FBI Is Not Fully Convinced Trump Was Struck by a Bullet
FBI Is Not Fully Convinced Trump Was Struck by a Bullet
“There is some question about whether or not it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.
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The distinction here is hardly relevant.
It is relevant to history. You can either tell the Trump story that a bullet hit his ear, or you can say that he caught shrapnel.
The only way that would be relevant would be if there was a determination that the shooter was trying to do some kind of ad hoc false flag thing, as opposed to writing his own name into history. Everything we know at this point indicates that the latter is true, and the former is not.
Whether Trump's injury was the result of a fired projectile or a piece of shrapnel, the injury was caused by an assassination attempt.
Whether Trump’s injury was the result of a fired projectile or a piece of shrapnel, the injury was caused by an assassination attempt.
We all know what really happened.
A trick he learned back in his WWE guest star days.
(This is meant as a joke, please do not be upset. I mean no disrespect to WWE fans.)
You know, it's funny because the moment I saw the picture where you could see a little blood, I thought to myself "did anyone make sure he didn't have a ketchup packet in his pockets?"
And sure enough, I'm never original...
I thought I was the only one whose first thought was that W wasn't surprised on 9/11 when I saw the clip of him being informed. Turns out a LOT of people had that thought. 😂
Not a ketchup packet, a razorblade
The truth is still the truth, even if there is no material difference in the implications.
That's true.
It's also relevant because one of Trump's current campaign statements is that he "took a bullet for America" which may be another lie.
It would certainly neuter that (over)statement, but I honestly wouldn't go as far as to call that one a "lie" without some indication that he knew that it wasn't a bullet he was hit by. I don't think that even a reasonable person wouldn't come to the conclusion that "Shots were fired, at me, now my ear is bleeding all over my face" as "I was hit by a bullet."
I disagree.
The sheer number of lies he tells, what difference is one more? Especially an inconsequential one?
We’re all fairly sure it wasn’t the bullet, but glass, or shrapnel or whatever, but that buries the lede.
The point here is whether it was an assassination attempt or a false flag attempt (personally I think assassination) and that trumps own hateful rhetoric has created such a ridiculous scenario where this shit happens.
Because it's always important to point out the hypocrisy of his fake patriotic bullshit. Every lie should be pointed out, to everyone who will listen.
But then you lose the bigger point that his rhetoric and horse shit has lead us here.
You’re too zoomed in.
except if the shooter was just shooting into the crowd and hit like a railing or something then it wasn't an "assassination attempt" it was a mass shooting.
Frankly, it could be a mass-shooting anyway, simply one that had a high-profile figure as one of the targets. Apparently he had explosives in his car and some sort of remote detonation mechanism, so it was clearly about more than just Trump alone.
so it was clearly about more than just Trump alone.
Not necessarily. To my knowledge, we don't know where any explosives would have been planted. He was seen wandering around the rally area a few hours before the rally. It's possible at one point he thought he could plant some explosives near Trump's podium or something so he gets taken out in the blast, and maybe abandoned that plan when he walked around and realized it wasn't viable.
IMO, there's nothing indicating he had any intents other than taking out Trump by any means available to him. Anyone else was probably either collateral damage in his mind, or "deserved it" for being Trump supporters in the first place. He may have decided that trying to snipe him from that rooftop was his most viable option, but it looks like he woke up that morning with at least two separate plans on how to go about it.
Fair. None of that speculation is inherently any better than the mass shooting speculation though, there's similarly zero indication he had anything personal against Trump. He even had potential dem targets in his search history. There's no sound evidence for anything so far, that I've heard at any rate.
Though I do think it's a little far-fetched that what appears to be an intelligent engineering student is going to think sneaking over and planting explosives is going to be a viable plan. That's a little video gamey.
It's a lot video-gamey. Let's be realistic.....the United States Secret Service just got owned by a 20 year old kid camping in one of the windows from Nuketown. The kid looks like he got beat up for his lunch money last week. Whatever plans were gong through his head, the plan he ultimately settled on involved him climbing to the one rooftop that the Secret Service somehow missed and was somehow able to not get caught until he fired off half a dozen or so shots. Everything he did that we know of so far looks like something a newbie would do the first time they played COD.
We'll of course never really know his true motives. Remember that despite all the speculation over political motives, Ronald Reagan's would-be-assassin did it because he was trying to impress a teenage Jodie Foster. For all we know, this kid could have woke up that morning and believed that Trump was Gargamel and it was his responsibility to kill him in order to save Smurf Village. Why he suddenly wanted Trump dead remains a mystery especially since he was supposedly a long-time Trump supporter, but I haven't seen anything to make me believe that his target was anything other than Trump himself, and maybe anyone who was just unlucky enough to be in the way.
Again, there is also no evidence he specifically wanted Trump dead and was not simply committing a blaze-of-glory act of terrorism for some misguided chance at fame. Having no evidence does not mean we default to one preferred interpretation.
Regarding the rooftop, from all indications he carefully scouted his method. The drone, the rangefinder, the ladder, etc. The building was local police's responsibility, as well, they actually even had a cop inside that very building. Regardless though, it certainly was embarrassing for the SS anyway, hence the director resigning.
Again, there is also no evidence he specifically wanted Trump dead and was not simply committing a blaze-of-glory act of terrorism for some misguided chance at fame. Having no evidence does not mean we default to one preferred interpretation.
No, but you at least go where what evidence you do have leads you. The kid fired off half a dozen shots, at least one of which came within an inch of killing him. If his plan were a mass shooting, bullets would have been sprayed everywhere. If his plan were to go for some blaze-of-glory shot at fame (or the most convoluted suicide-by-cop of all time) but didn't want to kill Trump, he could have just shot well above everybody's heads.
When you get that close with that many shots, it's more reasonable to assume that Trump was the target and he missed than it would be to assume that Trump wasn't the target because he missed.
Regarding the rooftop, from all indications he carefully scouted his method. The drone, the rangefinder, the ladder, etc. The building was local police’s responsibility, as well, they actually even had a cop inside that very building.
Right. Which is why I think we both can agree the whole situation is video-gamey. The kid came up with an elaborate plan that was 100% reliant on the United States Secret Service somehow forgetting to cover that specific rooftop, and him being able to get all that equipment over there without a single bit of interference. If that isn't the stealth mission of virtually every first person shooter in the past 30 years, I don't know what is.
Regardless though, it certainly was embarrassing for the SS anyway, hence the director resigning.
Oh absolutely. A lone 20 year old kid essentially playing out the plot of Call of Duty made the entire Secret Service look like a laughing stock live and in real time. There should have been a lot more than that director resigning.
Not really. I'll give you a "for instance". Few people know this story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Arutyunian.
In this case, although in danger, Trump was being shot at by someone who couldn't shoot.
The grenade landed 18.6 metres (61 ft) from the podium
Bush was thrown at by someone who couldn't throw
Got WAY closer than 60ft though.
I remember watching that and losing my shit.
Of course at the time, it was because I was a teenager and "haha president almost got hit by a shoe"
Now it's funny for different reasons, but still.
You know where "close" counts?
2 first downs is not exactly close.
Horseshoes, hand grenades, and
The Secretnuclear weapons.Welease The Secwet Weapon!!!!
* Wewease
It's been a while since I saw that movie, lol
Cheers 👊😎
The grenade failed to detonate. Although original reports indicated that the grenade was not live, it was later revealed that it was. After Arutyunian pulled the pin and threw the grenade, it hit a girl, cushioning its impact. The red handkerchief remained wrapped around the grenade, and it prevented the striker lever from releasing.
No mention of it being "a training grenade [which] could not fire." Source?
I think there's essentially no limit to what the shooter's motives could be. What was the Las Vegas shooter's motive? What was the motive at Columbine? There's a million possibilities. Narcissism, delusions, non-specific rage.
Sure, there's one conclusion that seems simplest, which is that he shot at Trump but missed. And if he grazed Trump's ear, that's almost certainly true. But what if it comes out that the FBI finds that the closest shot was over 10 feet away from Trump? If that happens, I think we'd be fools to continue to assume it was an assassination attempt.
The smartest thing anyone could say at this point is "I don't know".
If it was shrapnel then it dispels the idea that if he'd turned his head just a few inches it would've been death.
And it makes the whole divine intervention thing seem less likely, but they are already reaching so hard anyways I'm sure they will just reach a bit further... it's a cult after all.
If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a bicycle, too.
I am confused. Are you trying to say that your grandma gets ridden a lot?
Only by necrophiliacs now.
I have to admit, in all seriousness, that Fred Gwynne and my own father look very similar.
That man will forever live in my memory saying "What is a yoot?".
That fuckin chef on that good morning TV show. That clip is so funny
Or a car-hop at Sonic.
I mean, sure? But we are getting pretty far into "what if" territory that can never be known and doesn't really matter. If he was hit by a bullet, or shrapnel from a bullet doesn't change the fact he was injured by a shooter.
Yeah, this feels like a good headline more than useful information.
Clickbait?!? From The Daily Beast?!? Impossible!!!
The only interesting thing about it might be that it once again points out the hypocrisy of the right.
They mocked John Kerry as undeserving of his purple hearts, and wore fake bandaids because he was hit with shrapnel.
... it once again points out the hypocrisy of the right.
We could climb that pile into orbit.
Space elevator might be out of reach but the space mountain is real.
It's an integral part of NASA's plan to return to the moon.
It’s relevant to the folks who believe in divine intervention, isn’t it?
The folks who believe in divine intervention don't care about what actually happens in reality in any case, so no, it's not relevant to them, either.
I would think that the difference between it being a bullet vs a piece of glass would be the difference between divine intervention or not to many of them.
If logic worked on religious people, then there wouldn't be religious people. They will just say the bullet WOULD'VE killed him, but god stopped it and only hurt him with glass. God can't be proven or disproven, so those that want to see divine intervention always will.
If you're someone who's going to claim divine intervention, it's to reinforce your own beliefs, and message to the people who hear you that you hold those beliefs. Glass vs. bullet isn't going to matter.
People who believe in fantasy and fairytales aren’t going to be swayed by the nuance of fact.
I think what you're trying to say is that "either way he still survived an assassination attempt", which I agree with, but the details still matter.
It's relevant in that Trump is probably dishonest again.
The situation is shocking enough if he was hit by glass in an assassination attempt, but they couldn't resist lying and saying the bullet hit his ear.