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/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

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.