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There's *ANOTHER* Disturbing Update on the Trump Assassination Attempt
Townhall ^ | 07/19/2024 | Matt Vespa

Posted on 07/19/2024 9:22:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

It keeps getting worse: Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, reportedly flew a drone over the rally area shortly before he executed his attack. Crooks scaled a rooftop unmolested, despite scores of attendees watching him army crawl on the roof, which was left unprotected by the Secret Service, as he lined up to take shots at Trump.

The roof was less than 200 yards from the stage. Donald Trump Jr. responded to this update tweeting, "Just to underscore how crazy this all is, I was once prevented flying my own drone off of the beach at Mar-a-Lago by USSS because my father was inside the house" (via WSJ):

WSJ, breaking: “The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump was able to fly a drone and get aerial footage of the western Pennsylvania fairgrounds shortly before the former president was set to speak there, law-enforcement officials briefed on the matter said, further underscoring…— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) July 19, 2024

A gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump was able to fly a drone and get aerial footage of the western Pennsylvania fairgrounds shortly before the former president was set to speak there, law-enforcement officials briefed on the matter said, further underscoring the stunning security lapses ahead of Trump’s near assassination. 

Thomas Matthew Crooks flew the drone on a programmed flight path earlier in the day on July 13 to scour the Butler Farm Show grounds ahead of Trump’s ill-fated rally, the officials said. The predetermined path, the officials added, suggests Crooks flew the drone more than once as he researched and scoped out the event site. 

The 20-year-old would-be assassin fired at least six rounds from the roof of the American Glass Research building roughly 400 feet away from where Trump spoke, killing one spectator, critically injuring two others and leaving Trump with a graze wound to the ear. A Secret Service sniper team shot back, killing Crooks, whose motive remains a mystery. 

Multiple investigations are under way into how a gunman was able to climb onto a rooftop with a clear line of sight to Trump and open fire with an AR-15 rifle. Police had become suspicious of Crooks more than an hour earlier, when officers saw him milling about the edges of the rally with a range finder and a backpack.

Why the Secret Service left the rooftop unprotected remains the predominant issue, especially since it was flagged as a security vulnerability. There were snipers in the adjacent building at the time of the attack, with another Secret Service sniper team having their sights on Crooks two minutes before he fired the first shot. Yet, even before the rally, the Secret Service was informed that there was a credible threat against Trump’s life 10 minutes before he took the stage but allowed him to proceed anyway.

Trump was the target of an Iranian assassination plot, so he was given increased security, and this shooting still occurred. Trump missed a fatal headshot by millimeters. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) revealed today that most of Trump’s security detail weren’t even Secret Service agents. There is a mountain of questions that need answers. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle should be prepared to be grilled when he testified before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.

Authorities spotted crooks over an hour before he scaled the roof, being caught scouting the location with a rangefinder. It's a security failure worthy of Cheatle's resignation, but she has the protection of Jill Biden, who reportedly pushed for her to get the job. 

UPDATE:  What a mess via Bill Melugin:

Per federal law enforcement source  w/ knowledge of the security planning for Trump’s Butler, PA rally, the event was staffed by 22 Secret Service agents, including advance, assault, and sniper teams, 16 HSI agents, and it is believed there was no SS drone in the air.

Per source, Secret Service did not request any tactical support from HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) beforehand, including the HSI elite Special Response team. HSI agents were assigned to “post standing” security duties at the street entrance and the media area, and were not responsible for the close proximity around Trump, or the buildings on the exterior of the area where the shooter was. 

The entire operational security plan was created and carried out by Secret Service, which told HSI and local law enforcement where they needed bodies, and was responsible for the advance planning.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: 20240713; 2024p7; assassination; assassinationplot; dhs; drone; failedassassination; shooter; thomasmatthewcrooks; trump
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To: Elsie

Sorry — my mistake. He was said to have rappelled to the ground; no zipline. Again, this was something reported secondhand by Hal Turner.


141 posted on 07/20/2024 5:16:00 PM PDT by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
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To: jonrick46

I just caught it myself an hour or so ago.


142 posted on 07/20/2024 7:24:31 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
CoPilot was no help finding it.

Thanks for trying, Elsie! I finally found it by searching in my "good articles" links. It was Kunstler that wrote it, in an article "Sick Of and Done With" a couple weeks prior to the debate. Problem is, I paraphrased rather than quoting him directly; the association for truth is "sturdy", not "durable".

Here it is in context:

...I have strayed a bit from my initial theme concerning the grotesque game of “pretend” being played around “Joe Biden’s” re-election candidacy. Let’s say this: it is the terminal op being run by an out-of-control Deep State blob now losing its mojo in big gobs each day as its epic dishonesty gets exposed. This blob had some very potent tools at its command to jerk around the people of this land, especially the legacy news media. Most of that consisted of deception which is to say the tactical application of untruth. The op was tragically effective for some years, but its victims — US citizens — are onto the game now and they are angrily flipping over the game board. Mark this essential fact of life: truth is sturdy and lies are fragile. So, now you know what must, in the end, prevail...
143 posted on 07/20/2024 9:34:23 PM PDT by Nervous Tick ("First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people...": ISLAM is the problem!)
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To: Elsie

>> The shirts say POLICE!

IIRC at the Trump rally I attended, the tactical-dressed SS (like the ones that manned security) wore uniforms that just said “POLICE”, they weren’t identified as SS. There *were* local police all around as well, but they were obvious because they were in their local uniforms.


144 posted on 07/20/2024 9:38:19 PM PDT by Nervous Tick ("First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people...": ISLAM is the problem!)
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To: PGR88

Early news on this incident, I remember a dispute of military service for Crooks, but no military records. Sheep Dip came to my mind. What you suggested is entirely possible.

I’ve known people who have had that background. All military records are made unsearchable.


145 posted on 07/20/2024 10:24:17 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

The forensic analysis you spoke of, it very compelling. It also means he had at least 2 possibly 3 accomplices.

With 20 Secret Service and 19 DHS agents involved, my gut tells me the accomplices are in the DHS sector.

And that a sniper in the Secret Service group killed Crooks.

DOJ and FIB will both hide all of this. Along with Lying Mayorkas’s DHS.

FIB is already burying the details DEEP.


146 posted on 07/20/2024 10:36:20 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: Nervous Tick

https://storyarcadia.com/lies-poem-the-fragile-truth/

The Fragile Truth

In the web of deceit, the truth is obscured
Like a tangled forest, where paths are blurred
Words twisted and turned, like vines in the night
Hiding the darkness, out of sight

But lies are fragile, like delicate glass
Shattering under the weight of their mass
They crumble and crack, revealing what’s true
Exposing the heartache they put us through

Yet still we believe in their sweet siren song
As if truth were something we could prolong
But in the end, it’s honesty that prevails
Breaking down barriers and lifting veils

So let us be wary of falsehoods and guile
And seek out the truth with an unwavering smile
For in its embrace, we find peace at last
Free from the burden of lies that have passed.


147 posted on 07/20/2024 10:45:53 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Something fishy here. Too many oversights for this to be incompetence.


148 posted on 07/20/2024 10:49:01 PM PDT by Doctor Freeze
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To: Texas Fossil

>> So let us be wary of falsehoods and guile
>> And seek out the truth with an unwavering smile

AMEN! Thank you for posting that poem!


149 posted on 07/20/2024 10:49:09 PM PDT by Nervous Tick ("First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people...": ISLAM is the problem!)
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To: jonrick46

I’ve read that that photo is not of the actual sniper who killed Crooks.

After studying the Audio forensics analysis of the rifle shots, there were 1-2 other shooters besides the SS counter sniper.

I suspect those will be found within the 19 DHS employees on the site.


150 posted on 07/20/2024 10:58:41 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: Elsie

If the muzzle,is sticking out the window, you sure will hear the report.


151 posted on 07/20/2024 11:11:53 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“When exposing a crime is treated like a crime, you are being ruled by criminals” – Edward Snowden)
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To: Elsie

My point, he had already flown the same pattern before and it was in memory. That made the exposure of the drone’s presence for a shorter time.


152 posted on 07/20/2024 11:40:57 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: jonrick46
That view of the SS snipers you see in the photo may have been taken before Crooks even shot his weapon.
I believe this image is taken from the video of these two as Crooks fired.
153 posted on 07/21/2024 1:00:39 AM PDT by Mr Radical (In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
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To: Nervous Tick

Ahha!

That explains the HOW - but the WHY is dangling in the wind.


154 posted on 07/21/2024 4:49:47 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

...and an echo.


155 posted on 07/21/2024 4:50:57 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Texas Fossil

more expensive drone.


156 posted on 07/21/2024 4:51:26 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Mr Radical
These are the photos of the snipers before Crooks fired and as they returned fire:

Before Crooks fired and watching Crooks.

First Sniper returns fire.

Other sniper in action.

157 posted on 07/21/2024 4:38:09 PM PDT by jonrick46 (Leftniks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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To: jonrick46

Nope, in none of those pictures do either have their finger pulling the trigger.


158 posted on 07/23/2024 12:50:27 AM PDT by Mr Radical (In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
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To: Mr Radical

It’s hard to photograph the exact moment. If you are a photographer, you know that very well.


159 posted on 07/23/2024 12:56:27 AM PDT by jonrick46 (Leftniks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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To: Elsie
It could be like this:

Back view of agent with black vest: big letters 'POLICE', small letters 'secret service'

160 posted on 07/23/2024 8:37:46 PM PDT by Tellurian (Any cleverness from a democrat is quickly invested in deception)
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