A Brief Glance Back at an Epochal Event in Ancient Times
The sacking of Carthage (149 B.C.)? No.
The fall of Constantinople (1453 A.D.)? No.
No, an event in our more modern history , way back in the mists of time: July 13, 2024. We recently marked the one month anniversary of the date on which the former President of the United States came within 0.39 of an inch of having his brains spattered all over the podium by a bullet fired by a "lone actor", the result of the now worn and tattered Deep State credo "Mistakes were made."
In a sane world this attempt to assassinate the former President and hopefully the next President would by now be the subject of exhaustively researched investigative reports by journalists who see such a project as their main chance for a Pulitzer Prize. A few hurriedly written books would have already hit the shelves and NPR and others would have produced at least one, or more, carefully researched and magnificently produced documentaries on what we would be told by the corporate media, ad nauseam, was an epochal moment in American history. All of these gravely concerned members of the Fourth Branch would have opined that we came within an inch-literally- of Civil War and the end of America as we have known it.
Every one of those outcomes would hae started immediately after 6:12 pm on July 13, 2024, had the protectee of the arguably criminally negligent Secret Service been the Democrat nominee and quite likely any Republican nominee not named Donald J. Trump.
Every single American with a sentient mind knows, or should know, this is true and every single American also knows that if you dare say it you will immediately be branded by one, if not all, of Hillary's favorite insults for even wondering - why do Orwell's "thought police" come to mind?- whether something more than "mistakes were made" may be afoot with regard to the horror at Butler, PA one month ago. In thinking about commenting on these questions I knew I would have to do my due diligence and go back into the reporting over the past few weeks and try to determine where these reports appeared, under whose auspices they were published, etc., in order to assure that I did not appear to be just another angry Trump supporter howling helplessly at The Swamp and its creatures. To be clear, I am, indeed very angry at what has happened (and at what has not happened) and I am as open as I know how to be about being a vociferous and vocal Trump supporter.
I am also one who as a lifelong lawyer in the trenches am deeply dedicated to the rule of law and the rule of equal justice under the law and I am sickened by what I see as the constant violation of that age-old protection. There can be no better demonstration of unequal, biased, prejudicial treatment of an individual and an incident than the almost total vacuum of wide coverage of the attempt on President Trump's life over a month ago.
So here are a few observations of my own and others about, as one title referred to it, "The Shot Ignored Around the World", in an attempt to offer as objective an analysis as possible on why this monumentally important moment in history has been consigned to the memory hole. I note, in the interest of accuracy, that the following is based on searches on several different platforms as of late August 17, 2024. I also note, for what it's worth, that new developments keep occurring every day so that by the time this is published there could easily be several more "bombshells" the very next day. For example, while not directly related to July 13 but definitely bearing on the questions of competence swirling around the agency at this time, it was reported a few days ago by Susan Crabtree of Real Clear Politics that an agent abandoned her post at a Trump rally to breastfeed her baby with no permission or warning to the site agent. And the hits, as they say, just keep on coming.
One of the more obvious facts seen when examining this inexplicable security failure is that there has been, in fact, a great deal of excellent reporting on July 13, the vast majority of which has been done in the world of new digital journalism, independent investigative reporters in online publications (or their own blogs), not, repeat not, the corporate media which spends its time glowingly promoted the "joy" of the Harris-Walz campaign while more and more Americans are having trouble making ends meet.
The disparity in the way the press has treated the near-murder of a former President and the murder of an American citizen is amply illustrated in this post, The Shot Ignored Around the World: It's Been One Month Since Trump Was Shot:
I'm not saying that the deep state sent the human sewage who took a shot at Trump. I will say I find it odd that the shooter trained at the same range as some feds from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I also find it noteworthy that the shooter appeared in a Black Rock ad.
I'm concerned that we haven't heard much about the shooter, not to mention those alleged three encrypted accounts that no one is talking about anymore. If he had been wearing a MAGA cap, I suspect we would know his credit score and sperm count by now, but since he was shown to be a "lone wolf" leftist, facts are few.
A very thoughtful post on Substack, The Sins of Omission, goes into some depth on the reasons for the "disappearing" of this story and the apparently deliberate avoidance of uncovering any facts detrimental to the narrative:
For us, an attempted assassination of a Presidential candidate was a very big story. It’s an important story that says important things about the divisions in US society, and perhaps too about which side of those divisions is the side prone to violence and irrational behaviour. It might tell us, to some extent, which side are more innately fascistic, if for example a significant number of those people celebrate an assassination attempt or lament its failure. It might tell us which side are prone to delusions, if for example a third of them insist that the event we all saw unfold and can easily research was staged by its intended victim.
For those of us who are aware that the mainstream media apply focus only where it suits them, that assassination attempt raises a whole flurry of questions that require exactly the kind of continuing discussion and assessment that is not happening.
Some of those questions pertain to the media itself. We might note for instance that CNN had enforced a policy on itself of not reporting on Trump rallies, of ignoring these events as if the levels of support for a Presidential nominee from a main party, the things he is saying, and the enthusiasm of his backers do not matter in an election year.
***
But interestingly, the rally at which he was almost murdered was a rally CNN broke their reporting embargo for. It was a rally where several anti Trump mainstream outlets sent reporters to, contrary to their usual policy of deliberately ignoring these rallies.
Surely just an odd coincidence, that.
The author then heads into territory which may be (will be) termed conspiracy theories by the Trump haters (99.999% of the corporate media) who are simply terrified at the mere possibility that the public might some day get actual answers to these questions which I feel are entirely reasonable:
It can’t be that these Trump hating media organisations were expecting something particularly dramatic and interesting at this particular rally, sufficient to break their usual embargo, and sufficient to justify filming it all with….should we say, anticipation?
This of course is the territory of ‘conspiracy theory’. God forbid the idea that media organisations that have lied about everything and tried to encourage Trump’s assassination for years would also have some foreknowledge of a likely attack and a salivating desire to film his head being blown off.
What a ridiculous idea. Can you imagine the level of corruption and hate that would entail? Thank goodness we don’t live in THAT reality, but rather the one where no western liberal democracy would encourage assassinations, conduct them, or adjust security to make them easier. No sirree.
Even more reassuringly, we live in a reality where the media are simply the impartial and objective reporters of established facts, who do not routinely lie, and who do not have insanely vicious hatreds of a specific individual. No, no, honestly, we do (stop snickering at the back there).
Rowing back from these dark conspiratorial waters, we can say this much. An assassination attempt on Donald Trump is a huge story. It’s not a story that should completely disappear in three weeks, not unless it’s followed a week later by a nuclear war.
It’s a YUUGE story.
Among the many unanswered questions over a month after the incident include the following.
In an article entitled It’s Becoming Clear That Trump Is The Bait In The Regime’s Crab Trap the author had this to say:
.... simple incompetence cannot explain what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, and what happened there was a lot more sinister than that.
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Cheatle also said that the recordings of the radio chatter from the Secret Service on that day are not available. Apparently those recordings have been destroyed. If you understand the concept of spoliation of evidence, as a legal presumption when you destroy evidence it’s to be taken as though that evidence would have been damaging to your cause. And if the Secret Service destroyed the recordings of that radio chatter we can assume there were things on those recordings which would not be beneficial to the Secret Service. (Emphasis mine)
A government agency- the one charged with keeping our leaders safe- destroyed messages from the day its agents almost allowed a former President to be murdered and one questioning the legality and morality of that action is called a "conspiracy theorist"? Count me in.
More from that post:
And we know that the Secret Service didn’t show up for an advance run-through meeting with the other members of the security team on the morning of July 13.
Then there is the question of Secret Service agents stationed inside the AGR building while Crooks was on the roof, something which is inexplicable. The building had a metal roof; it would have been impossible not to hear him up there.
Here are a couple of questions from a card-carrying conspiracy theorist.What, exactly, was more important to the Secret Service on the morning of July 13 than attending the critically important meeting with other law enforcement officers for a run-through designed to assure that the unthinkable would not happen. That's what they exist for but they couldn't be bothered to be there! How is it even possible that the Secret Service placed its agents inside the AGR building with the excuses that it was hot - 90 degrees- and the roof was slightly-very slightly - sloped. I see roofing contractors on roofs every day here in the Florida Panhandle in 100+ degree heat with very steep, not sloping, roofs. And they are not protecting the former President of the United States!
One may also legitimately ask: Where is the Secret Service officer who was in charge of the entire ill-fated debacle? From It's Been One Month Since Someone Tried to Assassinate the Former President, and We're Hearing Crickets:
The woman in charge of planning this debacle has been hidden away, the big boss, Kim Cheatle resigned, which means she doesn't have to cooperate with the Inspector General's investigation, and a month has gone by. Nada. Zilch.
One of the standard, and to me the most maddening, lines in most official investigations is "We're still trying to determine the motive of the shooter", at times even if the shooter was shouting Alahu Akbar as he fired the weapon. Sure enough, just like clockwork, here is the magic mantra in the official FBI report (emphasis mine):
The FBI is investigating the shooting incident at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which resulted in one victim's death and injuries to former President Trump and other spectators, as an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism.
While the investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone, the FBI continues to conduct logical investigative activity to determine if there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack. At this time, there are no current public safety concerns.
The FBI has not identified a motive for the shooter’s actions, but we are working to determine the sequence of events and the shooter’s movements prior to the shooting, collecting and reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and following up on all leads. We have also obtained the shooter’s telephone for examination.
Admittedly, that was published the day after the incident so it is entirely possible that they have by now "identified a motive" but if so they have not bothered to share it with the American people who have an absolute right to know who was behind this 20 year old employee of a nursing home who reportedly had three offshore accounts and enough money to fill his vehicle with explosive devices. I could only wish I needed three offshore accounts but the chances of that range between slim and none. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether we will have that answer but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it.
As a measure of the quality of the leadership of the Secret Service, here is the Acting Director philosophizing about the state of our world in words which can only be termed (most politely) as sophomoric:
“This was a failure of imagination – a failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees,” Rowe said.
This from the person in charge of the agency tasked with the protection and security of our highest government officials. Incomprehensible.
To close with what hopefully develops into a positive move in the right direction, Speaker Johnson has appointed a task force to investigate the shooting and his choice of the Chair does give one reason for hope that it will be a well-organized and effective effort. Chairing the task force will be Congressman Mike Kelly, himself a native of Butler and a Member of Congress with a most impressive record. Here is what he and the ranking member, Jason Crow, had to say:
“At the end of this investigation, the American people … cannot be still wondering what happened,” Kelly said. “We’re going to have a clear answer to what happened. And whatever it is that we have to do, we’re going to do, including having some people subpoenaed.”
But the panel will have to move at a much faster pace than typical congressional investigations to produce a thorough final report by a Dec. 13 deadline.
“We only have four months here, so it’s going to be a really quick burn,” Crow said. “We’re going to have to make sure that this is accurate. Accuracy is very important here; we don’t want there to be misunderstanding. We don’t want to fuel any of these alternative theories that are flying around.”
A very good sign that this may be the energetic investigation the public deserves was the interim report of Task Force Member Cong. Clay Higgins of Louisiana who spent 3 days in Butler August 4-6, 2024. His report can be found here. Congressman Higgins represents Southwest Louisiana and was a highly regarded law enforcement officer prior to entering politics, reaching the rank of Police Captain. I cannot recommend a complete reading of his report too highly as it is like a breath of fresh air after reading the bureaucratic gobbledegook Washington specializes in. The report contains several remarkable items but none more astonishing than this finding about the removal of the assassin's body by the FBI without the knowledge of the Coroner:
My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact… the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13. On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc. Yes, Butler County Coroner technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI.
He also had this to say about the FBI scrubbing he scene of biological evidence, comments which take on additional weight considering his long experience as a law enforcement officer:
The coroner’s report and autopsy report are both “late.” As of Monday, August 5, they were a week late. The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I won’t know 100% if the coroner’s report and the autopsy report are accurate. We will actually never know. Yes, we’ll get the reports and pictures, etc, but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body. Again, similar to releasing the crime scene and scrubbing crime scene biological evidence... this action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort. Please note, Mr. Chairman, that on J23, the day that Crooks was cremated, both the Homeland Security Committee and the Oversight Committee had begun House Committee jurisdictional investigation into J13, and Speaker Johnson had already stated that he was forming an Official Congressional investigative body. Why, then, by what measure, would the FBI release his body to the family for cremation? This pattern of investigative scorched earth by the FBI is quite troubling.
Of concern, however, is the statement of one of the members indicating they will have to rely to a certain extent on the Secret Service, an inexplicable reliance at this point:
Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), a member of the task force, said the tight turnaround leaves the task force in a position of having to “trust but verify” that the Secret Service is already taking needed steps to rectify known issues.
“These candidates were out last weekend campaigning, so this stuff is happening in real time. That’s my frustration, is we don’t have time,” Correa said. “We have time to do the check, the verify, but the Secret Service has to be on it yesterday.”
One month later we still have very few answers to questions the public is entitled to, like the following puzzle:
And then there is the fact Thomas Crooks, known by his classmates as a computer geek, had no social media. Which is a lie; he encrypted his socials. And apparently had offshore bank accounts? A 20-year-old who emptied bedpans and served pudding cups at a nursing home?
At a time when faith in our institutions like DHS, FBI, DOJ and now the Secret Service has hit rock-bottom, it seems we must place all our hope on the task force to finally give us some answers. Without casting any aspersions on Rep. Kelly and his task force, who may well do a superlative job, the best that can be said at this point is that there is scant reason for optimism.
Finally, how I so deeply and sadly dislike having to express that pessimistic outlook but it is the one logic inexorably leads me to. Would that it were not true.
God Help us.
And may God Bless America.