Bloodied and surrounded by US Secret Service agents, former President Donald J. Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt on Saturday. (photo credit: screen capture from X feed of NYT photographer Doug Mills)
DENVER, COLORADO — It’s an absolute miracle that former U.S. President Donald J. Trump was not killed today.
Not since John Hinckley, Jr. opened fire with a handgun at President Ronald Reagan in March 1981 has there been such a massive breach of security around an American president.
The more we hear from eyewitnesses at the scene, the more it’s painfully clear that the Secret Service has urgent and critical questions to answer.
Yes, a sharpshooter saved the day – but only barely – and but for a millimeter, the day could have ended in disaster.
U.S. Secret Service counter-sniper reacts after shooting begins, neutralizing the would-be assassin just in time (photo credit: screen capture from TV footage on X)
My wife, Lynn, who serves on the board of Near East Media – the non-profit organization that runs ALL ISRAEL NEWS – just spoke by phone with a woman that she knows who lives in Butler, Pennsylvania, and who attended the massive campaign rally today for Trump.
“WE WERE ALL SCREAMING AND CRYING”
The woman, her fiancée, and her brother said they were just “five feet from the stage” when multiple gunshots erupted.
She saw the former President go down onto the stage and then be swarmed by Secret Service agents.
Former President Donald Trump on the floor of the rally platform, covered by Secret Service agents. (photo credit: screen capture of TV footage on X)
“We were all screaming and crying,” she said.
“People were running and trying to escape for cover.”
THREE PEOPLE WERE COVERED WITH BLOOD
There were three people positioned to her left and “all had blood on them.”
One of them, she said, “was shot for sure” but it’s possible that the other two had the other person’s blood on them.”
THE SHOOTER WAS ON THE ROOF OF A NEARBY BUILDING
The eyewitness said her brother saw the shooter get shot and killed by the Secret Service.
“The shooter was someone on a rooftop, somebody using a sniper rifle on a rooftop.”
Body of killed shooter lies on roof of building overlooking Trump rally (photo credit: screen capture from TV footage on X)
The shooter “wasn’t in the event” – that is, he was not inside the secure perimeter of the rally – but rather on the roof of a nearby building.
“Why wasn’t the Secret Service on that roof?” the eyewitness and her friends are asking.
At the moment, there are no answers.
WHAT WENT WRONG? MASSIVE INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY
A massive federal, state and local investigation is underway.
But how in the world could the Secret Service have allowed a shooter to get within rifle range of a Presidential candidate?
Is this negligence, or worse?
EYEWITNESS SAW SHOOTER CLIMBING ONTO THE ROOF
Another eyewitness – a young man with a shock of red hair wearing a red, pro-Trump cap — spoke to BBC News shortly after the incident.
BBC News interviews eyewitness in Butler, Pennsylvania (photo credit: screen shot of BBC feed on X)
He said that he and his friends were sitting outside the rally, just listening to Trump speak.
“About five to seven minutes [into] Trump speaking – I’m estimating – we noticed a guy crawling, army crawling, you know, bear crawling, up the roof of the building beside us, fifty feet away from us.”
This eyewitness told the BBC that he and his friends began shouting at the police and the Secret Service and pointing to where the shooter was positioned.
“He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle.
“We’re like, ‘Hey, man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle!’”
“WE WARNED THE POLICE, BUT THEY DIDN’T ACT QUICKLY”
The police seemed confused as the witnesses kept shouting and pointing for at least two to three minutes.
“And I’m thinking, why is Trump still speaking? Why are they not pulling him off the stage?”
“The Secret Service is looking at us from the top of a barn, seeing me pointing at the guy, and the next thing I know, five shots rang out.”
COULD THE SECRET SERVICE SEE THE SHOOTER?
The BBC reporter asked if the Secret Service could see the shooter from their vantage point.
Map of rally site and position of the shooter (photo credit: screen capture from CNN footage on X)
“Probably not,” said the witness. “Probably not. The way the slope of the roof went, he was behind where they could see.”
“But why was the Secret Service not on all of these roofs? I mean, this is not a big place.”
“THEY BLEW HIS HEAD OFF”
The reporter then asked if he saw what happened to the shooter.
U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team (CAT) operatives stand over the body of the neutralized shooter (photo credit: screen capture from TV footage on X)
“Oh yeah, they blew his head off. The Secret Service blew his head off.”
“You’re absolutely sure they shot the guy?”
“Absolutely. 100 percent.”
It would seem that in the intervening minutes before the shots were fired, Secret Service sharpshooters were repositioning to get a clear angle.
They did, but it was almost too late.
The Secret Service then stormed the roof, the eyewitness said, guns pointed at the shooter, “to make sure he was dead” but “he was definitely dead.”
The man wearing the red pro-Trump hat said that if he had gone up on the roof, he has no doubt that law enforcement would have arrested him, or killed him.
“But I don’t know why a guy – who we’re standing there pointing out to the police and Secret Service – is crawling up the roof.”
Why wasn’t he stopped before he could pull the trigger?
“There’s a whole bunch of questions” that need to be asked and answered, he said.
MIRACLE: SHOOTER FIRED EIGHT ROUNDS AT TRUMP – ASTONISHING THAT HE SURVIVED
Former President Donald Trump, blood streaked over his face, after assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania (photo credit: screen capture of TV footage on X)
ABC News is now reporting that “the shooter at the Trump rally fired as many as eight rounds from an AR-style rifle while perched on a rooftop adjacent to the venue,” according to law enforcement sources.
“The shooter was 200-300 yards away at the time of the gunfire, the sources said.”
“FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT”
Again, I think it’s clear that it’s a supernatural miracle that Trump survived.
A bullet grazed Trump’s right ear. Less than a mm difference between life and death. (photo credit: screen capture from TV footage on X)
It could have been his head blown off.
Instead, Trump was just grazed in the right ear and left the stage alive, defiant, pumping his fist in the air, and shouting, “Fight, fight, fight!”
FORMER TRUMP NSC OFFICIAL ASKS THREE URGENT QUESTIONS
Fred Fleitz, the former chief of staff of the National Security Council during the Trump administration, is raising critical questions tonight about the conduct of the Secret Service.
“Three very urgent questions about the assassination attempt against President Trump,” he wrote on 𝕏.
“First, is it true the gunman shot at the president from the roof of a nearby building? If so, how could the Secret Service let this happen?”
“Second, is it true that someone saw the shooter with a rifle on the roof but was ignored by the police and Secret Service?”
“Third, is it true that Biden’s DHS has repeatedly denied requests by the Trump campaign for more Secret Service protection?”
Developing…….
