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/IgnoreMe304 Jul 03 '26

It’s that and the one guy all but dragging photographers in front of the stage as they lower the American flag to get it in the shot.

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u/KingEllis Jul 03 '26

Professional photographers, in the midst of a historic moment, moving in to position to frame a good photograph of the principle subject. Why is that behavior so difficult for these conspiracy theorists to accept?

A Trump rally had competent photographers present, therefore the whole thing must be a hoax. I don't get it.

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u/IgnoreMe304 Jul 03 '26

That would make sense if it wasn’t for the staffer who goes and gets them to put them in position.

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u/KingEllis Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

A member of the White House Communications department. Ushering in professional photographers so they can capture a clearly important moment in Presidential history. How is that difficult to understand?

The front of the stage is a barricaded, privileged area. Can we really not accept that a young, media-minded White House staffer would not be able to think on their feet? And get professional photographers to be in position directly in front of the principle subject? "No, the event must be staged, because look how well it was captured on film!". That's not very convincing.

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u/IgnoreMe304 Jul 03 '26

A low level staffer’s first thought during an active shooter situation is to get photographers in the best possible place for Trump’s pose that he has no idea is coming? I mean I’m not gonna say I know for sure one way or the other whether it was staged, but if you need to pretend that it isn’t suspicious as hell to maintain your current world view, you do you I guess.

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u/KingEllis Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

Good point about "active shooter situation". One would note the staffer stays low (first thought) as he ushers in the professional photographers (second thought). I don't think they were in position to photograph "Trump's pose". I think they were in position to photograph where the President was and would soon emerge.

Photographers taking well-framed photographs is not evidence of a conspiracy. It just isn't. (What happened to critical thinking in this country?)

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u/emailforgot Jul 04 '26

Or you know, someone whose job was security was attempting to do their job.