Why was Trump still on the stage?
[Hat tip: commenter “Brian E.”]
Dan Bongino claims to have some very disturbing information about Saturday’s assassination attempt. Is this true? If so, it reflects very very poorly on the Secret Service:
"Why was President Trump even on stage at that point?"
New from @dbongino: Sources tell him that “they had been monitoring [the sh*oter] since he came in around that external perimeter area…they lost track of him, apparently, and he was hiding in a building about 300 yards… pic.twitter.com/I6d3As7vEU
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 15, 2024
Are they now more afraid of delaying things than of a leading candidate being shot? Are they also afraid of shooting a possibly innocent bystander – even when that bystander is crawling on a nearby roof with a rifle?
Perhaps the biggest takeway from all this was the massive failure of the Secret Service. I mean, there seems to have been confusion and lack of decisive action that is on par with the Ulvalde police department. Plus there’s all these rumors of them lacking resources and agents suposedly being overworked. I have no idea what’s been going on with the Secret Service lately, but it sure doesn’t look good.
It’s Vance. The passage of time will not save Kamala on a debate stage.
So many stories and rumors. Will we ever know the Facts? Most likely not.
FBI still working out why the shooter “Hates Those Cans”!:
https://x.com/seanmdav/status/1812926834129924376?t=wQhRTSQsAWZ6N1BRq5kuNg&s=19
I wonder that even when they had him in sight they had to let him shoot first.
But even to the time the shooter was spotted by the crowd it again was he hadn’t done anything wrong so they left him to continue.
I love a good conspiracy theory, but this sure looks like top-to-bottom incompetence — mostly driven by DEI. Our instituations are focused on checkboxes and ideology, not merit and getting the job done.
However, I do believe Dems and Deep Staters play statistical games that increase risk, like rationing SS resources to Trump and denying them to RFK Jr.
“…incompetence…”
Um, no.
Remember January 6th?
(IOW it’s all a setup. AKA a “frame-up”. IOW orchestrated. Choreographed. )
You know: Plausible Deniability(TM)….
But…how can pathological liars believe that they’ll get away with “Plausible Deniability”(TM)? Well…because they’re pathological liars….
File under: We did our very best under exceedingly difficult conditions. I’m proud of our people on the front lines, protecting America and Americans, and how they were able to keep their sunglasses on their noses under fire (well, most of ‘em)… Incredible professionalism!
There has been a lot of incompetence and bad behavior displayed by the Secret Service for years — from letting some random guy walk into the White House a few years ago to drunkenness and visiting prostitutes on overseas assignments. As a former federal government employee with plenty of experience with incompetence, I used to think that their were some agencies that actually had it together. But the last few years have disabused me of such notions and the Secret Service seems to be getting worse with their new DEI leader.
But I also think that there is an element of malign neglect in the case of Trump events. Would they have made these same mistakes at a Biden event? I’m not at all sure. In any case they have left themselves wide open for conspiracies to take root, which have obviously already started. Given the nonstop attacks on Trump by the Biden regime it’s hard to argue that they wouldn’t have been perfectly happy if the assassin had succeeded,
I looked at the shooter location on google earth street view. I wonder: blind luck that he figured out how to get up there, scouted the location in advanced or directed. The company in those buildings: https://www.agrintl.com/
in competence or something else
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1812915463334338995
sdferr, my guess to the motive is that the shooter just didn’t like Saturdays.
Not that it’s comforting, but I hope it’s total incompetence. If it’s the alternative we are royally screwed.
Drawing on numerous discussions I have read, it seems that the Secret Service is drastically understaffed and overworked. They reportedly got clearance for a sniper team only the day before the rally, which was not enough time for those people to do their usual careful area check. Most of the agents around Trump were not regulars on his team. And there seem to have been serious communication problems between Secret Service and the local and state police, whose responsibility covered the roof where the shooter went.
I have worked construction my whole life. I have lots of questions how a 20yo knew how to get where he did, think he could without interference. How he knew that company didn’t have personal on premises at that time of day.
I like Bongino and have absolutely no ideological or experiential reason to doubt him. Nevertheless, this whole scenario depends on whether what his sources tell him is correct. That’s all. It’s important to find out. Comer’s committee (if the Oversight Committee is the correct one) needs to dig into this and the whole event.
I read two excellent articles on the Secret Service today:
The Secret Service Failed. What’s That Have to Do with DEI?
https://www.thefp.com/p/secret-service-trump-shot-dei
A Compromised Secret Service
https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-compromised-secret-service
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GsGhiE7iCgE&feature=youtu.be
This story only seems to get worse with time:
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1812959633453293677?t=zd4tWy_gxi8Sf059KUaiXA&s=19
The FIB can railroad Frau Whitmer’s kidnappers but can’t …. run an assassin?
But then Jack Smith can’t prosecute so that’s a good thing.
Bongino was Secret Service presidential detail. He has sources.
It’s entirely possible that the shooter decided that morning to make the attempt. He researches the site on Google Earth, decides that roof has good sight lines and allows prone position, the most accurate. Gets there, finds a ladder, and he’s up. Or, jumps on an AC unit, uses a gutter to pull himself up. Or stashes a ladder the night before.
Remember, Oswald could not have planned his location; the decisions to take JFK to Dallas were made after Oswald took the book depository job. It seems clear that Oswald made the decision to shoot JFK on very short notice, from his actions. Had Marina agreed to come back to him, he wouldn’t have acted.
All that said, why was Trump on the stage? How did the warnings of the shooter not get to the Secret Service? Or did they, and were they ignored?
Again parallels to Oswald. At least two people saw him standing in the window with the rifle. They thought he was Secret Service.
Why was Trump still on stage?
Because the shooter had not pulled the trigger yet…
They were not the least bit concerned about delaying things, other than the shooter taking shots at President Trump.
It would be a good idea to limit both candidates’ speeches to indoor auditoriums that have been throughly checked by the Secret Service, just to be on the safe side, at least for the duration of the campaign.
“…incompetence…”
Um, no.
Remember January 6th?
(IOW it’s all a setup. AKA a “frame-up”. IOW orchestrated. Choreographed. )
Barry Meislin:
Other than gesturing vaguely at J6, how does your scenario work? How did they know Crooks was going to show up conveniently with an AR rifle at that building to do the job?
It's the same problem, as Gordon Scott points out, with Oswald at the book depository.
BJ, restricting campaign appearances to indoor auditoriums would cramp Trump’s style, since he routinely draws huge crowds to outdoor venues. His rallies are both political speeches and entertainment, which is why so many people attend.
In Dan Bongino’s podcast released today, he basically says over and over, “they’re not doing it right.” He means that the USSS has procedures to be followed, and had they been, the shooter would never have been on the roof. He also says the team immediately around Trump responded well. It’s the rest of the detail that is the problem.
He repeats his claim that his sources tell him that the threat level with Trump was off the charts. And Trump’s team has asked many times for better security from USSS and the DEI hire in charge laughed it off.
”How did they know Crooks was going to show up conveniently with an AR rifle at that building to do the job?”
They almost certainly didn’t. They didn’t have to. They just had to know that if they did their job badly enough often enough, eventually someone like him would show up.
Let’s say I’m a security guard at a store and I have a beef with the store owner. I don’t have to coordinate with a shoplifter to cause a theft to happen. I just have to take enough naps on the job, and it will happen naturally.
This is at least gross incompetence, but *willful* incompetence is also a strong possibility.
I like Matt Walsh’s coverage on this event.
https://youtu.be/gACw9uyQrtg?si=UJGle9wkxIBAAs7Y
They just had to know that if they did their job badly enough often enough, eventually someone like him would show up.
mkent:
I covered that possibility yesterday:
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At this point I’d like to see the SS coverage of Trump’s past events. Are all the nearby roofs covered?
What if they’re just leaving a good sniper position open and playing the odds that a lone nut will eventually accept the invitation?
–huxley
https://www.thenewneo.com/2024/07/14/the-trump-assassination-attempt-a-few-answers-but-mostly-questions/#comment-2750195
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It still sounds like a very long shot, odds-wise. I’m pretty sure there aren’t that many rando competent assassins showing up with weapons at every Trump event.
So glad the congress (House) is immediately going to produce another TV show about all of this.
Lots of bluster, lots of embarrassing of the witnesses (not, they don’t care), good shots, good interweb clips, just all around good TV. Are they eligible for Emmys?? If not, that is clearly a shame and NOT FAIR!!
Along with missing Emmys one other thing will certainly be missing, consequences.
You can get a lot of detailed info from Google earth. If something looks good, visit to finalize decision.
If you view the SS as being there to perform a Jack Ruby on the shooter, all the oddities become clear.
Was the SS security different at this rally? According to this attendee, yes. Especially the snipers located on buildings.
Eyewitness believes there was a ‘noticeable’ difference in security at Trump’s rally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSpsBgYn-uM
Matt Walsh covers the incompetence vs conspiracy angle here:
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Really there are only two plausible ways to explain how this would be assassin managed to take a position with a direct sight line to the stage only 150 yards away.
It’s either the grossest most extreme kind of incompetence and negligence from the Secret Service that we’ve ever seen. Or they were in on it. I mean those are our options there are no other options.
–Matt Walsh, “Can We Really Talk About Unity After The Trump Assassination Attempt?”
https://youtu.be/_-4kBuwPkW4?t=465
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I agree. My problems with conspiracy are:
(1) How many SS and local police would have to be in on it?
(2) How could they coordinate with Crooks?
I need those issues to be fleshed out.
My mind isn’t closed to conspiracy. I still question the timing. It was so perfect for deflecting from the Biden scandal and finally killing Trump once it looked like there was no way to salvage a Democrat ticket in November.
@ huxley & JackWayne –
If the Democrats set this up, they knew that Crooks (or whoever they goaded into being the shooter) would end up dead.
That is cold-blooded murder.
”It was so perfect for deflecting from the Biden scandal and finally killing Trump once it looked like there was no way to salvage a Democrat ticket in November.”
If it were a conspiracy, it would have been a conspiracy of rage, not a well thought out one.
Getting rid of Trump doesn’t make Biden look any more competent. In fact, it takes away the central point of his campaign: he’s not Trump. After the debate exposed his dementia, if Biden had to run against any competent Republican not named Trump, he’d likely get shellacked.
I don’t believe for one second the USSS deliberately allowed this to happen, or chose to behave negligently.
I can believe that top leadership imported DEI candidates into top jobs. Those appointees chose to hire unqualified agents, and promote them to the high-vis jobs (presidential detail). I can also believe that the leadership starved Trump’s campaign of competent agents, and supplied too few to operate effectively.
I know I’m not the only one who has encountered this attitude: “Oh, for God’s sake, another request from the Trump people? Will they every learn? We know better, and we are running the most diverse and inclusive service in history.”
“The threat level against Trump is off the charts.”
“Yes, and it’s probably MAGA people trying to gum up the works and force us to divert resources from more critical tasks. Send them the usual decline letter.”
This is a comment from David Foster’s post on Chicago Boyz, which he linked in the earlier Trump assassination thread today. It raises a lot of important questions, some of which have sort of been answered (see the RS post at the end).
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/71343.html#comment-1068987
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/07/15/yikes-new-report-police-spotted-trump-rally-shooter-almost-half-hour-before-shooting-n2176923
We have now used up 48+ of the 72-hours rule.
Will we have stable, reliable information by the end of Tuesday?
A few more posts on the Building of Interest; we’ll see what kind of confirmation develops:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/07/15/he-was-spotted-30-minutes-before-we-have-another-update-on-the-trump-assassination-attempt-n2641971
In case anyone was wondering:
https://americanwirenews.com/im-supposed-to-be-dead-trump-tells-what-happened-in-his-own-words-explains-problem-with-his-shoes/
They tackled him HARD no doubt to protect him from himself….
Viz., “Biden”’s new line:
“We have a solemn duty to protect our beloved country and all its citizens from the likes of Donald Trump; but we would be even more irresponsible were we to ignore the need to protect Donald Trump from himself…”
Aesopfan: Yes, if we assume conspiracy, the death of the shooter is murder. Also, the deaths of bystanders and the guy at the podium.
After Reagan’s near killing, the proceedure is: get him away, and to a hospital, and there is an agent at the appropriate hospital to warn the staff. They didn’t realize Reagan was wounded at first. He nearly died because of that. So now, get the president to the hospital to evaluate. They’ll cut the suit right off him to look for wounds.
The reason for the agent at the hospital is because when they called the DC hospital to tell them Reagan was coming in, the person who answered the phone hung up on them, believing it was a prank call.
I note Secret Service spokesmen trying to lay the blame on the local PD.
Call it a “conspiracy theory” if you will, but as more and more information comes to light, the smell is getting stronger and stronger, and it’s looking more and more like a setup by elements within the Feds.
Hey! Ya gotta blame somebody.
Palestinian Rules(TM), etc….
Does anyone else feel like we are living through some kind of movie screen-play?
If you pitched the story as presented so far, you would be asked to dial back some of the convolutions and “coincidences.”
Things are moving very fast (the shooting was only Saturday!), which is probably due to the availability of the internet, cellphone videos, and “crowd sourcing” of information.
If the revelations s have so far do hold up, there is some serious skull-duggery going on.
Or maybe there is an innocent explanation for the apparent incompetence pervading the security situation.
I just can’t think of what that might be, right now.
PJW has some interesting stuff on the attempt, including an actual on-video time between known spottings of the guy on the roof and the actual shooting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxE3t3lUijA
”Call it a ‘conspiracy theory’ if you will, but as more and more information comes to light, the smell is getting stronger and stronger, and it’s looking more and more like a setup by elements within the Feds.”
Recall also that during the armed raid on Mar-a-Lago that the plain-clothes agents who arrived in unmarked cars had been authorized to use lethal force.
It looks like the SS “counter-sniper” let the perp take his several shots before shooting and killing him.
Evidence is also emerging that the assassin was spotted on the roof, crawling into position, around a half hour before he took his shots.
Moreover, from the diagrams and overhead pictures it looks like, while the assassin had a clear view of the speakers podium, the counter-sniper, similarly, also had a clear view of the roof the assassin was on, and presumably the assassin.
So, why–if the counter-sniper saw someone lying prone, in a shooter’s position on the roof, and with a rifle–didn’t he shoot the assassin, right then and there, before he could shoot at the President?
Was the counter-sniper first supposed to invite the would be assassin over for tea and crumpets, to discuss whatever his “issues” might be with President Trump?
If it were a conspiracy, it would have been a conspiracy of rage, not a well thought out one.
Getting rid of Trump doesn’t make Biden look any more competent.
mkent:
I don’t see how that follows at all. It would do a splendid job of keeping Trump, the charismatic populist leader of our time, out of the White House. This would be the primary objective.
All the lawfare they’ve used didn’t make Biden look any more competent either. But they did it to keep Trump out of the White House.
Also, top Dem leadership were already pressuring Biden to step aside and strongly too. My bet is they would have succeeded. So Biden wouldn’t have been running.
”So, why–if the counter-sniper saw someone lying prone, in a shooter’s position on the roof, and with a rifle–didn’t he shoot the assassin, right then and there, before he could shoot at the President?”
That’s an interesting question. It’s been claimed that the Secret Service can’t use lethal force until the suspect does.
But that just reveals that the question, while interesting, isn’t the fundamental question. The fundamental question is, “Why didn’t the Secret Service whisk Trump to safety once it was revealed that the suspect had a gun?”
While it might be policy not to use lethal force until the suspect does — a questionable policy because there were thousands of potential targets there that day, not just Trump — but surely it isn’t policy to not protect the VIP until *after* he’s been shot at. Yet that’s what the Secret Service did.
As soon as someone unauthorized was seen on the roof — armed or not — Trump should have calmly been surrounded and escorted off the stage while a team of police officers challenges the suspect. That would have been 26 minutes before the first shot was fired.
As I said above, gross incompetence is a best-case scenario.
A suspicious person might look at this situation–
SS agents on the ground repeatedly denied more resources to adequately guard a President who has been constantly vilified by the Democrats, current President Biden, and the MSM as “Hitler,” as a would be “Dictator,” and as a “threat to democracy,” who should have a “bullseye” painted on him.
The A team pulled off to guard “Dr.” Jill, and “substitutes” brought in to guard President Trump.
The use of the “Fumblettes,” the undersized, underpowered, and apparently undertrained female SS agents, who looked to be in a panic.
The assassin reportedly on the roof for a half hour, with the SS apparently not aware of him.
And, the “counter-sniper” who didn’t “take his shot” until after the assassin took his 7 or 8 shots.
–And see these developments as deliberately setting up the conditions which would make a successful assassination more likely.
”I don’t see how that follows at all.”
After the debate Biden is widely seen as a demented old fool. His only positive is that he’s not Trump. Joe Biden’s entire campaign is based not on the wonderfulness of Joe Biden but instead on the awfulness of Donald Trump.
If Donald Trump is eliminated so is the only positive for Joe Biden, and the only thing left is that he’s a demented old fool. If the Republicans can coalesce around a unifying candidate reasonably liked by both the base and independents — admittedly not a given — then Joe’s dementia is the primary issue in the election. I don’t think Joe Biden can win in that scenario.
It’s been said that the assassination attempt took the attention away from Biden’s dementia, giving him an opportunity to hang on until the coming deadline, and that this suggested a conspiracy on the part of the Biden campaign. I’m disputing that, because it also takes away Biden’s entire campaign rationale. It would set him up for a loss and propel a Republican to the White House. Hence, if the conspiracy is true, the conspirators aren’t very bright.
I’ve seen video of Trump entering the RNC venue last night, surrounded by an enhanced detail of large male Secret Service agents. One lesson learned, perhaps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o66VgnRlS0Q&t=7s
mkent:
You keep missing my primary point that assassinating Trump keeps Trump out of the White House.
Anyway. This is hypothetical. I’m still betting this is a case of lone nut meets incredible incompetence by the Secret Service.
huxley:
And you keep missing mine: If Trump is out of the picture, Biden has to run on his record and his mental state, which is a sure loser. His only chance to avoid being out of power and facing a Republican justice department is to make the election a referendum on Trump. That’s not possible with Trump out of the picture.
Since the assassination attempt failed, it’s almost certainly still not possible.
There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that Tommy Crook pulled it off without assistance.
While I have no proof I am firmly convinced that it was an inside job. Had the attempt succeeded it would have been perfect for TPTB. Right before the convention and before DJT named his VP pick. Nimrata “Nikki” Haley, who would be perfectly compliant to the Deep State, would get all of Trump’s delegates and become the nominee.
Of course, given the insane level of vitriolic hatred directed toward the man it was drearily predictable that there would be an attempt on his life.
For any sort of security, law enforcement or fire/ems incident there is one Incident Commander or Officer in Charge. Given all that we’re learning about this incident, that is the first person that needs to be scrutinized thoroughly.
If the shooter truly was spotted well before the shooting started, the IC should have made the call to keep Trump off the stage, period.
There were obviously many agencies coordinating on this security task and, as always, interagency communication would have been spotty and slow. So, for instance, if the counter snipers spotted the gunman on the roof of a building being used by one of the local agencies, they would have first notified their superiors, who would have passed the report up the chain. Next the IC would have queried, via his communication officer, the local agency whether the gunman was one of theirs, who would have had to do a headcount of all his people. That would take time, though not 26 minutes. In the meantime the IC could hardly issue orders to engage the potential threat until he knew it wasn’t a friendly. But he absolutely could have told the event organizers to keep Trump off stage until the potential threat was either ruled out or neutralized. Finally, perhaps, the commander of the local agency would have sent at least one of his own to the roof and find out exactly who was up there. This would explain why a local climbed up to the roof, was confronted by a gunman pointing a rifle at him and retreated. But at that point it was already too late: Trump was on stage and, thank you interagency communication and chain of command, the counter snipers didn’t receive orders to neutralize the now confirmed threat.
Regarding their “failure” to kill the gunman before he changed from potential to confirmed, they would not have been allowed to do so without the express direct orders of the IC, and that would not be forthcoming until, once again, potential became confirmed. So, I cannot fault the counter snipers for not shooting immediately upon spotting the gunman.
And finally, these discussions are based on early, unconfirmed reports. As we all know, early reports are very often wrong. And as we also know, we will never get complete and truthful information from those investigating the incident, especially as some of them are in some way implicated. But just like we can, I believe, logically criticize the Incident Commander; we can also criticize the President for failing to relieve from duty the leadership of the secret service. They have been shown to be, not potentially, dangerous incompetents, but confirmed as such.
Hmmm . . .I don’t like coincidences. The fact that within one week both Biden and Pelosi used the word “bullseye” in their speeches to the press indicates a collaboration of some type. I wonder who they had out there in the dark world would hear that as an instruction to move forward. It is no secret that both Biden’s family and Pleosi’s are big players in the world of the East Coast mafia. It has often been suggested that it was the East Coast mafia that assassinated Kennedy. It has been proven that Kennedy’s father made deals with the Chicago mob to get him elected. These two–Biden and Pelosi– are next generation from the same crowd. The use of the same unusual word by these two at approximately the same time is not a coincidence–it is an order!
Given everything that has happened, and the serious questions about the competence of the US Secret Service, including whether or not they were grossly understaffed at the event, does anyone have any faith at all that we will get any meaningfully truthful information from the FBI?
@ mkent > “As I said above, gross incompetence is a best-case scenario.”
https://babylonbee.com/news/secret-service-director-assures-nation-she-wasnt-trying-to-get-trump-killed-shes-just-bad-at-her-job
Whomever said “people make mistakes” most likely never had real pressure put on them to deliver. Probably a dog walker when they aren’t a mod on Reddit. They’re probably the product of “self love” and all that jazz era.
> “Dr.” Jill
Dr., without the scare quotes, Pine.