My first presidential campaign rally was in 1976 when I attended a Gerald Ford rally in Waco, Texas. At nineteen years old, I was fascinated more by seeing Air Force One land and take off than by the campaign message. There was a decent crowd that day, so I decided to climb a tree near the fencing to get a better view. I was promptly greeted by a Secret Service Agent who, in a not-so-friendly voice, instructed me to climb down or he would assist me in climbing down. This was my first introduction to Secret Service protocol when protecting a sitting president.
Since that day, I have attended no less than dozens of events or rallies that have included a president, from Ford to Reagan to Carter, Bush 41, Bush 43, and, of course, quite a few Trump events. To be candid with you, I wish I had another $1.00 for every presidential candidate event I’ve attended where the Secret Service has been present. Even security for Former Governor Sarah Palin was tight when she was a candidate for Vice-President.
Even as a snot-nosed unarmed kid sitting in a small tree over 100 yards away from President Ford, I was ordered down from that tree. The “nice” agent did explain why. He told me that the Secret Service never allows anyone to be elevated higher than the President with a clear view of the staging area. Unarmed was irrelevant; they NEVER allowed anyone to be at a higher elevation. Now the question becomes, how did this twenty-year-old kid end up on a structure 130 yards away from President Trump with an AK-47 and manage to get a half-dozen shots off before he was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper?
Below is a map laying out the area of the rally yesterday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
From the President and others who witnessed that attempted assassination, everyone is claiming that it was divine intervention by God that saved President Trump’s life. The fact was that even at a little over 130 yards, Trump was an easy target for even an amateur shooter. So again, why didn’t law enforcement respond to the attendee who was motioning for them to see the shooter on the roof? If they knew he was there, why didn’t they respond? Why weren’t there any agents or State Troopers securing all of the rooftops in the area?
Not to go totally tin-foil-hat theory here, but this has to be addressed. There is a video which is posted on my “Twitter/X” feed that shows the President being loaded into the SUV shortly after the shooting. Watch the fellow in green fatigues at the front of the SUV. He is talking into his wrist (obviously listening as well), then he approaches the front of the SUV, lowers his rifle, and points it at the President (who is inside the SUV at this point). His finger is on the trigger, then he abruptly pulls the rifle up, and the video ends. A couple of points here.
- Who is this guy? Is he Secret Service? NO, all of the Secret Service agents are in suits or dressed in black as the snipers were. Is he a state trooper, SWAT, or who?
- Secondly, anyone with a modicum of training knows to NEVER, EVER point your weapon at anyone unless you plan on shooting. His pointing his rifle at the President was not by accident.
Now we must ask, what set this kid off? Was he bribed? Was he blackmailed into committing this act? Was he a stooge for nefarious groups? He had to know that if he shot at the president, he would be shot dead. Was it Joe Biden’s inflammatory rhetoric that set him off, and he felt like he was defending the nation against a tyrant named Trump? In any case, the hyperbolic rhetoric on both sides needs to stop. Declaring that one candidate wants to undermine the nation and turn us into some sort of Nazi-Esq state needs to end. It is that sort of inflammatory campaigning that causes things like this to transpire, and it needs to end today.
It is one thing to insult your opponent. Call Trump out for his divorces, cheating, filing for bankruptcy, or being negligent on political subjects. But to stand and call him out as a threat to the nation is triggering words that become dangerous. The same holds true on the other side of the coin. President Trump needs to stop telling America that Joe Biden is destroying the country. Millions of supporters on both sides can be triggered by such language, and then they plot and plan and take matters into their own hands to “Save America” from doom. This rhetoric should stop immediately.
Was this just a kid who felt like he was saving the nation? Or was this much deeper, and forces used this kid to be the patsy and fall guy? These are the questions that Congress needs to address.
As for now, President Trump, you and your family are in our prayers, as are the family of those injured and killed yesterday. Our heart goes out to them.
XXXXX
About The Author
