I can imagine an SS management pattern of decisions to shave away protective resources (quantitatively and qualitatively) that would find great approval with certain White House insiders, but could be plausibly denied to be putting Trump in any danger.

But this is simply removing slices of the Swiss cheese, increasing the possibility that the remaining holes will line up…

I’d also wondered about a parent who gets worried after his 20 year old son is missing for a couple of hours. If I’d called the cops every time my kid’s locations were unknown for a couple of hours when they were around that age, I’d have been arrested for harassing the cops…but I hadn’t considered the Autism angle. I’ve seen no reports suggesting that, but I suppose it’s a possibility; however that doesn’t explain why they’d let him leave the house alone with a rifle at all if he was Autistic.

My thought was that if they became worried enough to call the cops when he went missing for a couple of hours, there had been some red flags that they just don’t want to admit to, but had them worried about what he was going to do.

Anyway, a lot of this is still just conjecture and supposition.

What is clear is that a 20 year old kid with no known military, combat or police training was able to breach the security of an event with national implications, find the best location available for an attack, attain a suitable position at that location and get off several shots at a figure of national import before being stopped.

It’s likely it was just gross incompetence, but it is absolutely legitimate to question whether there was something deeper going on. We may never know, and I have a feeling the results from any “investigation” coming from government sources is going to have less than satisfying results.

Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks wrote an ominous warning on a gaming platform before he shot the former president.

DailyMail.com confirmed U.S. Senators were told the 20-year-old gunman posted on Steam: ‘July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.’

Again, listening to Dan Bongino, who has sources inside USSS, there is a document created by the advance team which specifies what resources are needed. Bongino says that needs to be subpoenaed before it disappears. If it turns out that the advance team said 4 teams were needed and two of those 4 were diverted to the Jill Biden EdD event (lower threat level, smaller venue), well then.

It’s worth keeping an eye on Bongino’s podcasts this week. He’s at RNC and has a good roster of guests, and he’s doing more than one show a day. His show with Tucker Carlson and Don Trump Jr. was entertaining and informative.

https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/17/mission-fail-perspective-on-the-trump-assassination-attempt-from-a-former-secret-service-agent/

https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/16/why-does-the-biden-admin-have-100-percent-confidence-in-secret-service-after-assassination-attempt/
“For Democrats, every failure is actually a success, which means there is never accountability.”

It’s a cinch we aren’t going to get answers from DOJ, FBI, or DHS.

https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/07/17/agency-officials-cut-short-hill-briefings-on-trump-shooting/

Which would explain why his parents were keeping a close watch on his absences: what Gringo said is generally something I agree with, but you aren’t a helicopter parent in the case of autists; you are a necessary monitor.

Point taken.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/07/16/reports-police-were-stationed-below-trump-shooter-who-was-allegedly-spotted-nearly-30-minutes-before/

The building was a “watch post” for local police snipers to scan for threats, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.

Sources told the Post that the local police sniper team was inside the building, but not on the roof — where Crooks climbed and waited for Trump to begin speaking before firing off eight shots, hitting Trump in the ear, killing a rally-goer, and wounding two others.

It is not clear which local law enforcement agency was inside the building. The Post reported that the building was swept by cops before the event and that the local sniper team used the building as a staging and lookout post.

According to the outlet, an officer from the Butler Township Police had climbed on a fellow officer’s shoulders to check out the roof of the building moments before the shooting, but backed away after Crooks pointed the rifle at him.

Hard to do traffic control from inside a building, and climbing on shoulders is not the same as getting lifted up on someone’s hands.

I guess I’ll wait another 72 hours and see what develops.

However, one thing I am sure of:
https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/15/any-assassination-investigation-that-includes-merrick-garland-or-chris-wray-is-a-coverup/

Here is one example:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/07/17/exclusive-butler-township-commissioner-officer-who-encountered-would-be-assassin-did-not-retreat-not-to-blame/

Not the part about clarifying the roof-climbing officer’s situation, but the bolded assertion:

The local police officer who encountered the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump “did not retreat” and tried to grab his gun but fell backwards, injuring himself in the process. The officer is now in “pretty bad” mental shape, Butler Township Commissioner Edward Natali said, explaining that media outlets are wrongly blaming local officers for what happened Saturday evening in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Speaking to Breitbart News Daily, Natali explained that seven local police officers were tasked with traffic control — nothing else.
…
“When you look at Secret Service, Pennsylvania State Police, Butler County Sheriff’s Department, the butler Township police only responsibility was traffic detail,” he said, correcting the record by noting that the local officer who saw the shooter on the roof was not climbing a ladder but was hoisted by another.
…
“Obviously, he’s not in a position to engage him by any means, and he did not retreat. It’s not that he didn’t want to engage. He could not engage,” he said, explaining, “He let go of the roof to try to get his gun, and of course, he fell backwards, actually getting injured in the process.”

He emphasized the officer was in a vulnerable position, using the edge of the roof to “help lift himself up, or he’s, you know, so he is in a very vulnerable position.”

“He couldn’t wield his gun,” he said, explaining that his team of officers is “completely shook up, demoralized.”