The Facts on the Ground Suggest a Larger Plot to Kill President Trump

It had been nearly 40 years since the last serious assassination attempt on a US President. John Hinkley’s near successful effort to kill President Reagan was the last time that a major American political figure was shot and nearly killed. Most in the US had taken for granted that political murders were a thing of the past, and even with the recent political violence the left engaged in after the tragic death of George Floyd, the recent attempt to assassinate former President Trump still seemed unthinkable.

Public opinion on previous assassinations has changed significantly over the years. There is now a clear consensus in America that there was a clear conspiracy to kill John Kennedy Jr.. The Church hearings also led Congress to conclude in 1979 that President Kennedy was killed by a probable conspiracy. The JFK assassination was only possible because of multiple egregious breakdowns in the protection of the President. The top of the vehicle was removed from the famous black limousine, Secret Service agents were taken off the President’s vehicle as the car turned onto Elm Street where JFK was killed, and windows were open in many buildings around where Kennedy’s limousine was as well. People were even in many cases entering and leaving the buildings near where Kennedy was assassinated without any security checks.

The many blatant and egregious breakdowns in Trump’s security strongly suggest that there was a wider plot to eliminate the former President as well. The building that Thomas Crooks fired from was just over 130 yards from Trump. The reason the building was not secured is that someone made a determination that a building that was just over a football field away from the President within clear eyesight of where Trump would be speaking was not in the security perimeter setup around the Pennsylvania rally. This was not the only significant breakdown in security at the former President’s Saturday rally in Butler either. Many buildings with a clear vantage point of where Trump would be speaking were not secured, and multiple people who had attended Trump rallies before saw these significant and concerning lapses in security.

Robert D. Philpot, who had attended Trump rallies in the past, immediately noticed upon arrival at the rally that most of the buildings around where Trump was set to speak at in Butler were not secure. This observation was in stark contrast to the heavy security around Trump Philpot observed when he was at a Trump rally 4 years ago. While Trump was obviously President then, the fact that he is going to obviously be the nominee for President of the United States suggests this was a major breakdown in many of the most basic security protocols. Even more concerning, the Secret Service had identified this building the shooter used as being a security risk before the rally, but the building and area around this structure remained completely unsecured. Dan Bongino, who used to work in the Secret Service and still has contacts within the agency, also stated that multiple requests for extra security for Trump have been denied. There were so few secret service and law enforcement agents on site, that even when people repeatedly tried to warn officials about a man with a gun climbing on the building, these efforts did not keep the shooter from getting in position and being able to fire multiple shots before he was killed by snipers.

Today, there is far better technology to protect individuals than ever before. Some of the best high tech devices that are often used to protect individuals are manned and unmanned aerial drones. These devices are frequently deployed to track individuals and protect people, yet at this rally, there was no aerial technology. No drones were in the air, and no helicopters were on site until after the assassination attempt.

While some may argue that the fact that a 20-year-old kid was the shooter suggests that the individual likely acted alone, obviously if professionals were used to assassinate Trump, the people behind the plot would have a hard time maintaining plausible deniability. The shooter was also a very smart person who came within inches of killing the former President, he was more than capable of doing the shooting. Crooks had won math and science awards in high school, he clearly had a high IQ, and he had likely had trained with the weapon he used as well. Even though Crooks was registered as a Republican, he gave money to far-left groups and lived at home with his parents, both of whom are registered Democrats. He likely simply registered with the Republicans to vote against Trump in the primary. The fact that the Crooks knew exactly which building to go to and then fired with good precision at Trump before being taken is also suspicious and suggests that he had been trained in advance as well.

Presidential candidates get significantly more security after they are named the nominees of their party, and obviously, after this attempt, there will be a huge increase in the protective detail of President Trump. This outdoor rally was going to be the last time Trump would be this vulnerable before the election. While most people in the Secret Service are good people, the leadership in this agency is clearly as corrupt and incompetent as the failed administration we are seeing in power. The complete and total breakdown in many of the most basic security protocols the Secret Service has used for decades strongly points to this assassination attempt being more than just a lone shooter.