublic.com
- reuters.com
- whitehouse.gov
- apnews.com
- thehill.com
- usatoday.com
- beavercountian.com
- wpxi.com
- wtae.com
- bbc.com
- cbsnews.com
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