The crowd at the convention cheered Trump, whose ear was bandaged after it was hit by a bullet on Saturday.
Details are emerging about the moments that led up to the shooting. People alerted law enforcement to the gunman on the roof of a building about 410 feet away from the stage at least two minutes before the first shot was fired at Trump, video analyzed by CBS News shows.
A local law enforcement officer with direct knowledge of the incident told CBS News three snipers were stationed inside the building the shooter used in his attack. The operations plan had them stationed inside the building looking out windows toward the rally.
One of the snipers inside saw the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, outside and looking up at the roof, observing the building and disappearing, according to the officer. Crooks came back, sat down and looked at his phone. At that point, one of the snipers took a picture of him. Crooks took out a rangefinder and the sniper radioed to the command post. Crooks disappeared again and then came back a third time with a backpack. The snipers called in with information that he had a backpack and said he was walking toward the back of the building.
Officers believe that Crooks might have used an air conditioning unit to get on top of the roof. By the time other officers came for backup, he had climbed on top of the building and was positioned above and behind the snipers inside the building, the officer said.
Two other officers who heard the sniper’s call tried to get onto the roof. State police started rushing to the scene, but by that time, a Secret Service sniper had already killed Crooks, the officer said.
The FBI is investigating whether the shooter was a politically motivated homegrown domestic violent extremist, and investigators are still combing through his background. Justice Department officials told reporters that investigators have the shooter’s phone and were examining it at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.
Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent, said the image captured by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, seems to show a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump.
An annotated photo showing what appears to be a projectile passing by Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
In documenting the Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday afternoon that turned into an attempt on a former president’s life, Doug Mills, a veteran New York Times photographer, appeared to capture the image of a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump’s head.
That is the assessment of Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent who spent 22 years in the bureau.
“It absolutely could be showing the displacement of air due to a projectile,” Mr. Harrigan said in an interview on Saturday night after reviewing the high-resolution images that Mr. Mills filed from the rally. “The angle seems a bit low to have passed through his ear, but not impossible if the gunman fired multiple rounds.”
Simple ballistic math showed that capturing a bullet as Mr. Mills likely did in a photo was possible, Mr. Harrigan said.
Mr. Mills was using a Sony digital camera capable of capturing images at up to 30 frames per second. He took these photos with a shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second — extremely fast by industry standards.
A composite image showing what appears to be a bullet passing by Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
The other factor is the speed of the bullet from the firearm. On Saturday law enforcement authorities recovered an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle at the scene from a deceased white man they believe was the gunman.
“If the gunman was firing an AR-15-style rifle, the .223-caliber or 5.56-millimeter bullets they use travel at roughly 3,200 feet per second when they leave the weapon’s muzzle,’’ Mr. Harrigan said. “And with a 1/8,000th of a second shutter speed, this would allow the bullet to travel approximately four-tenths of a foot while the shutter is open.”
“Most cameras used to capture images of bullets in flight are using extremely high speed specialty cameras not normally utilized for regular photography, so catching a bullet on a side trajectory as seen in that photo would be a one in a million shot and nearly impossible to catch even if one knew the bullet was coming,” he said.
In Mr. Harrigan’s last assignment, he led the bureau’s firearms training unit and currently works as a consultant in the firearms industry.
“Given the circumstances, if that’s not showing the bullet’s path through the air, I don’t know what else it would be,” he said.
The recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump has reignited discussions about conspiracy theories and the psychology behind them.
Reports indicate that a shooter fired at Trump from about 400 feet away with an AR-style weapon. Fortunately, the attempt failed. Immediately after, the press and Trump himself claimed that he was shot; a bullet pierced his right ear.
One can understand why they initially thought this—there were shots, people were killed, Trump was injured—but it has led to confusion and speculation because, while the video and photos clearly show blood around his ear, his ear remained completely intact—not even a hole. If a bullet from an “AR-style” weapon had made any contact at all, it likely would have caused a rather visible wound, perhaps even tearing the ear off.
Source: David Kyle Johnson, Screenshot
But some authorities, such as the Pennsylvania police, are now saying that Trump was hit by glass (perhaps from a shattered teleprompter), rather than a bullet. Whether it be from a teleprompter or something else (I was unable to confirm exactly where they were all located, or whether one was damaged), the hypothesis that Trump was hit by glass, or some other kind of shrapnel, aligns much better with the nature of the wound Trump received.
Yet some are dismissing this as a conspiracy theory, simply because it contradicts the “standard story.” This misunderstands what conspiracy theories are. To explain why, let’s delve into the psychology of conspiratorial thinking, and clarify why the glass /shrapnel hypothesis is more plausible.
The Nature of Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories propose, without evidence, secret plots by powerful groups working behind the scenes. They are often fueled by “proportionality bias,” a cognitive bias that makes us think big events must have big causes and explain complex or traumatic events with grandiose stories that actually have straightforward explanations.
The human brain is also wired to seek patterns and connections, especially in times of uncertainty or fear. This tendency can lead to the endorsement of conspiratorial explanations, which offer a sense of control and understanding. If the attempt on Trump’s life had been successful, it’s likely conspiracy theories would have been even more widespread.
But something else that has fueled conspiracy theories in this instance is the fact that the initial claim that a bullet hit him directly conflicts with the physical evidence. If a bullet from an AR-style weapon had hit him at all, it likely would have torn his ear completely off. But the video and photos taken right after the shoot show his ear to be intact, with not even a hole. This has made some suggest that the whole thing was faked, a hoax, as in the below example:
“A Republican operative, willing to die for the cause, shot random bullets into the crowd; Trump (knowing it was coming) pretended to be shot, ducked down, applied a blood pack, and then remerged for photo ops, knowing there was no real danger.”
Notice that this is a conspiracy; it invokes secret plots by powerful groups working behind the scenes. But the idea that, instead, he was hit by glass or shrapnel from a shot and shattered teleprompter (or something else) is simply an alternative explanation for the wound based on available evidence. Some people are calling this a conspiracy, but by definition, it is not, since it does not involve secret plots or hidden agendas. In fact, it squelches conspiracy theories because it accounts for a piece of evidence—Trump’s intact ear—that is supposedly in favor of the conspiracy theory without appealing to secret plots and powerful groups.
Initial Reporting and Its Flaws
The reason that people are calling the glass/shrapnel hypothesis a conspiracy is because it supposedly contradicts the “official” narrative—that Trump was shot by a bullet—and that is something that conspiracy theories often do: contradict the official narrative. But there actually is no official narrative yet; the investigation into the attack is not complete. All there is right now is initial reporting and personal accounts, both of which psychologists know are notoriously unreliable.
It would be one thing if the investigation was already complete, and it provided the evidence to conclude that Trump actually was struck by a bullet, and people kept insisting that it was only glass—and suggested a giant cover-up was taking place to hide the truth. That would be a conspiracy theory. But right now, we only have initial reports, and initial reports of significant events are often wrong because they are based on incomplete information and hastily gathered eyewitness accounts.
In the chaos and urgency of such moments, details can be misinterpreted, and accurate verification is challenging. Human memory is fallible, especially under stress, leading to errors and inconsistencies. Media outlets, eager to break news quickly, may prioritize speed over accuracy, further contributing to the spread of incorrect initial information.
Trump can certainly be forgiven for thinking, in the heat of the moment, that he was shot; shots were fired, people were injured and killed, and he was wounded. So can all the rest of us. But if, after careful investigation, it is found that this is not the case, one should admit what the evidence reveals. (Of course, if the glass/shrapnel hypothesis is considered, but careful investigation reveals that it is a bullet wound, one should also admit what the evidence reveals.)
The Role of Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias also plays a crucial role in the persistence of conspiracy theories. People tend to favor information that confirms their preexisting beliefs and dismiss evidence that contradicts them.
For Trump supporters, the narrative of a direct bullet hit may align with a heroic or victimized image of Trump. Conversely, opponents might prefer theories that undermine his claims, such as the idea that he staged the incident.
So, ironically, the glass/shrapnel hypothesis, while it currently appears more plausible, may actually be rejected by both sides because it does not fit neatly into either narrative. The glass/shrapnel hypothesis does not suggest that the whole event was staged—only that there was no near miss, all of the shots fired were off target, and Trump was simply hit by glass/shrapnel caused by one of the shots. Neither does it suggest that Trump miraculously survived direct contact with a bullet. We may like one of these notions better than the other, but as logical thinkers, we must simply follow the evidence where it leads.
The Danger of Mislabeling
Mislabeling rational explanations as conspiracy theories can be dangerous. It fosters a culture of skepticism towards legitimate evidence and encourages the spread of misinformation. By understanding the difference between conspiratorial thinking and logical deduction, we can promote a more rational discourse.
In the Trump incident, acknowledging the glass/shrapnel hypothesis as a plausible explanation can be used to help debunk more far-fetched theories, such as the idea that Trump staged the entire event. These more extreme theories gain traction when initial reports are debunked without a rational alternative being presented.
Item 1 of 3 Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar
[1/3]Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
July 15 (Reuters) – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made his first public appearance at the party’s convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday since a weekend assassination attempt.
Trump had a large bandage on his right ear where he was shot on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania.
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Authorities said Monday that they had accessed the phone of the person who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and had completed searches of his car and his family’s home in suburban Pittsburgh, as ongoing efforts to understand the shooter’s motives have so far come up empty.
The FBI said its investigation remains in the “early stages,” but the immediate lack of a clear motive for Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has only deepened the mystery around the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, more than 24 hours after his name was released by authorities. The presumptive Republican nominee was whisked off the stage during the shooting, which claimed the life of a former fire chief and injured two others.
Gregg McCrary, a former FBI profiler who spent more than 25 years with the bureau, first as a field agent and then in the behavioral science unit, said the lack of information about Crooks, 20, poses a challenge for law enforcement.
“This guy is one of these almost invisible people that are out there,” he said. “They’re not on social media. They’re not screaming or yelling about this or that. They’re ruminating about it internally — whatever it might be. And they just decide to do this, which scares the hell out of all of us in law enforcement.”
“Some people say it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he added. “That’s not really it. A better way to think about it is to try and predict which piece of hay is going to become a needle.”
Senior law enforcement officials on Monday offered new details stemming from the investigation:
More than a dozen guns were found in a search of the family’s home in Bethel Park, four senior officials said.
After reports of a shooting at Trump’s rally, the shooter’s father, Matthew Crooks, called police to say he was worried that his son and his AR rifle were missing, and police went to the home after the call, three senior officials said.
Authorities are looking into whether some of the ammunition in the shooting was purchased in the days prior and whether some of the bullets were picked up at a store and brought to the home, or were delivered, one senior official said. One of the stores the FBI is investigating is Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park, a six-minute drive from the shooter’s home.
FBI technical specialists were unable to ascertain a motive for the shooting after a preliminary analysis of the gunman’s phone, according to one senior official. Officials said they are analyzing other electronic devices.
Thomas Matthew Crooks.Obtained by NBC News
Few details have been uncovered about the shooter’s background. Public records show that he was a registered Republican who once donated to a progressive voting effort, but even people who knew him have offered little insight. Almost nothing has been found in the way of an online footprint, and people who spoke with authorities told NBC News that they had little to say about him.
Mark Crooks, the shooter’s uncle, said on Monday that he hadn’t spoken to his nephew or brother Matthew since 2019, when their father died. He told NBC News from his home in suburban Pittsburgh that he tried reaching out to his brother after his nephew was identified as the shooter, but has received no response.
He described his brother as private and added that he hasn’t seen his nephew in several years. He said he did not know about his political leanings nor what would have motivated him to perpetrate an attempted assassination on the former president.
Crooks said his nephew’s actions were unforgivable and that he feels terrible for the victims.
“You know what, you can’t forgive what he did,” he said. “Look at what he did. He shot at everybody. He killed one guy and wounded a couple more.”
Forrest Works, who lives directly across the street from the shooter’s home, said he was trying to come to terms with the assassination attempt.
“I saw him walking around but I never saw anything suspicious,” Works, 30, said. “I haven’t processed the shooting yet. It’s wild.”
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, earned an associate’s degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County in May and was working as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Former classmates who have spoken about the shooter didn’t seem to know him very well. He didn’t appear in any club or sports activities in his high school yearbooks and wasn’t photographed in his junior and senior years.
Jason Kohler, who attended high school with Crooks, said he remembered him sitting alone at lunch and that he kept to himself. He said some students would make fun of Crooks, but others have disputed that he was the target of bullies.
“Everyone was just in complete shock,” Kohler said Monday after learning of the shooter’s identity.
Sarah D’Angelo, who lived on the same street as Crooks and graduated high school with him, echoed that it was “entirely unexpected” that a former classmate could have orchestrated the shooting. She said Crooks went by “Tom” or “Tommy.”
“All I can say is the community is all very close given how great of a school district we have; very family orientated and true Americans,” D’Angelo said in a text message.
A former classmate who grew up with Crooks and attended school with him from the fourth to ninth grades remembered playing basketball with him as a youth and thought of him as a quiet kid who kept to himself.
“It’s terrible what he did, however, I never really expected it from the person that I knew,” the former classmate said. “I’m sure he changed drastically in high school as most of us do.”
On Monday afternoon, some residents who live near the shooter’s residence were just returning home after being abruptly evacuated by federal agents over the weekend.
A few sat on their porches, in front of their lawns and even looked through windows as federal agents questioned residents.
“The State Police knocked on my door and told me I was being evacuated,” said neighbor Kelly Little, 38, who usually noticed Thomas walking through the neighborhood every couple of days.
The two would exchange small greetings, but nothing more.
The Crooks family home sat quiet Monday with a blue truck and a red car parked in the driveway.
Little said FBI agents asked her if she knew or ever had any conversations with Thomas. She told them no.
The FBI believes the shooter acted alone. But with no overt social media presence or known threats, understanding why becomes even more difficult, McCrary, the FBI profiler, said.
“We may never know. The problem is we’re looking for some rational explanation for irrational behavior,” he added. “And sometimes there is no rational explanation.”
Deon Hampton reported from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter and Erik Ortiz from New York City.
BlackRock reached its highest value of assets under management (AUM) just six months after the explosive launch of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in January.
As of June 30, the financial giant held $10.65 trillion across its entire platform, up 13% year over year, according to its Q2 earnings report published on Monday. That’s well above its $10.2 trillion estimate for the second quarter, during which it hauled $51 billion in new client cash to its long term investment funds.
“Organic growth was driven by private markets, retail active fixed income, and surging flows into our ETFs, which had their best start to a year on record,” said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in a statement, per Bloomberg. The firm’s total net flows in Q2 totaled $82 billion, making for $139 billion in net flows for the first half of the year.
The performance surge represents a rebound for BlackRock and other money managers whose stocks and other assets plummeted in value as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates in 2022 and 2023.
Now, with markets predicting that interest rates will start falling again in September, investors are moving capital back into fixed-income, and away from money-market funds where they won’t earn the same yield once rates drop.
That’s also potentially good news for Bitcoin (BTC)—an asset whose price is historically reacted to monetary policy changes much like stocks.
BlackRock’s IBIT
After launching IBIT at the start of the year, BlackRock has become the owner of the largest Bitcoin spot ETF in the world, which holds $18.3 billion worth of Bitcoin in its coffers as of Friday. At the end of Q1, IBIT’s flows totaled $13.9 billion, implying that net flows to the fund have climbed $4.4 billion—despite Bitcoin’s price declining significantly since that time.
Vanguard Group—BlackRock’s largest competitor—held $8.6 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023, according to its website.
Unlike BlackRock, Fidelity, and other major asset managers, Vanguard chose not to launch or provide investors a platform for any Bitcoin spot ETFs for philosophical reasons.
As of last week, Vanguard’s new CEO Salim Ramij began spearheading the company—after previously helping BlackRock launch its Bitcoin ETF.
An annotated photo showing what appears to be a projectile passing by Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times Photo Appears to Capture Path of Bullet Used in Assassination Attempt “Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent, said the image captured by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, seems to show a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump. In Mr. Harrigan’s last assignment, he led the bureau’s firearms training unit and currently works as a consultant in the firearms industry. “Given the circumstances, if that’s not showing the bullet’s path through the air, I don’t know what else it would be,” he said.” This question is easy to answer, Mr. Harrigan: The mini-drone. Or similar devices. However, this is just my non-expert opinion. This NYTimes photo of this “OBJECT IN FLIGHT” appears to be the only one of its kind at this moment, and it is very valuable. It has to be studied by specialists, and of different profiles.
Please note, that the shape and the length of the plumes – traces behind the bullet and in Trump’s photo are different: Turbulent, curly, and short behind the bullet, and straight, even, thin, and granular line in the Trump’s photo. Make the investigative experiment: photograph the bullet in flight, discharged from the presumed assailant’s weapon (AR, probably Kalashnikov type) and compare this photo with the NYTimes photo. I doubt, that it will be the same pattern.
Otherwise, there will not be the usable, practical knowledge.
It might be, possibly, the Belousov’s (new Russian MOD) “high precision” revenge and warning: Drones and the anti-drones defense is his specialty and the stylistic preference. It might also be his kiss of death: biting “Trumpushka” on his Rightist ear, the Cosa Nostra – Bratva way. The times are changi-i-ing. Or are they? It looks like Belousov is the GRU man, judging by his anti-corruption drive. GRU made the alliance with FSB which previously was barred by Shoigu from interference and investigations of his generals financial machinations and bribe-taking. Belousov probably will be the de facto Russian Ruler under the watchful but tired Putin’s eye. And Belousov (“Sam S – Belim – Usam – Myself With The – White – Mustaches”) shows his mettle, almost imperceptibly. Almost.
Both Biden’s Debate Debacle, with the possible effects of DEW: Directed Energy Weapons, and the POSSIBLY STAGED TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT of 7.13.24, with the use of the mini-drone or the specially designed digitally controlled bullet (or even simpler devices: the specially designed type of a slingshot or blowgun, which were operated remotely or from a short distance behind the Trump’s right ear) are most likely the two acts of the same opera, under the same GRU maestros. Punctuated in antracts by the nice conversations between the two colleagues: Mr. Austin and Mr. Belousov.
How did the bullet “graze” Trump’s ear, and was it really a bullet?
The presumed gunman Thomas Matthes Crooks was located on the roof to the right side of Trump, and the bullet shot from this direction, which “grazed” the upper tip of his right ear, would inevitably hit the right side of his skull, and this did not happen. It looks like, from Trump’s reaction, that his ear was possibly hit from behind him, and it was something smaller than a regular bullet. Hypothetically and theoretically, the “high precision and high value” attack with mini-drone, the size of the insect, is possible, as one of the explanations.
I would also be interested in the identities of people standing on the podium right behind Trump.
Trump touched the injured ear with his right hand, and when the palm of his hand showed on video, there was no blood on it, immediately after the injury, although the fingers appeared slightly blooded on photo.
“Is it not strange how the very little blood spatter is running in the opposite direction of the bullet’s trajectory? One would expect it to be on his back, not running down in three thin rivulets on his face. Strange.” Good observation! I agree. It does look somewhat made up, as if for a picture.
All in all, it is nothing short of miracle that this presumed bullet “grazed” his ear but did not cause any other damage.
The medical forensic expertise of the Trump’s wound after the assassination attempt is needed, with the specific question, if it is consistent with bullet injury.
However, one of the attendees was killed, and two were seriously injured. The locations of these persons and the nature of their injuries should be analyzed forensically vizavi the location of the presumed gunman Crooks, in their ballistic aspects. Were the shots fired by one or more than one person?
These questions and doubts are supplemented by the set of very clear and sardonic Telling Names: “Trump was shot at Butler Farm Show, Pa; by Crooks”.
Was Crooks used for his telling last name, to broadcast the message?
E.g.: “All those crooks around Trump are killing him and his ideas.”
“What’s obviously fueling these CTs is the very valid question of why a lone shooter was able to get onto the roof of a nearby building and remain there after spectators noticed him and alerted law enforcement minutes before the shots rang out, and why the Secret Service snipers didn’t take him out the instant they saw him with a rifle on that roof.”
He could possibly be influenced, hypnotised, incapacitated or killed before appearing on this roof. Some of the FBI agents were “very surprised” by his presumed ability to fire the series of shots. It looks only logical, that there were more than one “designated by the FBI” shooter. He also ended up dead. These features make this occurrence close in its pattern to the other episodes of the mass shootings. They also make them difficult to investigate. It looks like a highly professional job.
“The man who died was 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore”, and this last name can also be viewed as “telling”. It is possible, that this person was targeted specifically, and for something more than just a name. “Comperatore is an Italian surname that originated from the word “imperatore,” meaning emperor in Italian. The surname is believed to have been given to individuals who served or worked for the emperor in some capacity.” This telling name may be viewed as the part of the Signature: “This was done by the Emperor’s men.” We have only one real Emperor in the world these days: Vladimir Putin, Vlad the Impaler.
My opinion is that there are observable similarities between this Trump incident and the cases of mass shootings, with regard to the questions about the numbers of the actual shooters and their true identities. It is possible that the authors of these “shows”are the same: Putin and his circle, and that they took some care to avoid the risk to Trump’s life while maximizing the impact on inciting the Civil War and bringing other similar calamities upon America.
The Russians were quick to answer: “we have nothing to do with Trump assassination attempt, that’s your job.”. Too quick. Tellingly quick?
The additional, facetious side benefit for them, the Putin’s circle, would be to confuse and to fool the FBI and the public by introducing the explanations which have very questionable relations with the common sense.
In principle, whatever was said about possible, hypothetical at this point, interest and role of Russia, can be applied to Israel. The studies of the October Surprise 2016 show that it was the Israel’s, most likely Mossad’s job, more than the Russian one. Netanyahu had already gained politically from this affair. Their technical capabilities appear to be about equal. Both Putin and Netanyahu wait for Trump.
“Misinformation and outright lies have been the foundation of the Far Right’s blueprint since 2009. One can go back to the era when Far Right leaning Republicans were known as neo cons (Reagan era thru to 2001) who were just as putrid but more evil than violent. The Far Left has, always, had their crop of intellectually deficient members as well and no less eager to mold a personal belief into a falsehood and passing it for fact. To Bannon’s and Trump’s credit, they drew on the increasing Conservative penchant to hate the America the rest of the world respected and trusted and pieced together a Far Right machine that would make a little German fellow from the 1930s proud.
This staged assassination attempt was their biggest, and sadly for the deceased and wounded devotees, most dangerous and reckless attempt to portray Trump as invincible and indestructible. The fallout we are witnessing proves it worked.”
If Trump is elected, it will be a total DISASTER in all respects:The New Abwehr, and the Trumpian neofascism. But do not fear: The INSTITUTIONS of the American Democracy will prevail and save the country, just like they, and many of their leaders did in the Trump’s first term.
Michael Novakhov | 7.14.24
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Attempted assassination triggers violent rhetoric and misinformation on some online platforms as delegates gather for the Republican National Convention.
Copyright: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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Reasonable observation https://t.co/CTqeS7L6lO The distance between President #Trump and the shooter on a rooftop was 137 meters. It is literally impossible that both the SS and the #FBI did not know exactly where the shooter was, as demonstrated by the videos shared on social… https://t.co/Bc8oSqSqxfpic.twitter.com/glyLoJVQ0W
This image shows the location of the shooting site, about 400 feet from the stage, at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.GOOGLE EARTH/CBS NEWS
🇮🇪 Volodymyr #Zelensky visited Ireland on July 13.The Ukrainian President met with the country’s Prime Minister, Simon Harris. According to the Irish Prime Minister, they discussed a potential bilateral agreement concerning demining, energy, humanitarian aid, and food security. pic.twitter.com/AH16zySh4K— KyivPost (@KyivPost) July 13, 2024
Russia took advantage of the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump to attack American liberal values, describing what it called a suicide of democracy, and predicting a civil war and the dissolution of the United States.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said U.S. President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have put Trump’s life in “obvious” danger and provoked his assassination attempt by trying but failing to remove him from the presidential race, “using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate.”
The FBI said Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was the suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump. Biden said Sunday, the shooting was “contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not American. And we cannot allow this to happen.”
Contrary to the Kremlin’s claims, the separation of powers concept is not merely a paragraph in the U.S. Constitution but a working system, and President Biden has no control over the judiciary or the legislative branch of the government.
An array of top Russian lawmakers, diplomats and newsmakers pushed a narrative that the attempt on Trump’s life “confirmed” the “American type of democracy” is wrong, and “deeply corroded.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the attempt on Trump’s life was all about the American democracy, which “the liberals brought to the verge of suicide.” The “dissolution of the United States does not look like such an impossible prophesy any longer,” Zakharova said.
FILE – Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 2, 2022.
Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti, featured the analysis from its top propagandist, Piotr Akopov.
Akopov played around Trump’s 2016 election promise to “drain the Washington swamp” to claim that the “swampers” have been “biting at their elbows” and regretting they “did not kill him before November 2016.”
The Democratic Party did not plot to kill Trump, but the attack was the result of an atmosphere of hatred they have been nurturing for the last eight years, Akopov wrote.
He then speculated that it came as “no surprise” that the Secret Service “only saw the shooter after he made eight shots,” because with Trump’s rising popularity, “killing him has become a scenario with no alternative for the deep state Washington swamp.”
Akopov repeated the conspiracy theory about “killing Trump” being the “only option” five times in his 600-word piece.
While Akopov’s “analysis” is merely a hybrid of propaganda, disinformation and conspiracy theories, he is an essential player in the Kremlin’s domestic messaging. Thousands of local news agencies and websites republish RIA Novosti publications across Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
For foreign audiences, Russia utilizes the social media platforms like X, formerly Twitter, and a network of 270+ accounts of the Russian embassies and consulates worldwide, all boosting the Kremlin’s narratives in many different languages.
The Russia Embassy in South Africa is one of the most prominent propaganda superspreaders on X.
To a photograph of Trump’s bloodied face, the diplomatic mission added a commentary accusing the “Democrats” of being incapable of tolerance but capable of perpetrating “any crime… for the sake of their ‘ultimate goal.’”
X users reminded the embassy in South Africa of the death of Alexey Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest opponent, in prison earlier this year.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and numerous international institutions and governments accused Putin of ordering Navalny’s assassination. Germany and the United Nations Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the Russian FSB poisoned Navalny with military-grade nerve agent Novichok in 2020.
Rights watchdogs say that during the two decades of Putin’s rule, Russia has seen a systematic oppression of political and civil liberties and the erosion of human rights and press freedom.
Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent, said the image captured by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, seems to show a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump.
An annotated photo showing what appears to be a projectile passing by Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
In documenting the Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday afternoon that turned into an attempt on a former president’s life, Doug Mills, a veteran New York Times photographer, appeared to capture the image of a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump’s head.
That is the assessment of Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent who spent 22 years in the bureau.
“It absolutely could be showing the displacement of air due to a projectile,” Mr. Harrigan said in an interview on Saturday night after reviewing the high-resolution images that Mr. Mills filed from the rally. “The angle seems a bit low to have passed through his ear, but not impossible if the gunman fired multiple rounds.”
Simple ballistic math showed that capturing a bullet as Mr. Mills likely did in a photo was possible, Mr. Harrigan said.
Mr. Mills was using a Sony digital camera capable of capturing images at up to 30 frames per second. He took these photos with a shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second — extremely fast by industry standards.
A composite image showing what appears to be a bullet passing by Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
The other factor is the speed of the bullet from the firearm. On Saturday law enforcement authorities recovered an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle at the scene from a deceased white man they believe was the gunman.
“If the gunman was firing an AR-15-style rifle, the .223-caliber or 5.56-millimeter bullets they use travel at roughly 3,200 feet per second when they leave the weapon’s muzzle,’’ Mr. Harrigan said. “And with a 1/8,000th of a second shutter speed, this would allow the bullet to travel approximately four-tenths of a foot while the shutter is open.”
“Most cameras used to capture images of bullets in flight are using extremely high speed specialty cameras not normally utilized for regular photography, so catching a bullet on a side trajectory as seen in that photo would be a one in a million shot and nearly impossible to catch even if one knew the bullet was coming,” he said.
In Mr. Harrigan’s last assignment, he led the bureau’s firearms training unit and currently works as a consultant in the firearms industry.
“Given the circumstances, if that’s not showing the bullet’s path through the air, I don’t know what else it would be,” he said.
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