I don’t normally go in for conspiracy theories, but the more I hear/read, about the #TrumpRally shooting, the more it seems all too perfect.
Every #security analyst says that roof should have been guarded/surveilled.
#Trump was remarkably unconcerned w/his safety, flagrantly sticking his head out immediately & repeatedly after the attack, indifferent to the possibility of multiple shooters. He was more concerned w/his shoes than getting shot.
@Nonilex it should have been. But a simple answer is Trump systematically purging his team of competency over loyalty. He wants 2 things most, adoration and yes men. That is incompatable with the responsibilities of a protective detail.
Now, the gop guy that has no signs of radicalization, trail of media or other communications really flags as either a one off lone wolf or someone groomed outside those ttacking mechanisms possible with the lure of making Trump look like a hero under threat. The patsy expecting to be arrested, not killed, and feted by his right wing heros. Thats a lot of conjecture on my part but its impossible to be to far off a ledge when it comes to Stone, Flynn, Trump and Putin.
@Nonilex A person was killed, others wounded. A bullet flew close enough to Trump's head to nick his ear. I wouldn't call that perfect. Please let's not amplify conspiracy theories. If you think about everything that would have to happen to stage this (and the number of people who'd have to know and keep it secret), the idea quickly becomes laughable. Conspiracy theories only make people feel hopeless, then turn to monsters like Trump.
@Nonilex Does this conspiracy theory suggest that the shooter used an AR-15 from some hundred ish yards away to perfectly, expertly graze Trump’s head in a non-lethal fashion?
And he hit other people in the crowd, for no apparent gain, and then the shooter himself was shot dead as a reward for his participation in the scheme?
I hate Trump, but this still seems like a stretch.
@Nonilex I place the Trump rally shooting in the same sack that I put the origins of COVID, the death of Epstein, the demise/interment of Ivana, the classified docs about Israeli security, etc: we will never be allowed to know the full truth.
No flack here.
I’m taking a wait and see, it all seems a tad hinky at this point.
I do wonder if the “Let me get my shoes” concern is we’d see he really isn’t 6 ft 3 in.
I think many of us have received more serious wounds shaving our legs.
@Nonilex I would not put it past Trump or his team to want to do something like this, even making sure people in the audience were shot.
HOWEVER
There is no way in hell they would have executed it so well. Even the best sniper is not going to be to guarantee they could shoot someone’s ear like that without putting him at risk, and Trump would never purposefully allow himself to be in such a risky situation where he could just as easily be shot and hurt or killed.
People’s reactions in a shooting are going to be all over the place as they may or may not pick up on what is happening and may not really know what to do. All the people talking about odd reactions from the audience are doing so with hindsight.
I think this truly was a failed assassination attempt that worked out in the best possible way for Trump. Like most of his life, he just fell into it by sheer luck.
I have trouble dismissing all the circumstances myself, however I always try to practice questioning my assumptions.
One thing I've been realizing in this is the (well known) effect on security when you surround yourself with loyalists. There's video of people shouting at police/USSS and the response seemed to be one of distraction.
That's because all the police are loyalists, and all the USSS Trump keeps are too. And what are loyalists doing at a Trump rally while Trump speaks? Watching Trump. Not rooftops. Further they're going to be Yes Men. If they're taking too long and get hurried by the higher up, they might listen instead of doing the right thing and saying "no, we need to follow protocol".
That some kid took a shot at Trump isn't terribly surprising to me, even if he's a Republican. I can think of a hundred reasons why it might happen without the need to tie in world despots and geopolitics. The very notion that the kid might affect geopolitics is motive enough for certain kinds of people we might expect in tumultuous political times. Republican and Democrat voters share at least one common thing, neither group is completely and totally represented by the party they vote for. There's lots of room for dissent in the ranks on both sides. We just only often see one side of it in the media as of late.
I'm not saying any one story here is true or false, just saying there's considerations I'm making that I'm not seeing discussed elsewhere.
My only thought on this is the Trump projection. Trump has been stating how all the killers are coming across our borders from ---all the places.
He literally has been warming everyone up for this shooting for months. NOT ONE PERSON IN THE FRONT AREA OR DIRECTLY BEHIND TRUMP FLED.
If the assumption was that Trump was just shot and killed, why did the people right behind Trump on the bleachers just sit there and watch?
There was an interview with some maga woman that said she was in one of the front rows and NONE of them moved. They were watching an active shooter and completely unmotivated to get out of the line of fire??? THIS is my problem with all of it.
If there were bullets flying, people would be moving.
There were multiple bullet sounds and one evidently exploded Trump's teleprompter.
Why didnt those errant bullets hit others behind Trump? Why did the audience NOT react to bullets flying?
@Nonilex Actually he was down on the ground for a long time, and there is a great shot of him looking scared and bleeding while on the ground.
The media shows fist raised Trump and the flag, but moments before, in other pics, he looked like a scared old bleeding man.
For me already years ago seeing the parallels of Trump and Bob Roberts, it was the very first thing I thought. If fake, was Trump aware? He can't keep his mouth shut, so he can't be trusted with a conspiracy.
@Nonilex
Everything associated with Trump is dubious to me. Everything.
All I know is what I've seen reported in the news and on social media--and some of that may be AI.
I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.
So I am not in a position to know what the hell is going on.
I'm just putting one foot in front of the other until I've walked all the way through this god-forsaken situation.
He was keenly aware of looking “strong” in the photos / videos.
His wound was as insignificant as it possibly could have been. If he hadn’t have had any wound it would be easier to dismiss. Also horribly sad but true – if no one had been hurt / killed, it would also be considered a nonevent.
Last but not least,
Orban had JUST met w/Trump immediately after meeting with both Putin & Xi.
I'll speak to the part about Trump sticking his head up. Before the Secret Service allowed him to do that, we could hear them confirming to each other that the shooter was "down." I think they decided it was safe to let him be exposed again.
It's true that he turned a trivial nick from a piece of shrapnel into a massive propaganda win. But I don't think any of it was staged.
Fair point. But, at that moment, their only two options were to stay there on the stage with him indefinitely, or to move him off the stage and back to his limo.
Since the only known shooter had been neutralized, and there was no immediate evidence of any other threat, I think moving him was a reasonable decision, if not the only reasonable decision.
@Nonilex Because the MAGA response was so quick and coordinated, I was reminded of the movie 'Arlington Road' . spoiler: where right wing activists trick civilians into performing violent acts. But the easiest explanation is the local police responsible for the perimeter fouled up. We probably don't hear about all the crazy people that have previously been stopped at these rallies. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_Road