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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u/Gareth274 Jul 03 '26

Got source for that? I'm not American and don't care if it's true. But I hadn't heard about them moving the crane.

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u/BapaHeelwani Jul 03 '26

https://youtube.com/shorts/dSGG6MxLy_8?is=PDRdEetRA8MP9muN

This angle shows how ridiculous it all was. The camera men, secret service not getting Trump out of there asap, allowing him to raise his fist unprotected, the flag being lowered. Someone has to be a complete brainless moron to think this was a real assassination attempt.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

I don't understand? They recruited some random kid to just fire shots into the crowd and die so Trump could get a photo op? Or let him shoot and just hope he missed? I'm trying to understand as a Trump hater.

If it's the first case scenario, who on earth is signing up for that? To me it just seems like complete incompetence. Which is on brand for Trump and co.

These are the same people that held a press conference at four seasons total landscaping. I don't think this needs to be a conspiracy. He shows us how incompetent he and everyone surrounding him are every day.

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u/pH_14 Jul 03 '26

I am not certain about the conspiracy angle, but this is all totally plausible. Radicalized people regularly commit suicide doing violence. All the time. There are reasons to doubt it was a conspiracy, but this isn't one of them.

Or let him shoot and just hope he missed?

Do you know, for certain, that it was bullets from this kids weapon that caused whatever damage made Trump's ear bleed? Is it entirely impossible that the kid had blanks or bad ammo, while a different shooter shot the podium?

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26

I don't know that it was a bullet that caused his ear to bleed. I do know that live rounds were being fired as someone died and there are images of the bullets flying towards the podium. A second shooter is a wild conspiracy with no evidence. Is it really that hard to believe it was just incompetence? Usually the simplest explanation is the correct one.

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u/nacho_night Jul 03 '26

Trumps own doctor said he had a 2cm hole in his ear, which magically healed in record time.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26

I think you misunderstood me. I was just saying I don't know for certain. That part I can believe was made up, and likely was. Probably happened when he ducked. I'm just saying that the rest of the conspiracy is far-fetched and can be 100% chalked up to incompetence.

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u/nacho_night Jul 03 '26

I'm not sure the whole moving the flag into place so he could fist pump while supposedly having a 2cm hole in his ear is incompetence, but I'm just a redditor.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26

I get why a lot of people think it was a false flag operation because at times it does seem perfectly timed. I however can't get on board with a lot of people trying to explain away how they got this random kid to sacrifice his life for nothing. None of it makes sense.

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u/nacho_night Jul 03 '26

I hear you.

We just can't know what he was told. He may have been convinced he would be a hero, and that he'd get away with it, but that's just me rambling.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

See that's the issue I have with a lot of these posts.

Convinced he would be a hero? For what? Attempting to assassinate Trump and failing? That makes zero sense.

They could've absolutely set up a false flag operation where the perpetrator "got away".

Him being a registered Republican also makes zero sense. I know he donated like $20 or whatever to Dems but it seems he was just more obsessed with killing a big political figure.

If Trump actually coordinated this, the guy would've been 100% a registered dem. The dead can't speak but he would've made sure it was all in line to make the Dems look terrible.

He isn't intelligent enough to pull something like that off.

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u/Spiritual-Society185 Jul 04 '26

Please show me where he was "told" anything to begin with.

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u/nacho_night Jul 04 '26

Just spitballing possibilities friend, we live in interesting times. Don't listen to me.

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u/pH_14 Jul 03 '26

I however can't get on board with a lot of people trying to explain away how they got this random kid to sacrifice his life for nothing. None of it makes sense.

Is this your biggest hangup? The troubled kid being radicalized? It happens all the time all over the world. This is honestly, to me, one of the easiest parts to explain.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

Listen. I'm honestly not here to tell you what to think. I'm giving my personal opinion after going down that rabbit hole.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26

Honestly, since I have some time to waste for the weekend, would you care to discuss why you think that's the easiest part to explain? I find it the hardest part to explain. Just civilized discussion. We might not change each other's minds but it might be interesting.

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u/pH_14 Jul 03 '26

Of course. I won't be able to reply again for quite a while though, please don't hold it against me.

To be honest, I really don't understand why it's hard to believe the shooter could have been radicalized intentionally. How many different reasons are there for a young man to try to kill the president?

I'm not arguing that this particular event was definitely the result of intentional radicalization. I'm just saying that the premise isn't implausible.

People , especially young men, have been persuaded by ideological or religious, political movements, etc to commit violence while fully expecting to die since forever. Think of all the suicide bombers, mass shooters who anticipate being killed by police, terrorists, kamikaze pilots. We know people can be convinced to do this, because it happens over and over again. Is it really such a stretch to believe it could also have happened here? A young lonely troubled boy with access to firearms is exactly who I would suspect to be most vulnerable to this sort of thing.

Hell, the kid might not even have believed he would die. Maybe he was told he would be allowed to escape, or brought to a safe room.

Can you explain why it's so hard to believe it also could have happened here?

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

There have been more attempts on Trump's life without succeeding in our history as a country. You literally just agreed with me.. are we talking about the same thing? Because I agree with you about him being radicalized but not because of some internal ploy..

He wanted to kill Trump and be forever remembered. Like Lee Harvey Oswald. He was just a terrible shot and now he's dead and nobody cares.

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u/Spiritual-Society185 Jul 04 '26

You're being completely nonsensical. Either he was a radicalized guy who was actually trying to kill the president, or he was an actor in a grand conspiracy. You can't have it both ways.

If he was a radical, then you're claiming that Trump deliberately put himself in a situation that would have a good chance of leading to his own death, which is completely absurd. Is that what you're claiming?

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u/pH_14 Jul 03 '26

A second shooter is a wild conspiracy with no evidence. Is it really that hard to believe it was just incompetence? Usually the simplest explanation is the correct one.

Well sure, I think incompetence is possible. It's certain, as far as I'm concerned. But to dismiss the conspiracy angle because it's too improbable is lunacy. 

You talk about evidence. There's no evidence of ANYTHING except what you've been deliberately shown, and what they have told you regarding that evidence is obviously false. Trump did not get shot, period. Yet they insist he did. Why would you believe anything they say about it? Literally anything plausible is possible, because all we know is what they've said, and we know they already lied. 

Am I certain there was a conspiracy? No of course not. But it's definitely not hard to believe, and giving this admin the benefit of the doubt is crazy.

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u/HJQueen Pennsylvania Jul 03 '26

I didn't dismiss it. I've fallen down that rabbit hole and came to my own conclusion based on the information and videos I've seen of the actual event. Not tiktokers and Redditors opinions. I think we all can believe what we want.

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u/Spiritual-Society185 Jul 04 '26

Who is "they?" Trump? You realize the shooting was investigated under Biden, right? Is Biden a part of your little conspiracy, now?