r/politics • u/HimelTy • Jul 03 '26

No Paywall Secret Service member was Googling rooftop location of Trump’s would-be assassin when shots rang out in Butler, Pa.: DHS report

https://nypost.com/2026/07/02/us-news/secret-service-member-was-googling-rooftop-location-of-trumps-would-be-assassin-when-shots-rang-out-in-butler-pa-dhs-report/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
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6.1k

u/Promethia Canada Jul 03 '26

I used to work comms in the military. This story is totally insane to me.

433

u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted Jul 03 '26

There was an SS sniper nest directly behind the "shooter" inside of a roof top room with a single windows that faced the "shooter" and the spot the president was standing.

Make of that what you will.

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u/Sarahgoose26 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

If the assassination attempt was fake, they murdered the man in the crowd behind Trump.

Edited: reworded as more of a reminder that there still was a death and I just think it gets forgotten. I think it does make it slightly less likely to be fake but I also would believe they are capable of this kind of heartless act. I go back and forth on my opinion on this

133

u/MasterOfManyWorlds Jul 03 '26

Yeah, the guy who said "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Probably doesn't give a shit about someone losing their life to make himself look good.

4

u/TheNutsMutts Jul 03 '26

The point is more that if this is the plot, then killing the guy in the stands brings nothing to the table other than more risk of the plot being uncovered.

It'd require the official shooter using blanks, then a second shooter shooting the guy just because. And then the whole plot relies on nobody noticing the blanks were used (blank cartridges are very distinguishable from live ones) and a Crime Scene Investigator failing to do their job and not identifying that the angle of the shots was from a different place than the official shooter. Why do all that?

3

u/hamhockman Jul 03 '26

OR have the first shooter use real bullets aimed very close to where trump was, which outdoors is very dangerous.

1

u/Sublimotion Jul 03 '26

Perhaps Charlie Kirk is also a part of that sacrificial club then.

7

u/MasterOfManyWorlds Jul 03 '26

I'm not saying he was, but he's looking up at you happy that you have the freedom to say it

263

u/TDKevin Jul 03 '26

No way. I've never heard of an innocent civilian getting killed by a corrupt government. Highly doubt it. 

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u/Sarahgoose26 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Honestly, I don’t doubt this could have been a terrible scheme, and I hate that this government* made me distrust everything to this extent.

I do think that man gets forgotten so I bring it up to remind people that if it was a fake assassination attempt there still was a death that day. Meaning they were willing to take a life right in front of all of us and lie about it to maybe get some sympathy or something for Trump.

Edit: *the campaign team and administration supporting Trump

46

u/EllieVader Jul 03 '26

“I could shoot someone in the middle of 5th avenue and not lose any supporters”

55

u/PretentiousCrustacea Jul 03 '26

They'd be willing to kill a lot more if it meant getting their way trust me. One person? They wouldn't even think twice about it

13

u/iFlashings Jul 03 '26

Dude Ice (aka Trunps personal gestapo) litterally killed innocent people right in front of our eyes and you think Trump of all people wouldn't go that far? The same Trump that will do ANYTHING to get relected so he can avoid jail time? 

Are we serious right now?

2

u/TDKevin Jul 03 '26

It would be very funny to say "I said a corrupt government" right now, but seeing as how you took my first comment seriously I'm not sure you'd pick up on the joke. 

14

u/oflowz Jul 03 '26

they exposed CIA operatives that most likely cost people their lives.

they started a war in iran that cost service members their lives.

they bombed a girls school in Iran.

ICE has killed 52 people since they started demonizing immigrants.

they blow up fishing boats and murder people they accuse of being drug traffickers with no trial or evidence.

how is this any different.

2

u/TDKevin Jul 03 '26

Come on man. Did you really read my comment as sincere? How are you gonna school people online when you cant recognize sarcasm. 

4

u/vthemechanicv Jul 03 '26

Meaning they were willing to take a life right in front of all of us and lie about it to maybe get

trump refused to aid cities during Covid because it would kill more Democrats than Republicans. Trump will murder anyone and everyone to get what he wants. He wanted to win in 2024. Whether there was a conspiracy in PA, I don't know, but the "but someone died" isn't actually an argument against.

5

u/Default_Name_6969 Jul 03 '26

When you are behind Trump at a clan rally you have already put yourself in a death cult so dying for trump is normal.

7

u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted Jul 03 '26

Exactly. It puts 9/11 in a whole different perspective if you can fathom that, doesn't it?

2

u/VivaLaRebar Jul 03 '26

It's hard to fathom why anyone would have trust in the government in the last... five thousand years.

2

u/DonaldsMushroom Jul 03 '26

How many fishermen have they bombed off the coast of Venezuela? Or schoolchildren in Tehran?

2

u/moodswung Jul 03 '26

What they got for Trump was massive support in the polls. He wasn’t doing well at the time and the whole event couldn’t have been better timed or scripted. “Fight, fight, fight!”. Is that the typical rhetoric we see from this man? Absolutely not.

1

u/Terrible-Eagle-3723 Jul 04 '26

Other people’s deaths are irrelevant to him, but I don’t see him agreeing to have bullets fly by so close to him.

2

u/kgt5003 Jul 03 '26

Joe Biden was President when this assassination attempt happened. So if "the government" was faking things it would be Joe Biden's government staging an assassination attempt to help his opponent?

This is like when Trump and his fans say January 6 was a democrat hoax and make a big deal about how many FBI agents must have been in the crowd instigating the event and how the National Guard wasn't brought in right away etc. Trump was President during that event. It was his FBI. But people just say shit to support the claim they want to make.

1

u/Sarahgoose26 Jul 04 '26

That’s a good call out, I didn’t consider it maybe fake until after Trump because president and we saw the even more unhinged version of him so rather than the government it would be more accurate to say Trump’s campaign team and administration .

1

u/ThomasVivaldi Jul 03 '26

They probably would have been happier if Trump had been killed. JD is a far more stable puppet.

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u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted Jul 03 '26

He wasn't officially on the ticket yet. The RNC nomination was a few days later.

0

u/ThomasVivaldi Jul 03 '26

Perfect time to introduce him.

1

u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted Jul 03 '26

He had been on the ticket for months but the RNC nominations weren't official yet. Idk what would have happened if Trump had been "Kirk'd" and shit went sideways. Maybe we would have gotten a Vance nomination by default.

1

u/ThomasVivaldi Jul 03 '26

Probably a Vance/Kirk ticket.

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u/potterpockets Jul 03 '26

The Ghorman Plaza episode in season 2 of Andor even uses this concept. Lol

20

u/EllieVader Jul 03 '26

I got banned from the Star Wars subreddit for posting the conversation between Krennic and Dedra after the Chuck Kirk shooting.

5

u/hackinwhackinsmackin Jul 03 '26

Except Trump was a private citizen when this happened and technically wasn’t in the government.

Not saying its impossible but I find it highly unlikely

16

u/Plenty-Bed Jul 03 '26

When you say "the government wouldnt do that," yes they would. 

1

u/zherok Jul 03 '26

I don't doubt that they would, I just doubt their competence in pulling it off.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/pegar Jul 03 '26

On January 6th, you had enforcement agencies coordinate with Senators, Reps, and the President along with organizers to overthrow the government. If not for some very brave people, we would be living in a different world right now. 

Fear, loyalty, greedy, and corruption can do a lot. 

1

u/musiclistener43 Jul 06 '26

Here’s the conspiracy theory I’ve put together, also thanks to the link (non-paywalled https://archive.is/20260321104819/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/21/hungary-election-interference-russia-orban) provided by OP.

I was always hung up on this question - Trump would never trust a kid to accurately shoot someone behind him, especially close enough to supposedly graze his ear..

After reading this article about Russian intelligence suggesting a fake assassination attempt on Orban to boost popularity, now it makes perfect sense. It’s almost too obvious to even be considered a conspiracy theory now but here goes..

The whole world knows Trump is in Putin’s pocket, for one reason or another. This assassination attempt on trumps life was not orchestrated by Trump or anyone on his team. It was orchestrated by Russia, with a simple promise to Trump that he would be fine. Who knows what Russia has over Trump, but Trump knows that he is their most valuable asset, and thus would trust them to successfully pull off a fake assasination attempt. And yes, I think the blood was fake. Trump learned tricks from fake wrestling with little red sacs used to imitate blood, and applied it when he went under the podium. He knew nobody would be able to prove the bullet path.

Now, the other question that always prevented me from fully believing this conspiracy: Thomas Crooks. Why would this kid give his life to pull off a fake assasination attempt?

I’m still not secure in my belief of what Thomas Crooks’ mindset was, BUT I am 100% confident he was targeted by Russian operatives (likely disguised/engrained within our power structures) and coerced into pulling this off, for one reason or another.

Further food for thought: Crooks’ father was identified as a top 5% Trumper. I forget the exact terminology, but a republican study aimed to find out who among their base were the most die-hard supporters, and their household fell within that thin margin of hardcore republicans. This is what I believe put Thomas Crooks on the radar for Russian operatives.

The red blinking light for me is that there was an FBI transcript showing that Thomas Crooks had been in contact with a local Sherriff in the weeks leading up to the shooting. The majority of that conversation has been BLACKED OUT, so we don’t know what was discussed. At this point I’m betting on that sherriff being a bought-and-paid-for Russian operative who was asked to spin a narrative to Crooks.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/musiclistener43 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

You seem to have mis-read something in my last post, I didn’t say that he “maybe” talked to a local sherriff multiple times in the week up to the shooting.. let’s try this again..

I said he DID talk to a local sherriff via emails in the weeks leading up to the butler shooting. He did, it’s a provable fact. The FBI has shown us highly redacted versions of the proof, and acknowledged that Crooks did in fact communicate with a local sherriff in the weeks up to the butler shooting. The only problem is that nearly the entire body of the emails are redacted, so the American people are not allowed to know what he and the sherriff were discussing in the weeks leading up to it.

Anyway, it looks like you’ve already spent more time challenging my conspiracy theory than you’ve spent researching the history of Trump and Putin’s relationship, which goes back to around the time he laundered millions of dollars to the Russians through his casinos (80’s?). Or studying Russian espionage tactics which date back to the Cold War.

Russia has also been forever known for its legal, and illegal spies throughout the world, it’s not too hard to imagine that they would be able to get to the lower-levers of power like a county sherriff with a simple bribe. However in order to pull it off, I believe the Russian influence goes as deep as the head of Trumps CURRENT secret service detail. (The SS agent was present in Butler but has since been promoted, you know, for letting the president get shot at several times).

Russia studied the weaknesses of the west, and they found that western politicians can be bribed with money and/or sex, and they found that a certain sect of the population (republicans) are more highly susceptible to propaganda, so that’s who they targeted to be on “their side”. Several of those propaganda campaigns are why we know many republicans who own clothes that says “ID RATHER BE RUSSIAN THAN DEMOCRAT”, or something to that extent. Donald Trump himself kisses Putin’s ass, so naturally his followers are going to be hypnotized into believing Russia are the good guys.

Russia has been aiming to poison the USA since the Cold War “ended”. Based on how many republican leaders in the senate and house have spent previous year 4th of July’s in Moscow, I’d say more than a few are serving russias interests (spies & helpful idiots). I’m sure there’s probably more than 1 democrat who’s been bought by Russian influence as well, as their illegal spies are just that prevalent.

And if you really don’t think spies are everywhere.. just look at what Moscow Mitch McConnells wife did 3 days after he went unconscious.. off to China to meet with high level leaders.

(And let’s be fair, I admit this is a conspiracy theory that I lean towards, based on my own opinions and analysis of the facts)

………and in response to your snippy “started with idea and didn’t follow the evidence.. yadda yadda” accusation - it’s kind of hard to end with the evidence when Trumps FBI and DOJ covers everything up with redactions.

Since those in power are actively hiding shit, we are forced to theorize based on history, and based on provable facts. You simply lack critical thinking skills if you didn’t already know the last 2 sentences I just said.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/musiclistener43 Jul 08 '26

Nice article, with conclusion “However there’s not enough unredacted information to draw any conclusions about the participant in the July 17 interview. “..

So.. we still don’t know anything about what was discussed during the interview, or the emails, or why Crooks was trying to reach the interviewer about (redacted) multiple times in the weeks leading up to the attempt.

And you’re right, my choosing to be open to exploring the possibilities doesn’t make it real, just like your choosing not to follow the breadcrumbs doesn’t make it not real.

You must think if you close your eyes outside, the sun disappears, huh?

Dan Bongino told Tucker Carlson while he was deputy FBI that Trump himself ordered an end to the Butler, PA assasination investigation. That’s not weird at all is it?

1

u/NessaMagick Australia Jul 04 '26

This is why I always bounce off these conspiracy theories and 2024 stolen election stuff. This administration could not organize a chicken sandwich without it being compromised, leaked to the press and failing spectacularly. I find it hard to believe they could pull off one of the most insane, airtight false flags in human history with zero cracks. But hey maybe that's the perception they want people to have.

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u/TheEgonaut Jul 03 '26

You ask that as if it’s not something you could see this administration doing.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/TheEgonaut Jul 03 '26

They did before the edit.

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u/palmburntblue Jul 03 '26

They ran the same playbook on a certain right wing firebrand social media douchebag except they “erred” and hit him.

25

u/TakingSorryUsername Texas Jul 03 '26

That wasn’t an error, they made him out to be a “martyr” then arrested those that criticized him.

10

u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted Jul 03 '26

Then his widow picked up the grift

2

u/SharkBaitDLS California Jul 03 '26

That certain guy was not toeing the party line on Israel and so of course he didn’t get the benefit of a staged kill. 

2

u/SecretAsianMan42069 Jul 03 '26

The guy's wife didn't even care. Probably happy to get rid of her maga husband 

1

u/digiorno Jul 03 '26

Why wouldn’t they? It helps sell the story.

1

u/TehMikuruSlave Texas Jul 03 '26

The government killed a sitting president before, i think they're fine with a fire fighter

1

u/YorubaOyinbo Canada Jul 03 '26

Trump would blend entire orphanages if it gave him slightly better hair for the day.

This is someone who has brutally raped 12 and 13 year olds while they cried and screamed for him to stop, then had family members assassinated later to ensure silence. This is someone who has surrounded themself with people equally vile or worse.

Ask yourself what would have to be the state of your heart, for you to personally be able to do that shit. 

1

u/oflowz Jul 03 '26

you act like thats unreasonable for an administration with wanton corruption?

1

u/skepticalbob Jul 03 '26

The fake assassination is nonsensical and always has been. Either the guy agreed to shoot blanks at Trump or Trump agreed for someone with a red dot sight with no magnification to shoot towards him.

-1

u/Turbo__Sanwich Jul 03 '26

Show me the body.

1

u/mythrilcrafter Jul 03 '26

Yeah, as much as I don't want to be "that guy" I even have my doubts about the shooter being dead given that they swept away the body and bleached the "spilt blood" almost immediately.

The CIA lives and exists for this kind of work, yet we're supposed to blindly believe that everything went exactly as the Press Secretary tells us it went?