Shooting at Trump rally

James R

James R

Just this guy, you know?
Staff member
A shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is being investigated as an attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

A gunman shot at Trump from a rooftop outside the rally venue. It seems that the bullet may have grazed Trump's right ear, but he was otherwise uninjured. It is reported that one attendee in the crowd was killed and two others were critically injured. Trump was immediately rushed off stage by Secret Service personnel and taken away from the venue.

It appears that the gunman may have been shot and killed by security personnel on another rooftop near the venue.

Immediately following the shooting, as he was led away to a car, Trump raised his fist in a gesture to the crowd of his supporters, who responded with chants of "USA USA USA!".
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President Biden reacted to the shooting, saying that he was grateful to hear that Trump was safe and well. Biden condemned the shooting, saying "There is no place in America for this."

The FBI will lead the investigation of the shooting, in cooperation with local law enforcement.
 
Some reactions:

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were all quick to denounce the violence and said how relieved they were that Trump was not seriously hurt. A number of world leaders have also denounced the violence.

Some of Trump’s closest allies and supporters are already blaming Biden for the violence, with one Republican congressman accusing the president of “inciting an assassination” in a post on X. Senator JD Vance, who is thought to be on the shortlist to become Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, said the rhetoric from the Biden campaign led directly to this incident. Other Republican politicians are saying similar things.

Conspiracy theories and speculation in the absence of facts started almost immediately on social media sites. Some on the political right have claimed that Biden ordered this assassination attempt. Some on the political left have claimed that the shooting was "staged" by the Trump team to try to paint the Left as violent extremists.

There have also been many more reasonable calls for politicians, in particular, to tone down rhetoric that makes violent analogies (e.g. statements like "Trump/Biden must be prevented from (re-)gaining the Presidency at all costs.")
 
Given the title, it seems on-topic...

In pictures: How Trump shooting unfolded
www.bbc.com

In pictures: Trump injured as shots fired at rally

Donald Trump rushed off stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after loud bangs were heard
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

A shocking act that will reshape the presidential race
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0359j43d78o

Witness says he saw gunman on roof near Trump rally
www.bbc.com

Trump rally: Witness says he saw gunman minutes before shots were fired

Greg Smith, who was outside the rally, tells the BBC he tried to alert the police.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away," he said. "He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle. We're pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we're like 'Hey man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle'... and the police did not know what was going on."

 
James R said:
There have also been many more reasonable calls for politicians, in particular, to tone down rhetoric that makes violent analogies (e.g. statements like "Trump/Biden must be prevented from (re-)gaining the Presidency at all costs.")
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It is indeed ironic that it was Trump who recently promised a "bloodbath" in a campaign speech. As always, one should be careful what one wishes for.
 
James R said:
There have also been many more reasonable calls for politicians, in particular, to tone down rhetoric that makes violent analogies (e.g. statements like "Trump/Biden must be prevented from (re-)gaining the Presidency at all costs.")
Click to expand...

That sort of discussion, though, frequently relies on false equivalence, and will be strangely beside the point if reports are accurate that the shooter is a registered Republican. (There is also chatter that he was wearing a t-shirt for a well-known gun-advocacy YouTuber.)

And now, video footage circulating on social media would appear to suggest that witnesses to the actual shooting knew the shooter.

Everything about what happened is strange.
 
I thought it was strange that the 'media' reported that 'The FBI believes it was an Assassination attempt' after the video was widely distributed and clearly shows ex president Trump being shot at and drawing blood. Doesn't anybody in the media have any brains anymore or don't they know how to use a dictionary??? Couldn't someone just flick through the channels and see that it wasn't obviously a deepfake??
 
James R said:
President Biden reacted to the shooting, saying that he was grateful to hear that Trump was safe and well. Biden condemned the shooting, saying "There is no place in America for this."
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America is no place for a shooting!?

I would have to disagree with that.
 
Even before the shooter had been identified it seems the MAGA world were claiming Biden had given the order, and how the far-left had gone too far in the demonisation of Trump as a wannabe fascist dictator etc. Well, turns out the shooter was a registered Republican, albeit having recently donated $15 to a progressive organisation (?).

There's also a marked difference between how the Democratic hierarchy are responding to this - with dignity, grace, appeal for calm etc - and how Trump responded to Nancy Pelosi's husband being attacked with a hammer - Trump's son posting a distasteful Pelosi "halloween costume" pic of a pair of underpants and a hammer, and Trump himself joking about it during his speeches, and posting about it to attack Pelosi.

I feel sorry for America about this. Political violence is never good, but when it possibly increases the chances of Trump getting back into power, and the increased vengeance he will seek as a result if he does so, that is surely even worse.

Time will tell, I guess.
 
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James R said:
Some of Trump’s closest allies and supporters are already blaming Biden for the violence, with one Republican congressman accusing the president of “inciting an assassination” in a post on X. Senator JD Vance, who is thought to be on the shortlist to become Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, said the rhetoric from the Biden campaign led directly to this incident. Other Republican politicians are saying similar things.
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Of course they do. They invariably accuse the opposing party of doing or planning what they themselves routinely do.
Anyone care to show a compilation of clips wherein each of the candidates incited violence in the past?

"By around 8pm local time on Saturday, some Chinese manufacturers had already put the iconic photo onto t-shirts, according to the South China Morning Post."
Hmmmm.... Almost like they were prepared ahead of time. Wasn't there an Agatha Christie plot involving a near miss and a nicked ear? Just askin'.
 
LaurieAG said:
I thought it was strange that the 'media' reported that 'The FBI believes it was an Assassination attempt' after the video was widely distributed and clearly shows ex president Trump being shot at and drawing blood. Doesn't anybody in the media have any brains anymore or don't they know how to use a dictionary??? Couldn't someone just flick through the channels and see that it wasn't obviously a deepfake??
Click to expand...
Well, technically the shooter could have been firing at someone else, and Trump was just unlucky. Maybe one of those actually killed was the intended target? That's why the FBI are saying they believe it to be an attempt to assassinate Trump, as it may not have been.

Also, was Trump hit by a bullet, or by fragments of glass, as some have suggested? The sharpness of the lines on his face would suggest to me that it was glass fragments, not a bullet, which even if grazed him would surely leave a much greater mess than was seen? (No doubt he will continue to claim it was a bullet, though.)


I'm glad Trump is alright, though: I wouldn't want him to miss out on his upcoming stint in prison (all being fair and just). ;)

Unfortunately the fall-out of this is that it has likely increased his chances to regain the White House. His raised clenched fist will, for many even beyond his core base, be a powerful image, especially when compared to the relatively fragile-looking Biden. And when people seem to care more about what one looks like, or how they sound, rather than what they are actually saying and doing, that's not something that's going to be easily overcome.
 
Without more substantive evidence, I am not convinced this was an "assassination attempt". I mean, it was a Trump rally and a bunch of Republicans--isn't it vastly more likely that this is your typical (read: typical for Republicans) "shit happens"/Dick Cheney type incident?

For that matter, we even be all that certain that Cheney wasn't the shooter?
 
billvon said:
It is indeed ironic that it was Trump who recently promised a "bloodbath" in a campaign speech. As always, one should be careful what one wishes for.
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Days before an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden said it was time to “put Trump in a bullseye.”
........................

Biden calls Putin a ‘murderous dictator’ and ‘pure thug’​


One wonders why this hyperbole?
 
If he really did have bomb-making materials, then it sounds more and more like Crooks was just another head-case who wanted to go out killing people, with the "nearby" Trump rally being an opportune event with a crowd to accommodate that.

Thomas Matthew Crooks

Thomas Matthew Crooks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

What we know about the 20-year-old suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump
apnews.com

What we know about the 20-year-old suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump

The man identified as the shooter in the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump was a 20-year-old from a suburb of Pittsburgh not far from the campaign rally where one attendee was killed.
apnews.com apnews.com

Investigators believe the weapon was bought by the father at least six months ago, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials said federal agents were still working to understand when and how Thomas Crooks obtained the gun.
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parmalee said:
Without more substantive evidence, I am not convinced this was an "assassination attempt". I mean, it was a Trump rally and a bunch of Republicans--isn't it vastly more likely that this is your typical (read: typical for Republicans) "shit happens"/Dick Cheney type incident?
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Indeed. Considering that virtually the entire crowd owns - and is likely carrying - weaponry, the possibility of an accidental misfire (or several) can't be ruled out.

(I'm kidding of course, but I hope it causes Trump to ask himself if he should have been so eager to incite violence in his pro-gun followers.. )
 
There is only one central question to be answered for me:

Was the shooter a Dem or a Rep.? i.e. Whence came his motive? Either one is plausible.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Indeed. Considering that virtually the entire crowd owns - and is likely carrying - weaponry, the possibility of an accidental misfire (or several) can't be ruled out.
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Exactly.

We can't even be certain that Trump didn't simply have a squib behind his ear. We also cannot discount the role that Christian Evangelical space lasers played.
 
DaveC426913 said:
There is only one central question to be answered for me:

Was the shooter a Dem or a Rep.? i.e. Whence came his motive? Either one is plausible.
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Spain's "Marca" reported that both parents were registered with the Democratic Party, But given that it got the mother's name wrong and her occupation, it's all crap like so much other information across the globe.

That's if even The Independent got it right about her:

The Independent: "Crooks’ parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks, née Frizzi, are certified behavioral health counselors, according to state licensing records."

Again, there may have been no motive beyond wanting to kill people: https://www.sciforums.com/threads/shooting-at-trump-rally.166453/post-3731087

Crooks himself donated to ActBlue, or was a typically politically confused Z-gen. ;)
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