Civilization
Lone assassin – or setup?
Did Thomas Matthew Crooks act alone as a would-be Presidential assassin – or did some organization compromise the Secret Service?
As everyone worldwide knows by now, an assassin tried to kill President Donald J. Trump last Saturday (July 13). This happened as Trump was sharing statistics on illegal immigration to townsfolk in the farming town of Butler, Pa. Instead of killing Trump, the assassin killed a retired fire chief and severely wounded two others on the stage. He also proved the maxim that, if you try to kill the king, and fail, the king will overwhelm you. Now the questions begin: did the assassin act alone, or did some yet-unidentified conspirators place him there? (And eliminate him to ensure his silence?) But one question answers itself, and that’s how this episode will redound to the credit – or discredit – of each candidate in the Presidential election, and possibly down-ticket as well.
A word on terminology – or what is an assassin?
Webster (actually, Merriam-Webster, but who’s quibbling?) derives assassin from the Middle Latin word assassinus. This in turn derives from hashshasheen, the plural of hashshash, for one habituated to hashish. With a capital A, it means:
One of a secret order of Muslims who, at the time of the Crusades, terrorized Christians and other enemies by secret murder committed under the influence of hashish.
In his novel, The Count of Monte-cristo,. Alexandre Dumas the Elder explained the training of the Muslim Order of Assassins. But the more common meaning of the word – without the capital A – is:
MURDERER, especially one that murders either for hire or from fanatical motives.
This comes from Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 7th ed., 1969. Sadly, Merriam-Webster has succumbed to “woke” definition-making, so one must consult original sources, or something close to them.
Take notice: the above definition does not use one word to say, or imply, that an assassin is always or must be a professional, or have accepted the training appropriate to one. Therefore calling Thomas Matthew Crooks – that’s the assassin’s name – a mere shooter does not do this event justice. One who kills, or tries to kill, a public figure because the target is a public figure, is an assassin. True, by the loose definition, anyone who kills another person is an assassin. But law enforcement agencies, and the law courts, typically reserve the term for those who target public officials. The only remaining question is whether someone hired him to do it, or he developed his own fanatical motive. Indeed fanaticism lies at the heart of all assassinations, because one who hires an assassin, is a fanatic. That holds, whether the motive is false religion, politics, power, or money.
The events of July 13, 2024
This much the world knows: at about 6:00 p.m. EDT, Donald J. Trump began to speak to a crowd of well-wishers at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pa. To chants of “U! S! A! U! S! A!” he began to speak on illegal immigration. He was showing, statistically, how the Biden administration has made the problem worse.
While he was speaking, Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20, climbed to the roof of a barn off stage left, 150 yards away. According to witnesses, he carried an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The barn involved had an outside ladder, allowing anyone who slung such a rifle to make that climb. Several witnesses tried to warn the Secret Service contingent of seeing a man on the roof carrying a rifle. The Secret Service did not heed the warnings.
(Or did they? Footage shows a sniper and his spotter, on a roof off stage right, taking aim.)
But one unnamed police officer climbed that ladder to investigate the witness’ claims. This officer suddenly found himself (or herself) staring into the barrel of that AR-15. The officer backed down – and instantly Crooks swung his rifle around, aimed at President Trump, and opened fire.
Trump was just describing a big placard he had set up on the stage in lieu of an electronic monitor. Five shots rang out, in rapid-fire order.
Trump reached for his right ear – then ducked. That ducking motion might be the very thing – the only thing – that saved his life.
Failure and fatality
Several Secret Service personnel – not one of whom even matched Trump in height, and some of whom was female – surrounded him. But one female agent took cover behind Trump himself.
Donald Trump is the kind of person who might even make allowance for that – at the moment. Others, however, are not so willing. That same agent seems to have had trouble holstering her service weapon in the mélée.
But at some point, Trump called his detail to halt and let him give a demonstration of his defiance.
Within hours, this image was all over Russia – Russia! – on public notice boards, with the Russian tricolor as backdrop.
Note the legend: Russkiye Ni Zdayutsya! In English: Russians don’t surrender! Tara Reade, or whoever operates the Learn RCRussian channel on Telegram, provided further explanation:
🔻This is a catchphrase that was one of the combined arms slogans of the Russian army, dating back to the end of the 18th century.
🔻The phrase became most famous in connection with the defense of the Osowiec fortress in the First World War.
🔻On the Internet the catchphrase is sometimes used in relation to courage and inner strength of people not even of Russian nationality.
Zounds! In other words, Vladimir Putin saw that photo and exclaimed to his aides, “Etot chelovek Russkiy! (That man is Russian!)” Or something to that effect. Perhaps we’ll never know that – but clearly Putin just paid Trump the highest compliment a Russian can pay a non-Russian.
Sadly, the assassin did claim a victim. Corey Comperatore, a retired fire chief, was on the stage with his two daughters. As the shots rang out, he shielded his daughters with his body – and in so doing, lost his life. David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, received more serious wounds than Trump received – but still survived. (Their condition is “stable.”)
CNAV reported on the incident within two hours.
Who is the assassin, and where did he come from?
Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School only two years ago, with special recognition in math and science. He’s registered to vote as a Republican, but once gave $15 to a “progressive” cause. Candace Owens, in her commentary on the incident, said Crooks had a look about him similar to other school shooters – with an “effeminite” body habitus.
Crooks has never before been in trouble with the law.
Anonymous law-enforcement and FBI sources report the finding of bomb-making materials inside his car and home. His body (Secret Service agents climbed onto the roof afterward, confronted him, and shot him down) carried no identification. The local medical examiner (or coroner) used Southern Blots (the common forensic DNA test) to identify him. The AR-15 belonged to Crooks’ father; how he got it, no one will say, if they even know. We do know he bought fifty rounds of ammunition hours before he tried to kill the former President.
But Laura Loomer found one association that deserves investigation. In 2023, BlackRock filmed a public-service announcement at Bethel Park High School. Crooks was in that PSA.
Within hours of Laura Loomer breaking the story, BlackRock deleted their PSA. “Out of respect for the victims,” they said – but only after Loomer challenged them for not making a statement.
The New York Post reports that Crooks was no marksman. He tried to join the rifle team – and was rejected because he couldn’t shoot straight.
After-action assessments – and review of coverage
Col. James Waurishuk USAF (ret.) asks several questions on Armed Forces Press. He notes that no one secured that rooftop, nor even placed towers or cranes to obstruct line-of-sight from it. Nor did anyone fly any drones for aerial surveillance. He flatly declared this an inside job, by the Deep State, or else a Keystone Kops level of incompetence.
Let me be extremely clear and to the point — there is “ZERO chance,” repeat – “ZERO chance” from what I am seeing that this was not a DEEP STATE hit. Again, Trump’s Secret Service detail is either the keystone cops (as witnessed on camera during the exfiltration of Trump from the venue/site), or USSS were in on it. As Info Wars host Alex Jones said, “they will not stop – now … next they are going to try to poison him or shoot down his plane.” Likewise, War Room host Steve Bannon has for months been saying, based on the warning signs, that many high ranking political and entertainment figures have been calling for hostile and deadly action against President Trump. Joe Biden recently said, “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
These resources provide further evidence of incompetence – or collusion.
Elon Musk, as head of X, furiously demanded the resignations of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle and the agent-in-charge of Trump’s detail.
The Daily Signal notes that Kim Cheatle has directly promoted “diversity, equity and inclusion” at the Secret Service.
But already the leftist media are blaming Trump for provoking his own assassination attempt. Here is a booby-prize example:
But not the worst example! David Frum (The Atlantic) called Trump “a bloodthirsty dictator” and suggested that what had gone around, had just come around.
Mehdi Hasan, head of Zeteo, left this gem:
There’s more. On Saturday morning, The Washington Post carried the headline, “Biden trains fire on Trump.” And let’s not forget Biden speaking of “put[ting] Trump in a bullseye.”
Afterward, the headlines at first played down the incident.
Aw, missed!
Then came unmistakable “Aw, missed” expressions. Jacqueline Marsaw, field director for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) – former Chairman of the January 6 Committee – dropped one. Black Lives Matter 860, in Hartford, Conn., left worse examples. Connecticut Centinel took screenshots, in fear that BLM 860 would delete their posts afterward. One speaks of posting bond for the assassin – obviously before hearing he was dead. Then they accused the Secret Service of staging the entire scene. One voice suggested that “a botched assassination attempt” didn’t save George C. Wallace (1972) and wouldn’t save Trump. Another snarled:
It’s a flesh wound on a coke head.
Extremely underwhelming.
I used to sleep on the floor at times to avoid gun violence in the 90s.
I wish they had reacted this way when kids got shot at playgrounds.
Note: Donald Trump is not the cocaine habitué. Hunter Biden is, as a matter of court record. For his part, he reflected very soberly on his narrow escape, telling the New York Post:
I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be dead.
He also made this concrete change: the theme of the Republican National Convention (beginning today) will be national unity.
Did the assassin act alone?
Sadly, one can explain almost all the facts we have as due entirely to:
- A lonely and rejected boy (not a man, Amendment XXVI notwithstanding) desperate for attention, and
- Monumental incompetence at the United States Secret Service.
Clearly Barack Obama, then Joe Biden’s handlers, have turned the Secret Service into a shell of its former self. This is not the Secret Service that stopped Gerald R. Ford from getting wounded in two public assassination attempts. Nor the Service that bundled Ronald Reagan into his limousine after a privileged character tried to impress an actress in a movie about someone else trying political assassination to get attention. Their standards of hiring, training, and procedure have all suffered.
Blame the mistaken notion that women are just as qualified, on average, as men to be law-enforcement agents or bodyguards. Tellingly, private celebrities – including Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey – have all-male bodyguard forces. Any member of those forces could tear a man apart, given sufficient provocation – and looks the part.
But! Seek whom the crime would profit! At least three organizational suspects have motives: the –
- Deep State and its servants and collaborators, including the BlackRock/Vanguard/State Street Axis and the World Economic Forum, the:
- Chinese Communist Party, especially if General Chi Haotian’s sentiments are still current, and maybe the:
- Islamic Republic of Iran, HAMAS, Hezbollah, et al.
Off-track theories
Sadly, some conservatives want to blame either:
- Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who seeks an excuse to prolong the Israel-Gaza War to save his political skin, or even:
- Trump himself as a very agent of the Deep State, to preserve his image while he accedes to the latest gun-control pitch.
Those who make the second argument, base it on the “Bump Stock Ban” that the Supreme Court voided this Term. That very opinion, and the one in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, should stop any fresh gun bans. In any event, those two are the least likely suspects.
Because the Deep State is a prime suspect, this requires investigation outside of government. Someone needs to gin up a fundraiser to hire Pinkerton’s. CNAV has said before: Pinkerton’s should replace the FBI – permanently.
Moving forward, the American left is not likely to heed any call for national unity. The public “Aw, missed” statements express their sentiments. At least one leftist organ has already thrown any calls for national unity back into Trump’s face. So patriotic Americans need not worry about Trump giving away the store. (And to reply to one absurd suggestion from the Heritage Foundation: Russian operatives will not support Biden. Not after they’ve plastered Trump’s raised-fist photo all over Russia and saluted him as an honorary Russian.)
So that assassin – and those who might have placed him there – virtually assured Trump’s re-election. It is up to patriots to make sure that happens.
Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.
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