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Local official says blaming Butler police for Trump rally security failure 'couldn't be more wrong'
NBC News ^ | 7/16/2024 | Stephanie Gosk and Rich Schapiro

Posted on 07/17/2024 12:46:14 PM PDT by caww

In the days since a gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump, a township in rural Pennsylvania has received a barrage of hate mail and angry phone calls blaming its officers for failing to keep the former president safe.

Now Butler Township Manager Tom Knights is pushing back. “They couldn’t be more wrong,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Despite the dozens of local, state and federal law enforcement officers on the scene, Knights said it was four Butler Township officers assigned to traffic duty who bolted from their post and raced to confront the gunman, with one clinging to the roof where the would-be assassin was perched.

“Our officers acted instinctively, did their job, followed the training that they had,” Knights told NBC News.

(((((“He was literally dangling from the edge of a building and took the defensive position he needed to at that time. He couldn’t hold himself up,” Knights said. The officer, who has 10 years of experience in law enforcement, severely injured an ankle in the fall and was in a walking boot, Knights said.))))

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: butlertrumprally; donutwatch; failedassassination; nbc; police; rally; richschapiro; stephaniegosk; tomknights; trump
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To: caww

Somebody was in charge of the perimeter and the assets assigned to each spot.

Who is that person?


41 posted on 07/17/2024 1:47:46 PM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: lurk

Secret Service job to confirm all is secure and covered.


42 posted on 07/17/2024 1:54:18 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww

Everyone needs to back off the local LEOs the Secret Service is responsible and nobody should be pointing at the locals unless or until it is proven they dropped the ball.


43 posted on 07/17/2024 1:54:31 PM PDT by McGavin999 ( A sense of humor is a sign of intelligence, leftists have no sense of humor, therefore…)
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To: McGavin999

Agreed that the locals are clean.

However the state police are a totally different matter.


44 posted on 07/17/2024 1:56:34 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: SJackson

I’m so livid....our great police force is being bombarded wih threats and angry callers....they did the jobs they were assigned to do!


45 posted on 07/17/2024 1:57:36 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: SJackson

...and the Secret Service should have immediately removed President Trump from the stage.

That did not happen—and that is where the center of the conspiracy lies.


46 posted on 07/17/2024 1:58:28 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: cgbg

You wrot....”Agreed that the locals are clean.

However the state police are a totally different matter”

They were assigned to assist the Secret Service inside the perimeter.


47 posted on 07/17/2024 2:00:09 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww

I suspect (but cannot prove at this point) that the State Police were involved (with Secret Service moles) in compromising communications in some way...


48 posted on 07/17/2024 2:02:18 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: McGavin999

Thank you....our officers here are fully Trump supporters and this city is Trump Red top to bottom. So this is heart wretching for us in this city.


49 posted on 07/17/2024 2:04:03 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww
Another similar video of the officer's actions here:

https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1813633089454911622

50 posted on 07/17/2024 2:05:08 PM PDT by McGruff (We're done talking about the debate. It's time to put Trump in the bullseye - Joe Biden)
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To: caww

I was reading this thread and had to get off because I was so angry at the attacks on the local police! On Free Republic!! It is the job of the secret service to protect president Trump. And from what I understand, they did try to alert the SS!


51 posted on 07/17/2024 2:06:37 PM PDT by sneakers (It's not the democraTIC party! It's the demoCRAT party! )
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To: cgbg

I don’t know.....the photos show the State police all over inside the prameter after shots were fired. I’ve watched lots of photos and visuals of teis since I have a vested interest...it’s my city. And it’s Trump Red top to bottom.


52 posted on 07/17/2024 2:07:30 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww

The command and control of the SS is to blame. That fact that they have tried to blame it on someone else is disgusting.


53 posted on 07/17/2024 2:08:19 PM PDT by Revel
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To: Revel

“The boosting officer and the officer that fell were both on the radio indicating that there was an individual on the roof that did, in fact, have a weapon.”

“There was a blanket tactical channel being used. Everyone who was on that tactical channel heard it.”

How much time was there between that radio communication and the gun being fired at President Trump?....(we know the shooter took his shots once he was detected by that officer.)

It’s bad enough that the Secret Service didn’t put anyone on the most obvious roof 150 yards away.

But after two police officers radioed in that there was a guy on the roof with a gun, why wasn’t President Trump immediately evacuated?


54 posted on 07/17/2024 2:11:33 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww

Do you really think they’re going to take a walk around the building to locate a ladder . . .
_______________________________________
Obviously, the perp didn’t hide the ladder after he was up on the roof so you are suggesting he had an accomplice. If you’re faced with an imminent threat, you use what you have available to you to try and stop the threat. You have your radio, but it suspiciously appears the good guy snipers were inexplicably holding their fire until the shooter took his first best shot, even though they could clearly see the threat unfolding in front of them. Obviously, you wouldn’t stand out in the open to fire the alerting rounds, the report from the round going off is the altering signal to others within earshot. The warning shots may not have been in time, I’m just saying you have to do something in that situation. There are so many instances of missed opportunities in this debacle, I find the entire event so extremely infuriating that I’m forced to conclude there must be something very dark and sinister going on.


55 posted on 07/17/2024 2:15:57 PM PDT by iontheball
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To: sneakers

They didn’t just try to notify SS thy did! More than once....they were suspecious of this guy from when he went through the security check and refused entrance.....they lost him when he went outside the perimter.....

But a guy videoing the crowd has the shooter scouting the ouside of the Arg building after that....but did’t know it until he got home and viewed his video....the officials have it now.


56 posted on 07/17/2024 2:16:27 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: iontheball

This guy had access to the building.....we know he got his gun from his car, and the detenator to the explosives after scouting around...if that was his ladder or an acess ladder isn’t clear yet. Dos’nt matter as he got up there regardless.


57 posted on 07/17/2024 2:19:21 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: iontheball
Well they have to identify someone on a roof IS a threat.....and not some punk kid trying to get a birds eye view of Trump. Many of those wandering around outside the perimeter couldn’t get in...so there's that.

Officers today not only put their life on the line they put their Job and future on the line if they get it wrong - society will bury them with the mindset that's out there know an every officer knows this.........this is why we see a decrease in people willing to be officers or getting out.

58 posted on 07/17/2024 2:24:59 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: Revel

Well the facts will be found out in time.....but the SS is government and we know how that goes - they’ll cover their buns.


59 posted on 07/17/2024 2:28:36 PM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......)
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To: caww

It was reported....by officers who saw him as suspcious before he was spotted on the roof....’twice’....once when he failed to get admitted to the ‘inside perimeter’ and again when he was seen scoping out the grounds.
________________________
I just heard on NewsMax that the photo we see of the long haired Crooks was taken by a SS agent from an above ground vantage point approximately 30 minutes before the shooting. It appears they were just taking pictures of suspicious persons but not attempting to stop and question them? If they can be searched on the grounds they certainly can be approached and questioned.


60 posted on 07/17/2024 2:34:59 PM PDT by iontheball
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