Secret Service: Suspect in apparent assassination attempt did not have a line of sight on Trump, never fired his weapon

NegativeNull@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 466 points –
Secret Service: Suspect in apparent assassination attempt did not have a line of sight on Trump, never fired his weapon
abcnews.go.com
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chef there’s nothing in this burger

Man hiding in bush at Donald Trump's golf course with AK-47 rifle is a nothing burger? Idk how to make customers happy these days ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

edit: people are saying it wasn't an AK

Just lawful demonstration of one's second amendment rights amiright?

I guess so, other than his manifesto saying he wants to kill Trump and showing up at the same place and time. I don't think I'd wanna be ak-bush-guy in court

edit: are AK's even legal to carry around? I don't know if FL has open carry

There's an old law in FL, I know it's in TX; probably in FL, attempt an assassination once... you're a fool...attempt twice, you can't attempt again.

I think there's a YouTube channel called the armed fisherman whose deal is to carry an AK as he goes "fishing" because that is allowed. I've only seen a couple of vids, so my details are probably wrong.

If I am not mistaken FL has one of those statutes that permits Open Carry only while lawfully engaged in fishing/hunting/camping.

In some states it is legal to open carry a rifle on a sling in public. Pointing it at/across a public street from a semi-concealed position, as the suspect was, isn't legal in almost any situation, in any state.

It was a golf course, not a street.

The reporting placed the gunmans position across the street from the golf course, so yes you're correct, but only in a semantic sense.

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I think it's rather more that it's painfully clear to anyone with a functioning brain that Donald Trump and his campaign is once again trying to manipulatively present himself as in more danger than he actually is and falsely blaming Democrats for violent vitriol. Donald Trump is firmly the one producing all the violent rhetoric in this campaign. The worst the Democrats have done is imply that JD Vance fucked a couch, and when they did, it was clearly in jest and not serious. Yet he turns it around and blames it on the Harris campaign immediately.

So, let's go over. What makes this a nothingburger compared to what Trump makes it out to be:

  1. This guy who they caught with the guns previously voted for Trump, and had also previously supported Vivek, after he was disillusioned with Trump. He's clearly not well, but he's also clearly not a true and blue progressive who was pushed to violence by evil Democrats being mean to Donald Trump.

  2. Trump was never actually in any serious danger, probably because due to the previous massive fuckup the Secret Service is probably actually doing their job this time around. Since he was never in actual serious danger, because they were doing their job, it's as much of a nothingburger as the number of times that such a thing has happened to sitting Presidents. It doesn't blow up the news because it's stupid when they've already failed.

If Kamala was at this golf course would you be singing a different tune? I have zero doubt they're going to get whatever mileage they can out of this, but idk how we can pretend this is "nothing".

Also, I'm positive a person intending to kill a (former) president being arrested 600yds away from their target is newsworthy.

I think Trump is reaping what he's sown too, but I can't pretend it's remotely close to "nothing"

edit: Im literally just saying this news story is newsworthy y'all. surprisingly controversial

The media calling it an "attempt" is just clickbait. At best this is a "possible assassination plan." And something similar happened to Gretchin Whitmer... it turned out to be an FBI entrapment scheme

Does he have to fire his weapon for it to be an attempt? Wheres the line? The FBI is calling it an attempt. I suppose we'll see if this is entrapment too. Until then, this kinda looks like an assassination attempt

To be completely fair here: the reports are all saying that Trump's location that day was not public information. So either this guy got real lucky to show up on a day Trump was playing golf, or else he had some information that very few other people had. Okay, granted, Trump plays golf a lot, so it could just be a coincidence. Still, it would be kind of ironic if it turned out someone in his own campaign was leaking info to the crazies.

Okay, granted, Trump plays golf a lot, so it could just be a coincidence

like, 50/50 chance

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SKS, but close enough I guess.

Where did they confirm the rifle? Initial reporting was an AK-47 and a scope, then I heard AR type (whatever that means). I was dubious on an actual AK (not AKM or 74), and am very surprised on an sks. This guy was gonna make a 4-500 yard shot with an SKS??? And it must have been a modified or later paratrooper model, because I don't think they had scope mounts on regular SKS, not even the side mount bracket. It has been so long since I had my "Big 5 sports" $99 SKS, but I don't think I could hit a head shot at 400 yards with 7.62 on my best day.

Cops shared a scene photo in case you haven’t come across it yet. Don’t know if there is a higher quality version.

This is for sure not an AK (awful idea to try to mount a scope on those anyway) but also definitely isn’t an sks. This looks like something like a remington with an extended box mag? But the media needs to attach it to boogeymen like cold war bad guys or rap music so I guess we can just call it an AK for now

Also, how are we taking pictures like this in 2024? Did the police bring a camcorder from the 2000s from home to snap this picture??

How could someone convince themselves that this isnt concerning or news? Why dont people want truth?

I really don't know. I think it's more people are glad he's feeling the violence he put out into the world and because guns are so free and loose. To me it's still quite a big deal, having not really lived through any assassinations in my life 😅

Yeah but glad is a feeling you have, not something that makes you try to create a narrative or change reality. Its concerning. Please fix everyone naught.

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I havent really been following so I assumed Trump was fired at until I saw this headline.

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Never have I seen so few fucks given over assassination attempts.

I think many of us, and many Important People, give a fuck. It's just that we know to take our time and gather information before making any strong proclamations about exactly what happened. We all know that Trump would lie about everything, and initial reports from police and neighbors are notoriously unreliable.

Finally now, more than a day after the event, it feels like maybe we're able to put together the beginning of a reliable picture about exactly what happened.

If you want to know how people feel about assassination attempts on presidential candidates, just look at what they said two months ago.

According to this we have, but didn't know it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots

I wanted to see how many assassination attempts needed to happen for Trump to have the most. I thought 4 would do it after getting past Lincoln, who had 3.

Apparently Obama had 11 attempts on his life.

"I'm sorry for the offensive language. That's all it was. It does get me upset when I listen to the news and they attack President Donald Trump. He's a good person and he's done a lot for this country and the veterans." After his sentencing, Grant C. Jaquith, the United States attorney for the Northern District of New York, said in a statement, "Racist threats to kill present and former public officials are not protected free speech, but serious crimes."

This one was my favorite read

It was before I was alive, but I'm guessing no one gave much of a fuck when Sarah Jane Moore completely failed to assassinate Gerald Ford. Especially when Squeaky Fromme did the same thing two weeks earlier and was a Manson girl, so I'm guessing she stole most of the spotlight.

Plus, Moore was totally inept.

She was standing in the crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel, and she was about 40 feet (12 m) away from Ford[12] when she fired a single shot at him with a .38 caliber revolver.[2] She was using a gun which she bought in haste that same morning and as a result, she did not know that the sights were 15 cm (6 inches) off the point-of-impact at that distance, and as a result, she narrowly missed.[13]

After realizing that she had missed, Moore raised her arm again, and Oliver Sipple, a former Marine, dove toward her and grabbed her arm, possibly saving Ford's life

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Jane_Moore

It's not even really clear why she did it other than being a complete nutbag.

His fans think he's under protection from God, and everyone else would respond somewhere between relieved and elated.

Assassination "Attempt" is just spin. At best this is a Assasination "Concept" thwarted

I'm seeing a lot of shitheads paint this guy as a leftist Democrat. No. Tell them, "if he's a left-wing Democrat, then so is Dick Cheney." Absurd.

This guy:

  • Voted Republican in 2008
  • Voted Republican in 2012
  • Voted Trump in 2016

The primary reason, as he detailed in his own self-published book, for leaving Trump and beginning to support Democratic candidates was his disastrous anti-Ukrainian policy. Once that occurred [the broader veil of bullshit became unmasked — see this archived tweet — and he became pissed off that he was grifted. Yet in January of this year he was still pushing for Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy— bleeding heart liberals? — to unite and defeat Trump in the the GOP Primaries.

It doesn't change that he's still a conservative Republican.

So... the secret service did their job this time? Rather than waiting while someone was camped out on a roof taking ages to miss a shot?

Technically this guy was in the area for over 12 hours before being thwarted.

While the secret service is in charge of the security detail, and they were securing the area inside the rally perimeter fence, they had also used local law enforcement personnel to secure the area outside the perimeter fence.

The rooftop in question was outside that fence, where the locals were supposed to be keeping things secure .

... So did you wake up this morning and just say to yourself "I need to defend some cops"

The secret service were in charge of trump's security detail. There was an armed gunman on a roof for a ridiculously large amount of time. No matter how many punisher skulls you have tattooed on your wee wee, they fucked up. Simple as that.

In your anger at everything with a badge you seem to have missed that I was blaming the local cops for not properly doing the job they had been assigned.

The secret service are cops too.

But hey, I guess I am just angry at badges and not at increasingly militarized orgs that have no problem violating people's rights (breaking up protesters and the like) but can't even do the fucking job they are allegedly shitting on civil rights to do.

That's not how that happened, but okay.

I bet “that’s not what happened” with zero elaboration has a single digit success rate

It was explaimed in detail from day one, the actions of all security involved, who was responsible for what, and the timeline of events and interactions. Obviously there isn't an unlimited secret service arsenal and army travelling the countryside with former presidents, packing planefuls of sniper teams and other special units.

You need that elaborated on? All the information is the same as it has been https://duckduckgo.com

Nah don’t care, that subject itself doesn’t affect or interest me. Just saying that you convinced no one and that your comment provided no value besides a few upvotes for me, which don’t even matter on this site. I also intended it more for others who might be inclined to do the same thing rather than you yourself.

If you actually ever want to change minds or prevent the spread of misinformation (which I’m still not convinced it is because again, you provided no evidence and I still don’t care), it’s a good idea to actually elaborate instead of just saying “not true”. The only people convinced by empty comments like yours will be convinced the other way by the next evidence-free claim.

Btw I genuinely don’t see how the info would change my life for the better so if you are gonna start trying now, just edit it into your og comment or something, I probably won’t be back in this thread again

That was an extensive way of saying you roam around making quips at others with disinterest of context and little concern.for much else. How charming.

So fucking crazy that anyone will repeat something when the only source is "According to the Trump campaign"

And guess what, the dude with him on the golf course, main partner in his latest crypto grift, that launched right after. Another staged PR event involving an "assassination attempt" - where's the ear scar Donny dipshit?

Seems like he was just exercising his right to bear arms, is Trump against the Second Amendment now?

He banned bump stocks via executive order, which is more than any president since clinton did in favor of gun control. I love using this fact to break Republicans' heads. "As a firm believer in the second amendment, I can't vote for trump"

I don't think this would be getting around the clock coverage if it wasn't for the first attempt

So....what were the gunshots they heard...?

They have previously said that the secret service agent fired at the suspect after seeing his gun

And missed him completely, I guess? And then the dude ran off, then drove off?

The agents likely only have pistols on them and those get inaccurate real quick as the distance to the target increases.

The fbi agent who wrote up the arrest warrant said it was a secret service agent

In the very first article within hours of it happening, I read that the secret service fired at the dude and he ran away. (I guess they missed?)

Since I see titles being intentionally ambiguous about the shots, like if he was shot at again.

This "news" looks pure FUD + confusion of what actually happened, and I think is best to be ignored until it can be read coherently from the next weeks news paper... I'm only commenting because of my local news began to propel this shit...

For a country known to have more gun than people, you seems very bad at using them

I'm just glad no one has succeeded. There is no telling what his deranged supporters will do if someone succeeds.

Nominate Vance for president, who is just as evil and spineless, but probably much more effective.

But also not nearly as able to energize the MAGAts.

I mean via the official channels, you're right. But you will immediately have conspiracy theories running wild that Hillary had Trump killed or something stupid. In a land where there are more guns than people and a small minority own them...the rest of us probably don't want to see what happens.

Timothy McVeigh blew up a chunk of OKC for less.

If Vance has shown us anything, it's that he is just as stupid and feckless as his boss and maybe even moreso. Also the Trump base haaate him for being so useless to the campaign.

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Yes but in this case there was not even an attempt worth worrying about

His supporters won't see it this way.

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It's a misdemeanor, let him go! If he tries it again, let's all together figure out what to do. But for the love of gorsh, leave his second amendment intact!