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Are Federal agents are botching the assassination investigation? Will this fuel conspiracy theories for years to come . . .?

Photo above - will the real Thomas Matthew Crooks please stand up . . . ?

My condolences to the relatives of the bystander who was shot, and the 2 additional injured attendees in Butler Pennsylvania. That said, there are a LOT of errors being made in this investigation.

1. Failure to secure nearby rooftops before the rally. The rooftop – 130 yards away – is approximately the same unobstructed distance that Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy and Connolly from. And they were moving targets in a motorcade. Trump was standing motionless.

2. Thomas Matthew Crooks was photographed near the entrance to the rally, avoiding entry because of the magnetometers. He was allowed to depart without being searched or questioned.

3. Attendees on the ground later noticed Crooks crawling on a nearby rooftop carrying a rifle, and alerted the police officers nearby. Either that information was not conveyed to the Secret Service, or it was ignored.

4. Immediately after the shots were fired, Crooks was killed by a single headshot even though he was not wearing body armor. An eyewitness said “they blew his head off”. From 130 yards away, Secret Service agents had the same unobstructed view of Crooks, as the assassin had of Trump.

5. The rally site was cleared almost immediately, allowing potential eyewitness to depart, without securing attendee videos or stills of the shooting. The departing attendees could also have removed evidence like shell casings, and items with fingerprints.

6. It took nearly 3 hours to disclose the shooter had been killed immediately, and that he shot 3 attendees in addition to Trump.

7. Crooks wasn’t named for an additional 8 hours. The dead and injured bystanders still have not had their names released.

8.Crooks' residence – the one he shared with his parents – wasn’t entered for 5 hours. There was a police cordon more than an hour earlier, but they did not enter. This would have given an opportunity for occupants or co-conspirators to destroy evidence.

9.There is a report that Crooks was one of 11 million subscribers to a popular YouTube gun channel. He had been wearing “hunting gear” to public school for years. But there has been no identification of which shooting range Crooks practiced at. He didn’t develop these skills by watching TV. Lee Harvey Oswald received weapons training while a US marine. Who trained Crooks?

I'm just askin' . . .

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bowman81 · M

130 yds from a solid prone position is a virtual chip shot. A shooter of minimal competence should be able to keep all shots in a 5" or 6" group. At that distance wind nor trajectory are an issue. Thousands of hunters make much more difficult shots at far greater distances from less stable positions every year.

I worked with USSS when President Bill Clinton came to town. They checked, cleared and covered the high ground for 1500yds. from the speech/rally site. There is absolutely no excuse for allowing a man with a rifle to gain access to an unobstructed view of the podium.

Site assessment, planning, communications, and coordination were all a mess. Things sure have gone downhill in the past 25-30 years. This was a horrible inexcusable failure.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@bowman81 Now I admit this isnt my area of expertise. So correct me if I am wrong. But doesnt a 5.56 fired from an AR 15 tend to tumble? Its that the reason some snipers still use the bigger 7.62 fired from something like older M14? So if this was a seriously planned affair, then he had an inferior weapon for the job. 😷

robb65 · 56-60, M

@whowasthatmaskedman These bullets have a reputation for tumbling AFTER they hit the target, not when they come out of the barrel. If that was the case no one would be buying/using these rifles.

pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

@bowman81 Yup - if he had a real rifle and had spent more time on the range - it was an EASY shot to take.. he missed was OFF the target page entirely.. he paid with his life and did NOT get the job done..

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@SusanInFlorida

Another consideration is that Crooks may have had some assistance from someone within the SS or various police agencies, or facility staff. As much as I’d rather not think that, there were probably hundreds involved in the planning, details, etc., and considering all the negative rants coming from Biden, who knows how far someone will go.

Also my understanding that one reason why police have so much trouble with protest riots like BLM or the Pro Hamas riots on college campuses is that there are sympathizers within the police ranks who communicated police strategies and plans to riot organizers. We learned this when some police jurisdictions tried to secretly plant police informants within the riot groups but failed because some police insiders disclosed the identities to the riot organizers.

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hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@SusanInFlorida Here in Canada the media is kept alive by government handouts. Well except the CBC which is owned and operated by the government.

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@SusanInFlorida incompetence is the easier answer because it requires no proof. Collusion requires some degree of proof. The more transparent the investigation the more reliable the conclusion, especially if the investigator has a stake in the conclusion. There is also what’s called a silent conspiracy. It’s when someone ignores a threat or knowingly leaves gaps in the security. Even more difficult to prove than collusion. With stakes so high, I believe it’s important to hold collusion and silent conspiracy as possibilities.

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@Heartlander There is no way on God's green earth that the SS and police could be that incompetent. The site was scoped out weeks if not months ago. To give the best 'shot' in the place to the would be assassin is incomprehensible. Unless the SS is staffed by the clones of Mr Magoo....

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

You didn't mention the weapon he used, a favorite in these public shootings. Just saying!

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whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@SusanInFlorida You did leave out part of the Libertarian creed. " Do no harm" That puts limits on what a person can do without being answerable..😷

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@whowasthatmaskedman thats because i'm not a libertarian. i'm not a member of any political party. i'm not a member of any church. i have never worn a uniform, or carried a gun - not even as a civilian.

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@samueltyler2 For a clue of how well Democrat gun law proposals will work look at how successful those Democrats are with stopping human trafficking and shutting down drug cartels.

LeopoldBloom · M

There are reports that a policeman confronted Crooks after bystanders alerted law enforcement that Crooks was climbing up to the roof, but fled when Crooks pointed his rifle at him. Crooks then shot Trump moments later.

robb65 · 56-60, M

@LeopoldBloom I heard something similar, also heard that someone had been hanging around the entrance but wouldn't go through, and another witness claimed to see two cops "who seemed to be looking for someone". My best guess, someone saw him and realized he was a problem but lost track of him, someone else spotted him climbing on the roof a few minutes before he shot. So there were multiple points he could have been stopped if someone had followed through.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@robb65 generally a civilian carrying a rifle, at a political rally, should always be presumed to be a "problem"

carpediem · 61-69, M

They had to scrub his background before releasing his name to control the narrative. Yes, I agree this entire affair is another display of incompetence from big government stooges.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@carpediem when I'm reading about the US government, my first impulse is always to go with incompetence. after all, these ARE public employees working for wages that would embarrass someone in the private sector.

BizSuitStacy · M

All valid questions.

Possibly the most glaring was how he got an unobstructed sight line to president Trump and the Secret Service "missed" it?

They always scrub the social media of the suspect. This is what got released. To anyone believing this guy was a registered Republican, I have ocean front property in Nebraska for sale. However, the media admits he donated money to a progressive organization.

The eye witness accounts are particularly suspicious. Attendees on the ground saw the shooter crawling on the roof with a rifle. They point this out to security. Yet no one does anything until after the bullets fly.

It reeks of a deep state conspiracy to take Trump out. And if you think of Kennedy and Reagan being shot...the common denominator is those two presidents also represented threats to the deep state.

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SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@BizSuitStacy usually some random individual takes a screen shot of the facebook page or instagram posts before the go down the rabbit hole. it would be unexpected that this guy had no social media accounts to discuss his existential complaints.

however, they did discover, in a heartbeat, that he was a subscriber to the YouTube gun channel.

BizSuitStacy · M

@Heartlander Yes...RFK too.

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robb65 · 56-60, M

A near miss at 130 yards isn't that great. He fired how many times? I think I heard something like 5 or maybe 8. His greatest "skill" may have been getting on that roof without being stopped.

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Heartlander · 80-89, M

@robb65 maybe someone helped him get by security.

pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

@robb65 isn't that great - this was ridiculous ANYONE with a decent rifle and range time would have made that shot EASILY.. I know pistol shooters that can do it.. and with decent hunting rifle and a scope - hitting a tight grouping at that distance is NOT difficult... He did NOT get the job done..

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Tiredish · F

He was listed as a registered republican, yet donated to a democratic site - not much, but still.

4 assassination attempts where made on Trump when he was in office.

We all know how trustworthy the FBI is. This is be glossed over.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@Tiredish just my theory here . . . his daddy took him in for voter registration, and had something to do with the party registration.

Crook juniors sole political act before yesterday appears to have been that $15 donation to a progressive group on Biden's inauguration day. He's impulsive, impressionable, and has a short attention span?

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@SusanInFlorida He could also be a Democrat soldier, told to register Republican to help sabotage the Republican primaries. This happens in a lot of states. The easiest way for Democrat victories is to pick their Republican opponents.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@Heartlander you're only a registered republican if you register with the republican party. all this guy did was check the "republican" box in his voter registration form. then immediately donate $15 to a progressive lobbying group on inauguration day.

pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

If he had a REAL rifle and placed his shot 2" to the right.. the result would have been VERY different - and a LOT of problems that America faces would be a lot closer to being solved..

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whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@pdqsailor1 While I empathize with your feelings on the matter (If ever there was a man the "he just needed killin' " law could be applied to, its Trump) I cant support your satement. If only because you are in the realm of "unintended consequences" and the real evil hiding behind the Trump puppet would have a martyr to work with. Trump really does have to beal dealt with head on by the American people. With his head still on, to be exposed for what he is. Not revered as a saint..😷

pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

@whowasthatmaskedman How he is revealed or regarded is of no consequence so long as it is in the past tense.. What people dislike acknowledging is that assassination.. as a means of altering public policy happens to work rather dramatically.. I know this is not a popular position but any read of history shows it to be true..

pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

@SusanInFlorida The attempt? Is totally meaningless simply because the result was failure to achieve the result.. Had it succeeded... Hmm Its not so much that I favour Trumps death, its that I could read his obituary and feel zero regret and even profound satisfaction.. If there was a mans absence that could make America truly greater.. it would be Trump.

Prison1203 · 61-69, M

I’ve never been properly trained but I’m a better shot than him 4 shots at 150 yards

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pdqsailor1 · 61-69, M

@Prison1203 NICE tight group...

Prison1203 · 61-69, M

@pdqsailor1 thank you

SomeMichGuy · M

Oswald was a Red herring.

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LeopoldBloom · M

@SomeMichGuy Suspicion and motive are not evidence. Just because LBJ benefitted from JFK's death doesn't mean he was behind it. After 60 years, no actual evidence of a conspiracy has been found.

You need to read Vincent Bugliosi's Reclaiming History. He describes the events of that November in great detail, along with mini-biographies of Oswald and Ruby, and a thorough debunking of the major conspiracy theories.

LeopoldBloom · M

@SusanInFlorida What no conspiracy buff has ever explained is why the killers chose such a risky and difficult way to kill JFK. Any number of things could have gone wrong, exposing the entire plot. If someone wanted him dead, all they had to do was slip some ricin into his dinner, and his death would have been attributed to Addison's disease. Whenever I ask this question, it's dismissed with a hand-wave and "they wanted to send a message." Really? What message was so important that they had to concoct a Rube Goldberg mechanism to kill him in front of the entire world, then fake his autopsy, fake the Warren Commission report, and every other piece of "evidence?"

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@LeopoldBloom i don't think it's beyond belief that russian or american "handlers" could have selected a low-IQ madman to carry out an assassination. i just don't see any evidence for it. if this was a government conspiracy, its been shut down better than any in history.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Sorry.. You completely missed the really important question..... WHY? 😷

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@whowasthatmaskedman i don't expect the investigators to have answered that yet. but they shouldn't have let all witnesses leave without getting their videos and stills. that's beyond incompetent.

Heartlander · 80-89, M

@SusanInFlorida

“the FBI doesn’t comment on undoing investigations.”

(rolling eyes)

Quetzalcoatlus · 46-50, M

Someone is getting fired for sure.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@Quetzalcoatlus @Quetzalcoatlus

I think the protocol is for secret service agents to undergo a private disciplinary hearing, then resign. they then join a local police force.

Quetzalcoatlus · 46-50, M

@SusanInFlorida Someone screwed up big time! I was a witness to secret service when Hillary was running. She came to visit my town and I was working at a building nearby. We were not allowed anywhere near the place! Cops and SS had it all locked down for miles!

SomeMichGuy · M

Yeah, if all true, very disturbing.

LordShadowfire · 46-50, M

I'll tell you who I think trained him. Somebody from the Heritage Foundation. This wasn't an actual assassination attempt. It was either a publicity stunt by Mr. Trump, or a warning shot from the Heritage Foundation to get him to stay on topic.

I can't prove it, but that's what I think.

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whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@LordShadowfire Its OK to have a theory and put it forward as a theory.. Its only when you insist its the only possibility with no proof that I have any difficulty..😷

LordShadowfire · 46-50, M

@whowasthatmaskedman You are correct. I'm going to edit my original comment to say it's what I think.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@LordShadowfire the latest theory is that he trained himself.

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SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@hippyjoe1955 the most unlikely part of the oswald story is how he reloaded an unfamiliar relic of a rifle, repeatedly, and kept getting shots off, one after the other.

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