• ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’m sorry that guy was at a shooting but a visor with Trump 20204 might be the most loser-coded thing I’ve ever seen. If you hold that visor up to your ear like a seashell, you can hear someone complaining about a family court judge ruling against him after he represented himself.

  • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
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    4 months ago

    Maybe I’m crazy here but if I saw a dude with a rifle on a roof at a political rally I would 100% assume it was secret service. I don’t see much here that convinces me otherwise

    Edit: there is some evidence that he may have been on a roof. It’s hard to get accurate information this soon after an incident so we’ll see in the coming days

    Edit: yeah, pretty much confirmed it was the gunman, assuming this guy is talking about the right roof (secret service were on a different roof). I still stand by my original comment, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if I saw it

    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      If they were in legit gear or a suit, I wouldn’t think it was odd. Any other guy with a rifle would be a red fucking flag because plainclothes USSS have concealed guns and don’t play on roofs.

      • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        No. USSS Snipers are all over the place. Some visible most are not. In one of the videos you can clearly see a USSS sniper above stage right. That’s the guy who took out the shooter.

      • Kayday@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I kind of doubt someone could have told what outfit the gunmen was wearing in that scenario.

    • teft@lemmy.worldOP
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      5 months ago

      And if you saw him getting into position mid speech that wouldn’t strike you as odd? The shooter was seen low crawling into position. Secret Service shooters would be in place from the start not moving mid speech.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      Yeah, I think that that’s been normal for a long time. There are even pictures of the law enforcement on a rooftop at this rally with scoped rifles.

      EDIT: One of the top posts on Reddit says that this is the shooter after having been shot. Assuming that is correct, gives an idea as to what he was wearing.

      https://i.redd.it/4jm18y33gdcd1.jpeg

    • Delta_V@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      That kind of uncertainty about if the shooter was part of the security detail or not may have been the source of hesitation that let him get shots off before immediately getting shot himself. The speed of the return fire makes it seem like someone was already pointing a gun at him and awaiting confirmation he wasn’t supposed to be there.

      • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
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        4 months ago

        That’s an interesting point. I’m sure they know where the others are but I’m sure there’s always a doubt

        • kandoh@reddthat.com
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          4 months ago

          Considering how many different law enforcement agencies are in the US, who don’t have comms with one another, yeah

    • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      Yeah, I’m gonna probably stay undecided on this one. On the one hand, “the libs shot first” is going to sit very well with his cult’s persecution complex, and it’ll be a good tool for whenever he needs an angry mob. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be very surprising that someone really would take a shot at him.

      • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I don’t think a fake assassination attempt makes much sense at all. He’s not losing to the point that he needs to take a big risk. It’s not close enough to the election for one big stunt to have a good chance of influencing the outcome. And it didn’t even happen at a time and place that would maximize the visibility.

        The only thing I can think of that could explain this would be the recent trending of project 2025. But even then, if you need a distraction, the convention is next week, there’s plenty of opportunity to shift the narrative there. And hell, if you want to stage an assassination attempt for your own benefit, that’s the venue to do it at.

        On the other hand, faking it requires conspirators who can make it happen, all of whom have to be able to keep it quiet. There will be an investigation that he can’t control. The smaller the conspiracy, the harder it is to pull off, but the larger the conspiracy, the harder it is to cover up. And unlike all his existing criminal cases, there would be no connection to his time as president in any way, so the immunity he just got handed by the supreme court wouldn’t apply. And obviously the shooter has to not accidentally kill Trump while he is shooting at him and killing an innocent bystander. Plus, you have to have a shooter willing to die for the cause, or a patsy who can plausibly take his place, which raises so many more questions and carries a whole new set of risks.

        By comparison, someone looking at Trump and saying to himself “Well, if no one else is going to do this, I guess I will” is just a lot more plausible.

        • HRDS_654@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I would agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact that his ear looks completely intact. Bloody, yes, but no chunk missing. If it was an actual bullet moving at subsonic speed even a graze would leave more than a little blood. Another thing to consider is that there would be WAY more blood than what was shown. Your extremities bleed more than any other part of your body because that’s where all of the blood vessels gather. I know this from the personal experience of splitting my head open on a metal pipe. It took no time for blood to cover one half of my face. If he was actually shot in the ear blood would be gushing. As it stands it looks like someone smeared lipstick on his ear.

          • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Is it possible he just hit his ear on something when he was ducking for cover?

            To be clear, I haven’t looked to see if there are videos, or anything, so I’m asking from a place of ignorance, not because I think that’s what happened.

            • HRDS_654@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              It is more possible than a bullet wound. I’m hearing it was teleprompter glass, which makes sense.

            • HRDS_654@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Which i would have an easier time believing than a bullet. If he got a small cut on his ear it would bleed that much, but that is in no way a bullet wound. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day though because facts don’t matter to fascist MAGA idiots. If it doesn’t back up what they already believe it’s fake news.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        The shooter was identified as 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as reported by the BBC, and was a registered Republican.

        • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Registering R in PA which has closed primaries just means he lived in a red district and wanted to vote in the only primary that matters. He donated to progressive groups.

          • Delta_V@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            By that same Trojan Horse logic, donating to Biden’s political opponents doesn’t make the situation any clearer.

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              It’s quite common in safe districts to register with the predominant party and donate elsewhere.

                • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  Nobody is a typical R or D at that point. There isn’t a PAC out there that is just straight DNC or GOP. That’s not a realistic standard.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            GroupS? The BBC reported that he donated a few bucks to a Liberal party or something, but that’s all I’ve heard

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    If true, a lot of heads are going to roll. That’s a shocking lapse in security.

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        By security I meant Secret Service. I believe ex-presidents get a secret service detail.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Thing is he doesn’t have to pay anything for security, secret service is paid by the government.

  • NotAnotherLemmyUser@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Video of him on the roof just before everything went down (video blurs out the shooter during/after death):

    https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1812339055603978440

    You can hear people yelling, “He’s got a gun!” seconds before the shooting happens.

    Another angle of people yelling “He’s got a gun” (shaky cameraman, good for audio only): https://x.com/BNONews/status/1812327502028669328

    Another witness that was also trying to point out the shooter to the authorities: https://x.com/BNONews/status/1812311392675914015

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
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      4 months ago

      Pretty embarrassing for the secret service. This plus all their other fuckups and shenanigans these past 12 years should lead to some serious reforms.

    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Not technically.

      You do understand that Trump being assassinated would end far worse than him getting elected, right? Trump turned his head and America dodged a bullet.

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Depends on who his successor would be. Whoever that would be would have the momentum of a martyr behind them.

          As many folks pointed out, there’s no shortage of people with Trump like policies but are even more dangerous by being more competent.

          No, the only death that might have avoided the would have been zero assassination attempts and some death that couldn’t have possibly been an assassination even in the wildest of conspiracy theories.

          That shooter may have secured a MAGA victory the instant he pulled the trigger, whether he would have killed Trump or not.

          • retrospectology@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Maybe, but the problem for Republicans is their platform simply isn’t popular, it’s why they have to go to these extremes.

            His base of ~25% of the electorate is maybe more motivated to turn up at the polls now and is more likely to be violent (especially if Trump loses), but no one is going to say “Oh, I was against fascism, but now that the fascist died I’m pro-fascism.” anyone who thinks that way was already supporting Donald Trump anyway. The GOP is maxed on support, which is why they are constantly trying to purge voter registration rolls anywhere they can.

  • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    This guy has no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. Any armed security worth their salt would have snipers on roofs at large gatherings. I see them at sporting events, why not at a rally?

    The man with a rifle he saw was almost certainly working with Trump’s security detail, and if not, he would have been spotted not long after this guy saw him, and taken out before he could have taken a shot.

      • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I admit I was wrong.

        And I think the secret service detail assigned to Trump might be terrible at their job.

        • retrospectology@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          It may simply be that former presidents don’t get the same security resources as an actual president.

          Plus it’s been reported that he treats his security staff like trash, so it might be difficult to find people willing to put themselves in harms way for him.

          • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I think you’re probably right on both counts. I know I certainly wouldn’t put my life on the line for a convicted felon, alleged rapist, known adulterer, racist, liar, and threat to democracy if he was also being a dick to me personally

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      Any armed security worth their salt would have snipers on roofs at large gatherings.

      They did have them here; there are photos of them. The assassin was also apparently on another roof; I linked to what is a purported picture of his body on the roof off Reddit in my comment above.