FBI identifies suspect in assassination attempt on Trump as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man
https://justthenews.com/government/feder...aign=newsletter
“Too early to say” if it was a lone wolf attack, Pennsylvania state police told reporters.
By Nicholas Ballasy
Published: July 14, 2024 12:14am
Updated: July 14, 2024 1:55am



The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has publicly identified the suspect in the assassination attempt of President Trump at his rally in Butler, Pa.

"The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania," the agency said in a statement on Sunday. "This remains an active and ongoing investigation."

Less than two hours before the announcement, Kevin P. Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, said at a press briefing that the bureau was not yet "prepared at this time to provide the identity" of the potential shooter.

"There was no identification on the individual," he said, explaining that has prolonged the identification process.

He said officials still had to "run his DNA and get biometric confirmation."

Pennsylvania State Police Colonel Chris Paris and Lt. Col. George Bivens also attended the briefing.

“Too early to say” if it was a lone wolf attack, Bivens told reporters.

Rojek said the motive has not been determined yet. He added that it's his understanding that the shooter was outside of the secured perimeter at the rally.

He acknowledged it was "surprising" that the shooter was able to take 4-5 shots but a full investigation will provide more detail about how the incident unfolded.

Rojek was asked why no one from the Secret Service was at the briefing on Saturday evening. In response, he said a representative from the agency was not available to attend.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #16

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Rojek was asked why no one from the Secret Service was at the briefing on Saturday evening. In response, he said a representative from the agency was not available to attend.

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Dan Bongino's take: https://x.com/catturd2/status/1812492508355539032

Elon Musk@elonmusk
·
4h
The New York Times just published this about Trump today.

They are truly callous and despicable human beings. Not a shred of empathy.



https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812602944975782245

Ann Vandersteel™️@annvandersteel
BREAKING: SOURCE INSIDE PA STATE POLICE DETAILS INCONSISTENCIES

Questions are being asked by a PA State Police Officer around the events that led to the assassination attempt of @realdonaltrump yesterday in Butler, PA.

Why was the bomb squad not present? They were told they were not needed despite protocol dictating the bomb squad is always at presidential events.

Why was the SERT Team asked to take the motor cade instead of the internal perimeter? This has never happened before.

The SERT Team - elite state police team - is always on internal police perimeter as they train for presidential details to secure areas - this is their priority

The SERT team normally works with Secret Service to map out every rooftop, vantage point, identify breaches of security and all possible breach points. They will put snipers on multiple roofs even further away than the PA Rally shooter's location.

Was there a break down in command center comms, or did they even have a command center to coordinate communications between all agencies and the Secret Service?

Inter-Agency Communications is always hard. Normally the local county controller assigns a channel for state, county and local police to communicate. When Feds get involved, they have their own system, making it hard to communicate. The @SecretService operates on their own channel.

This resulted in mass confusion and virtually no comms with SS being live updated.

Would a potential comms solution include
having extra radios for all to use - or a good command center listening to agency comms and reporting back to each other?...

Could delayed intel due to repeating information back across various unrelated channels be the source of confusion and lack of pre-emptive action?

In the end we need to understand why the
Elite SERT Team was not deployed in the inner perimeter for additional presidential protection.

Instead we need to ask why PA State Police Uniform Patrol officers were in the inner circle instead.

Was anyone listening to all the agency comms across various channels to ensure complete operational comms security?

Why were there no drones, helicopters and even high flight surveillance at 30,000 ft. or higher with infrared imagery which would have seen the shooter crawling up on roof?
Embedded video
7:14 PM · Jul 14, 2024
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Ann Vandersteel™️@annvandersteel
·
1h
CORRECTION: Butler County and Local police were inner perimeter with SS , pa state police on outside with SS as the Lead.

https://x.com/annvandersteel/status/1812641891588219191

Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #20

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Elon Musk@elonmusk
·
4h
The New York Times just published this about Trump today.

They are truly callous and despicable human beings. Not a shred of empathy.



https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812602944975782245

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Quote: Tinker wrote in post #22

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I've been watching and reading everything I could find about this incident for more than 48 hours now and think I have some idea about what took place. If what I think took place is true, you'll see it only here so pay attention.

The people responsible for this set the young man up to be the patsy (hat tip @jafo2010 ) used him to make sure he drew all the attention while the actual pro was on the roof of the building just behind the one the kid was on wearing attire (rifle and all) that blended with the building. When the kid opened up, the pro took one shot (the one that nearly did the job). When the counter snipers opened up on he kid, the pro slid down from his perch, got in his car, and calmly drove away.

Call me anything you want but that's what I think and it fits the MO.

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@Tinker

I forgot to ping you to the above....

Quote: Tinker wrote in post #27

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We will likely NEVER know what actually happened here but it's 100% certain that the official report will be total BS. It's happened before.

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Joseph Mallozzi 🏴‍☠️@BaronDestructo

Thanks for the script. Overall, the plotting feels contrived and, at times, defies logic, so we’re going to require a fairly extensive rewrite for the second draft.

Our biggest issue with the script is the characterization of the Secret Service who come across as so inept that it defies credulity. Specifics to follow.

Could we put the building that the shooter climbs onto OUTSIDE a proper security zone instead of the current Pac Man configuration that only excludes his position?

The Secret Service Director character seems to lack the intelligence one would expect from someone in their position. Please have her come up with something more plausible than the “too slopey!" excuse for why no armed agents were stationed on the rooftop. Let’s work a little harder to create a more clever explanation for the egregious lapse in professional conduct, one that our audience could buy into. Maybe the shooter incapacitated the agents inside the building through non-lethal means, say a knock-out gas or drugs in their water supply. This could also explain how the shooter could have carried the ladder over, propped it up to the building, and climbed up without being noticed by law enforcement.

Speaking of the ladder, can we make it a lightweight retractable model instead of the 20 foot heavy version he is currently lugging around in the script? Or, better yet, could it already be there? Maybe the security personnel were planning to use it to climb onto the roof later or repairs were being effected to the roof earlier that morning.

Could we come up with an alternative explanation for why the Secret Service is curtailed rather than the current “He had to share with the President’s wife”?

I’m bumping on the idea of the Secret Servie outsourcing the protection of a Presidential candidate to a local police detachment of 12 officers. Can we double that number?

Can we lose the scene where the shooter passes through the security screening hours before the shooting with a rangefinder and is clocked by the Secret Service but nobody does anything about it? It makes them look incompetent.

Also lose the beat where the shooter’s family contacts law enforcement to warn them that their son has gone missing with an AR-15 three hours before the assassination attempt.

Can we not have the shooter spotted on the rooftop by the attendees? While I appreciate your attempt to ramp up the tension, having 30 minutes pass between the moment people point him out to when he finally takes the shot really feels like a stretch. Instead of all these people spotting him and shouting at authorities to no avail, how about making it a lone child instead? Say a three year old loses their balloon and watches it drift skywards, past the rooftop, where he sees the man on the roof. He turns to his mother and says: “Mommy, there’s a man on the roof!” But when his mother looks, there is no one there as the shooter has ducked down and the roof fully obscures him. His mother, of course, dismisses her son's comment as the product of a child's imagination.

Still bumping on why the sniper takes so long to shoot if he has spotted the threat (20 minutes earlier! Come on.). As a trained professional, he would have never allowed the shooter to get those shots off. The explanation that he was awaiting the green light from his superiors is a huge buy. I’d suggest some sort of communication breakdown but even that doesn’t really feel right. Let’s think on it.

The fact that the Secret Service allows the Presidential candidate onto the stage after an alert about the shooter goes out on an “all tactical channel" is a huge plot hole.

The shooter character feels cliche. Single young white male, bullied through high school, elects to act out by…trying to assassinate the Presidential frontrunner? Why? Let’s dig into his motivation a little more, come up with something that doesn’t rely on the tired “crazy loner” trope. Also, I have to admit to laughing out loud with the reveal that he is a registered Republican, an unintentionally hilarious twist that, I’m afraid, feels a little perfunctory and is not going to fool the audience. Having a record of him donating to a progressive committe just muddles the backstory here. The explosives in the car and bomb-making materials at his home also feel a little on the nose. Finally, could we get this guy SOME sort of internet presence? After all, he’s 20-years-old, not some octagenerian Luddite. Maybe an unremarkable instagram account or occasional post on reddit. If you want to lean into the “crazed conservative” angle, maybe give him an account on the X platform and have him retweet Mitt Romney or Adam Kinzinger.

Having the media break a story, days later, of a plot by Iran to kill the Presidential frontrunner is confusing, unncessary, and, when you think about it, actually makes the Secret Service look even worse because you’re effectively saying they were expecting an attack, heightened the security detail, and were STILL caught with their pants down. Suggest swapping out Iran for Russia in keeping with the current trend.

The DHS Secretary feels like your typical cartoon villain. Is there a way to humanize him a little? Maybe give him a funny dog? One of those Chinese Cresteds would be great!

The t.v. host that hints at the possibility the assassination was staged is great goofy comic relief! Just be careful not to make her too over-the-top delusional/loopy. A little goes a long way here.

I do have to admit that the revelation shadowy individuals shorted millions of shares of the Presidential frontrunner’s company to, presumably, cash in on his expected demise was very interesting as it adds another layer of intrigue, hinting at that broader, more insidious conspiracy you’ve already layered in. Would be great to hint at their comeuppance, the significant financial loss they incurred when their plans fells through.

That’s it for now. Looking forward to seeing how you address these notes in the rewrite!-- excerpt, rest at link above --More at the link!


https://x.com/BaronDestructo/status/1813725970915791217