How much training did he did to feed peas to senile people?
[How much training did he did to feed peas to senile people?]
The thing about some smart people is that they are socially awkward, some in the extreme. But in carrying out what interests them, they are fearless, focused and relentless.
Note that all Crooks had to do was stay alive for the minute or so he shouldered the rifle. Until then, he was just a kid looking at the rally with a pair of binoculars, belatedly identified as a rangefinder - something common in exurbs like Butler, along with pocket knives and Gerber multitools.
Plenty of literal dictators have been killed in more controlled settings. Rich Hanania, who counts JD Vance as a friend, has an essay on how political assassinations used to be more common.
https://www.richardhanania.com/p/why-are-there-so-few-assassinations
Most of the ones who succeeded or came within striking distance had one thing in common - they were prepared to die trying.