In the wake of former president and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump being shot at Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, there were more than a few questions that needed to be answered.
One shouldn’t have been whether this was an assassination attempt — although, President Joe Biden being President Joe Biden, still couldn’t confirm the obvious.
As for key matters, one involves what the damage, so to speak, was. In the case of the 45th president, it was apparently limited to an injury to Trump’s right ear.
As for the audience, one individual was confirmed dead, with two others critically wounded, according to CNN.
But, perhaps most importantly, who was the shooter? And what was his motive?
The first question we seem to have an answer to, at least according to news reports. The rest is a bit of a mystery.
According to the New York Post, the would-be assassin was a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks. Beyond that, motive and other important matters are, well, cloudy.
MAP: Suspected gunman’s location in relation to former President Trump when shots were fired at his Pennsylvania rally, injuring Trump and killing a spectator.
https://t.co/hqkxIAcLZ0 pic.twitter.com/apor0bCJb3— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 14, 2024
“Sources said Crooks was planted on a roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away from the stage at Butler Farm Show grounds,” the Post reported.
“He was killed by Secret Service snipers. An AR-style rifle was later recovered.”
According to the Post, Crooks was registered to vote in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania — 40 miles away from the attempted assassination.
Not only that, but many on social media made quite a stink about the fact that Crooks was a registered Republican:
Wait the gunman is a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN? pic.twitter.com/B2FteH4htc
— Jo (@MingAutocrat) July 14, 2024
Whether or not this is true is rather irrelevant; although now living abroad, I am registered to vote as a Democrat in the state of New Jersey, since I was a liberal in high school (weren’t we all?) and haven’t bothered to change my registration in a state where voting in primaries doesn’t matter.
According to Reuters, moreover, Crooks had made a $15 donation to the Democratic group ActBlue, “a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians.”
Whatever the case, this is clearly a deeply disturbed individual. We know not what prompted him to try to assassinate Trump, but the animus ran so deep that he was willing to sacrifice the rest of his life to carry out the attempt.
Did you watch the shooting?
What prompted this? One only needs to look at the scare tactics promoted by the media and the Democrats. There is a logical line.
They may deny it all they want, but it still exists — and in a political environment where responsibility is apportioned whenever a traumatic event occurs, the responsibility in this case ought to be apportioned to the side it belongs to. Period.
