Who shot at Donald Trump?
Thomas Crooks had not been carrying ID, so investigators used DNA to identify him, the FBI said.
He was from Bethel Park in Pennsylvania, about 70km (43 miles) from Butler, the site of the attempted assassination, and appears to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, the school district confirmed in a statement.
State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican, according to US media.
He is also reported to have donated $15 to liberal campaign group ActBlue in 2021.
Law enforcement officials believe the weapon used to shoot at Donald Trump was purchased by Crookâs father, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two officers told the AP that Crooksâ father bought a weapon at least six months ago.
Hmm, interesting that he is a registered republican member, will love to see how they manage to twist that around to put the blame onto the Democrates. Also, weapon purchased buy his father, so will they look into restricting gun control in any form?
Because he donated $15 to a liberal organisation.
Itâs the rhetoric. Starting last night, stochastic terrorism is real and Democrats are a danger to our country by saying Trump is a danger to our country.
Itâs deranged.
Will the father be prosecuted for the death of the spectator? Could get quite messy if the father is a staunch RepublicanâŚ
Some really odd questions appearing about that donation. Firstly, it was earmarked for a get out the vote operation, and was made on Inauguration Day. Who the hell contributes money to GOTV weeks after an election?
Secondly, the funds went through ActBlue, which is a fundraising conduit that voluntarily reports all contributions to FEC, even those that are below the reporting threshold and may be aggregated.
The only precedent we have for parental prosecution was in a case of a minor that focused on lack of care taken to restrict access to a gun the kid couldnât legally buy for himself (with lots of warning signs of his issues that went unheeded). Obviously there is a lot still to learn about this case, but simply the fact the shooter isnt a minor makes that precedent very unlikely to apply.
Are you suggesting something conspiratorialâŚgetting a Dem contribution as a matter of public to misdirect people for things that will happen later?
There are some oddities already. At the time of the donation, no employment, and no employment reported as of yet. How many 17 year olds make political donations, especially ones who donât appear to have jobs nor come from affluent backgrounds? Why a national level that would leave a public record?
Did well in high school, but no links to higher education yet. That suggests a somewhat disaffected life path. That in turn could point to âlone crazyâ, but also makes it worth investigating the possibility of online grooming and recruitment.
Lastly, a massive number of posts on Telegraph were deleted yesterday - which might make that investigation somewhat harder.
There are already a lot of signs he was a patsy.
The Lincoln Project have gone too far this time
As we search for answers about what happened, itâs worth remembering that the US has a history of these attempts that cannot be tied in any way the normal political narratives we reflexively reach for. The guy who shot Regan did so because he was in love with Jodie Foster and wanted to do something to get her attention, and the guy who shot Garfield did so in retaliation for not getting rewarded by an appointment to his government for the role he played in Garfield election, despite that role only existing in his head.
Or so you would have us believe
First of all, while Iâm no fan of Trump, at all, the assassination attempt must be condemned. It is appalling.
Second, if any member of the public attempts an assassination, they are clearly not well, mentally, whether they are a registered Republican, or happened to donate to a liberal cause. Itâs crazy to suggest Biden ordered the hit. Itâs also crazy to suggest Trump staged it all. Just nick my ear, from 150 yds away⌠really?
Having thought about all this overnight, Iâm sad this has happened, but not surprised in the least. The ingredients are all there. 400 million guns swashing around in society? Check. An absence of any meaningful gun controls? Check.
A politician who is more divisive than any I have seen? Check.
Who is bold in calling for violence? Check.
From early days Trump has been quite free in his rhetoric in calling for his followers to smash opponents on the head, that sort of thing. It started out by sounding like low level violence - rough them up, whether it was an unfriendly journalist at a rally, or political opponents. He had an old school sort of way of casually saying just knock them in the head and teach them a lesson.
That sort of rhetoric helped to spawn much worse acts - I could be here all day, but I will just highlight a few from memory:
A racist drove their car into a crowd to kill someone at Charlottesville.
A teenage Republican traveled across state lines, from his home in Illinois to Kenosha in Wisconsin, and shot three men, two fatally. Appallingly he is lauded by the right.
The violent rhetoric got worse again when Trump incited an insurrection and hundreds of people stormed the Capitol Building - they were looking for politicians, and a gallows was assembled to execute Mike Pence.
From Googling it, 174 police officers were injured (party of law and order?), 5 people died within 36 hours and a further 4 police officers who responded that day ended up committing suicide within 7 months.
This is the world we live in, and while there is plenty of wrong to go around on all sides, Donald Trump has done far more than most to create the current environment.
There is no hope for things to get better while he remains a prominent politician. In fact, I fully expect it to get worse, with tit-for-tat hits, and maybe even scaling up to wider conflict.
Trump will, of course, look to maximize the âbenefitâ from the assassination attempt, to change the narrative from felon/sexual assault/election denier/vote rigger/government documents stealer/seller? - to something that will galvanize his base even more.
He would much prefer to be seen as an almost-martyr who is fighting for his people. He is of course no such thing, but thatâs what millions will buy into.
With the Supreme Court in his pocket, and going against all precedent to make the President untouchable and unaccountable - more so than any king America tried to throw off in its Revolutionary war, things will get worse.
Add to that Biden refusing to step down, possibly fueled by his wifeâs dislike for Kamala Harris, and I fear the dark days we are living in are going to get worse before they get better. Ugh.
Why did Trump get shot?
Because the Secret Service went woke
The kind who try and murder politicians apparently.
Itâs the utter hypocrisy devoid of any shred of self-awareness or introspection that has turned my stomach today. Indeed, from what Iâve seen the goobers have tripled down.
But if this was the other way around, you donât think the Dems would be doing the same thing? Youâre a liar if you say no. All politicians would turn this fiasco into a way to benefit them or their agenda.
Republicans are not required to be familiar with the things they themselves said even 1 hour ago, so when something like this happens they immediately fall into âsaying we are a threat to democracy is an incitement to violence and inciting violence against your political opponents is wrongâŚâ
Not sure why this is a partisan issue. Itâs flat out sad and wrong. And this dumbifying election is just reducing us to quibbling about silly hypotheticals.
But I suppose thatâs what these candidates and parties want anyway.