A gunman opened fire at a Secret Service event on a rooftop and was taken down by a counter sniper team, but a bystander was also shot and seriously injured. Former Secret Service Agent Don Mihalik joins us to talk about the events that unfolded and what happened to the bystander. We also discuss what the FBI is doing to identify the shooter and what they plan to do to find out who is responsible for the death of the man on the rooftop and the injuries to the other person on the ground who was also hit by the gunman. Don also talks about how the counter Sniper team responded to the situation and the efforts they did to find the shooter, as well as what they could have done to prevent this from happening in the first place. Thanks to everyone for all your support, stay safe out there and rest in peace, and Rest In the Shade! -Jon Sorrentino and Martha Mertz and the rest of the crew at Rumble is here to break it all down and give you all the details you need to know about what happened and why you should be thankful for all the work done by the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team and all the efforts put in to protecting events like this in place to protect our nation's capital. and much more. . Thanks Jon and Martha Jon and the team at Rumble. Jon Sarah Steve Don & the rest in Rest In The Shade Thank you for listening and supporting the cause of all the support. -RUNDERSTANDING THE MOST IMPORTANT LINKEDUCY! - . . . - RATE PODCAST RATE THE LINKS ENJOYING IT? TALKING TO ME AND TALK TO US AND FOLLOWING US IN OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND PATREON INSTAGRAM AND OTHER LINKS AND GOT A FRIENDS AND LINKS TO OUR PODCY CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK GROUP AND TWEET AND INSTA AND GOOGLE CHECKOUT AND PODGOT A LINK TO OUR INSTA FOLLOW US AND TUNE IN AND GIV ME A LINKED TO OUR MCCARTOGRAPHIC LINKS IN OUR PICKS AND POTTER AND OTHER THAN THAT AND OTHER SOCIAL MESSAGE AND MORE! ...
00:00:22.000And, you know, heard those shots fired, heard multiple shots fired, and people hitting the ground.
00:00:29.000And I'm sure that sniper went into action.
00:00:31.000Yeah, as many as eight rounds from that AR-style rifle.
00:00:34.000Martha, thank you so much for your reporting on this.
00:00:37.000Let's bring in Don Mihalik from former Secret Service, who's a contributor now, has been speaking with us.
00:00:45.000Donald, I just want to get your sense of this information that we're getting now about the shooter on a rooftop taken out by a counter-sniper.
00:00:53.000What's your take on this and how these events may have unfolded?
00:00:58.000Well, it sounds like the Secret Service counter snipers did their job, as Martha was talking about.
00:01:03.000Whenever there's an event anywhere, the counter snipers go and they do their form of an advance.
00:01:08.000That form of an advance is looking at the entire area in and around the event space and setting up almost a grid pattern so they could identify locations and locations of interest.
00:01:19.000Looking and scanning all of those potential threat areas are part of what the countersniper is doing.
00:01:24.000They work with ground teams generally made up of...
00:01:27.000All right, we're back up on Rumble, guys.
00:01:28.000...enforcement called countersniper response teams that they can call upon to respond to a potential situation to figure out what's going on.
00:01:37.000In this situation, it sounds like some of that was working.
00:01:40.000But, you know, what we're going to have now is the FBI is going to do the criminal investigation piece of this to look at...
00:01:47.000The shooter, his motivations, what happened.
00:01:50.000But you're also going to have the Secret Service now doing a mission insurance investigation to look at the protective venue, what protective methodologies were in place, what worked, what gaps they may have had, and what they could close down in the future.
00:02:04.000Yeah, so much ground to cover and still so many.
00:02:14.000I don't normally film on Saturdays, but I'm doing this for you guys because I think it's very important.
00:02:18.000And, yeah, I mean, I'm one of the few guys that's actually served on a Secret Service detail that could talk about this that's on YouTube right now or Rumble or whatever it may be.
00:02:25.000So if you're going to watch on Rumble, guys, support on Rumble.
00:02:49.000Let's go back into Twitter space, guys, and see what they're talking about over there.
00:02:53.000Critically hurt after this male gunman, who has still not been identified, fired from two to three hundred yards away from an elevated position on a rooftop adjacent to the...
00:03:57.000Audio's coming in good for y'all ninjas.
00:03:59.000You guys can hear what's going on here.
00:04:00.000If you're going to do 2,000 rallies and 30,000 people at every rally, you know, there's a reason guys like Tucker, guys like Cernovich had been talking about this, you know?
00:05:20.000The fact that this was missed and this guy was able to get that close on a building they knew about, they had to know about this building because they mapped it out, you know, two plus weeks ago.
00:05:28.000And was able to get that vantage point.
00:05:56.000Donald Trump is the 47th president of the United States.
00:06:00.000And I got to tell you, I want people to listen to me.
00:06:04.000When Trump gets in the Oval Office again, People who did this, people who did the witch hunt when he was president, it's all coming back on you guys.
00:07:03.000The M16 is rated out for a max effective point target at 550 meters.
00:07:09.000An experienced shooter can do this in the standing on top of that building and hit its target no problem.
00:07:15.000And then you also have the 30 round magazine that you can have with this weapon and re-engaging is very simple.
00:07:21.000So trying to pull out a bull action or something like that where a larger caliber is not needed, this is a very good weapon to get in and out if you're trying to.
00:07:29.000But I don't think the shooter had that intent.
00:07:31.000And also when you're going after a huge political target like that, your nerves are probably shaken and up.
00:07:37.000So his shot being off is probably due to that.
00:07:40.000But this is a good weapon for that type of situation.
00:07:44.000It's just not saying that you need a sniper or something.
00:07:52.000And the question, I'd love you guys to ask some more questions here to Bano, just to kind of understand better.
00:07:57.000So you're saying the weapon is not, you're not saying it's ideal, but it's not the worst weapon for, obviously, the attempted assassination of Trump, considering the distance.
00:08:20.000I mean, the gun weighs around 14 pounds.
00:08:23.000You can sneak it in, and you only need a couple seconds to engage.
00:08:27.000And that's if you're an experienced shooter.
00:08:29.000I don't think this guy was very experienced at all because at 150 yards, he was shooting from the prone, and he was trying to probably lower his profile.
00:08:38.000But you can definitely get the shot off and get out of there real quick if you needed to with that weapon system.
00:08:46.000Okay, and then from what we've seen so far, the position, so you've seen the images of the shelter, you've seen how far it is from the former president and the line of sight.
00:09:00.000You've seen the footage of the Secret Service engaging with the shooter?
00:09:08.000Okay, I'd love your thoughts on all that footage.
00:09:10.000The Secret Service engaging with the shooter, it seems like, I don't know if he was trying to assess his target and see what he had in his hands.
00:09:18.000I mean, that's something you should be able to tell very quickly.
00:09:21.000I would definitely be questioning my Secret Service on what actually happened.
00:09:24.000So you're talking based on the footage, he kind of looked through the scope and then looked away and then looked through the scope again.
00:09:30.000That's what you're referring to, correct?
00:12:03.000I'm telling you, this was an inside job, and people really need to stop taking that stuff seriously because they took a shot at the future president of the United States.
00:12:11.000They tried to attack every single one of us today, and people need to be taking this seriously.
00:12:18.000Yeah, so RFK obviously did reference the assassination of his uncle.
00:18:50.000The tone and tenor of this campaign in the coming days, of course, as President Biden has been, you know, under tremendous fire and fighting for his political future, as we have seen so many Democrats coming out and calling for him to exit this race.
00:19:04.000But for now, in this moment, the president is responding to this, you know, as a president first, but also as a candidate.
00:19:09.000Of course, we are seeing his campaign pull down their political communications.
00:19:13.000We are seeing them pull down their political ads to focus on this moment, to try and dial down the temperature And just so you guys know, we know that this is, look, look, so check this out.
00:19:45.000Convention in any way is not something he wants.
00:19:48.000If he's able, he's going to try to be there.
00:19:52.000I mean, I've witnessed Trump at rallies kind of call out the Secret Service and saying, why are these barricades up there?
00:20:01.000I want to let people get closer to the stage.
00:20:04.000I was at a rally in Iowa during the 2022 midterms where he actually got his staff to remove some of the barriers so more of the crowd could come closer to the stage.
00:20:15.000He's not going to want to scale down, scale back any of this thing.
00:20:18.000I was talking to one of the many people that are involved in So interesting tweet here from Dan Bongino, guys.
00:20:25.000This guy's a former Secret Service agent.
00:20:27.000Dan Bongino says, actively communicating with a number of former colleagues from the Secret Service about this assassination attempt.
00:20:32.000This is an obviously catastrophic failure.
00:20:34.000No excuses should be made or even attempted.
00:20:36.000I mean, yeah, I tweeted this earlier that it's a big fucking L. The failures are profound and questions must be answered about ground surveillance, air surveillance, post-standard support, and counter-sniper advance work and response.
00:20:52.000We have one job and we came within inches of deadly failure today.
00:20:56.000An uneventful failure is not a success.
00:21:41.000When you are a running president and someone as divisive as Trump, you need to have a full Secret Service detail that is the equivalent to what the president has.
00:23:14.000Some of the things she has told people on that detail about security arrangements, clearly making political statements, she is completely unqualified.
00:23:23.000It is time for President Trump to have a full presidential package.
00:23:32.000I'll leave you with this and then I'm asking you all, please, again, it's in these times where You know, I'm not some freaking poet, man, so we don't need to do any of that stuff.
00:23:46.000I'm just saying, you know, like when these people get lost at sea, they have lighthouses and stuff for a reason, you know?
00:23:52.000God's that one for you, and he's that one for us right now.
00:29:03.000They're just helping augment the detail.
00:29:06.000So they're not as specifically trained, and they don't have the same background when it comes to protection versus law enforcement, which are two different missions completely.
00:29:16.000So when this guy is telling the police, yo, we're seeing a guy, blah, blah, blah, like...
00:33:31.000She joined Secret Service in '95, 2017, 2018.
00:33:33.000She served as deputy assistant director.
00:33:37.000She was the SAC of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
00:33:39.000She became the first woman to serve as Assistant Director of Protective Operations, a department tasked with protection of President Dignitaries and managed a budget of $133.5 million.
00:33:47.000During her tenure, Cheadle was assigned to the Vice Presidential Protective Division.
00:33:50.000During the Obama administration, 2019 and 2022, Cheadle served as Senior Director of Global Security at PepsiCo, which was responsible for directing and implementing security protocols for the company's facilities in North America.
00:34:00.000Her role involves Developing Risk Management Assessment and Risk Mitigation.
00:34:03.0002021, President Joe Biden awarded Cheadle a Presidential Rank Award for Exceptional Performance.
00:34:08.0002022, Biden announced the appointment of Cheadle to be Director of the United States Secret Service, and she assumed office on September 17, 2022.
00:34:15.000She took over following a turbulent couple months in which the agency best known for protecting presidents faced controversy related to January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
00:36:01.000My daughter-in-law, Lisa, she said for us to hurry up and get down.
00:36:06.000Well, I mean, I saw, like, all the, like, Secret Service, like, kind of...
00:36:11.000They did a really good job about that, making sure he was protected, telling everyone to get down.
00:36:17.000So I think they did take a good care of making sure everyone was understanding what was going on and being serious but not freaking everybody out.
00:36:24.000What was your initial reaction when you heard those popping noises?
00:36:29.000Yeah, so I actually like my boyfriend pushed me on the ground and like went on top of me, which was like really nice.
00:36:34.000But I think a lot of people I think were a little like too shocked to understand what was going on originally for sure.
00:36:42.000But I think I think everyone listened pretty well and it was handled pretty well.
00:36:46.000Did you see some of that commotion that was playing out on the other side of the bleacher where we saw law enforcement agents sort of swarm around another individual or did you ultimately just rush out?
00:36:54.000No, we were there for a minute because they did tell us to go back down again just in case.
00:36:59.000I think that was good because it helped, like, calm people down.
00:37:02.000But I think one of the stands that I was next to, they did, like, carry out a man.
00:37:06.000And there was another one that might have been injured.
00:37:08.000I'm not 100% sure, but definitely one at least.
00:37:11.000And on the other stand on the other side, because I was on the right, on the left, there were, like, a bunch of, like, men in uniform, like, surrounding someone.
00:39:20.000You guys are hilarious, man, with these memes.
00:39:24.000Kumo says, I know I'm making jokes, but the fact that we may never know what actually happened and everybody's scrambling in real time is fucked up, man.
00:41:23.000And immediately there was a swarm of Secret Service officers that knocked down President Trump and got on top of him.
00:41:32.000And then he stood back up and you sort of saw this fist come held sort of defiant that looked like he was okay, but you couldn't tell for sure.
00:41:43.000It looked like there was some blood, but it wasn't obvious.
00:41:46.000And then the entire crowd went to the ground because we weren't sure whether the shots were done.
00:41:51.000And then unfortunately, over my shoulder, someone had clearly been hit.
00:41:57.000I was on the ground, and up in the bleachers, probably three or four bleachers behind me, it looked like there was a man who was severely injured.
00:42:09.000There was a lot of blood, and his people around him were trying to administer first aid.
00:42:15.000And then some police officers came in and carried him out and presumably took him to get First, you know, first aid.
00:42:26.000I don't know if there were other people injured, and I don't know if there was anybody apprehended, because as you might imagine, once that happened, the crowd was very chaotic, and it was very hard to know what was going on.
00:42:40.000And we're still there at the rally, just sitting, trying to get out, because the traffic is so backed up.
00:42:45.000And Dave, your account seems to confirm some of this reporting that we're getting about a shooter and potential bystanders who were hurt.
00:42:55.000Just talk more about your initial reaction.
00:42:58.000I mean, seeing this, you're running for Senate in the state of Pennsylvania.
00:44:00.000Expect a long-form post by him that was reposted by Elon.
00:44:04.000Initial thoughts on Belakman's post...
00:44:08.000And I want to go to Tehran Lucky to get their thoughts on this tweet and more their political standpoint on whether we're going to continue seeing more and more endorsements flowing in.
00:44:19.000I'm going to summarize Ackman's reasoning in one word.
00:44:25.000Bill Ackman didn't give his reasoning, but he's been basically hinting that he's going to support Trump for weeks now.
00:44:31.000As you remember, he was the one who supported Dean Phillips, brought him on to the stage where he had the opportunity to speak with him.
00:44:40.000And he has since certainly since the debate, he's been absolutely pretty convincing that, you know, Biden should step down, he shouldn't be out there, etc., etc.
00:44:50.000So I don't think the Bill Ackman statement is going to move the needle, particularly because I think he had made it clear where he was going to go with it.
00:44:58.000However, I think this incident will have a significant—look, a lot of things will have a significant impact.
00:45:06.000Biden's debate performance is probably still the most significant impact that we've seen on this race.
00:45:47.000But like I said, I think that image is somewhat iconic.
00:45:51.000I think his courage and standing up and saying fight is going to resonate with a lot of people who may dislike him but sort of thought he was more of a lightweight personally.
00:45:59.000So I think this has changed things, but I actually feel like the debate changed things more.
00:46:06.000The polling might not show that, but I think in general the debate changed things more because if Joe Biden was considered to be a forceful Lucky, your thoughts?
00:47:16.000And, you know, he stuck his fist up multiple times.
00:47:17.000Even as he got into the car, he stuck his fist up.
00:47:20.000And I wanted to kind of address Joe because he kind of implied this political violence came from Trump.
00:47:25.000If we go back to 2015, 2016, there was a lot of families and moms and pops and grandmoms going to these Trump rallies, and they were getting punched in the face by Antifa.
00:47:54.000These are exactly words of people who have contacted me alone in the last several hours, and I'm sure that's true of people across the country.
00:48:00.000The reality is I don't want to make this political tonight.
00:48:05.000I will say that President Biden, who ran on the platform of uniting the country, had an opportunity even tonight to really rise to the occasion in a way that he fell short.
00:48:14.000I don't say this criticizing him as a Democrat, but somebody who was rooting for a president to rise to the occasion immediately.
00:48:21.000And not only offer the usual ritual incantation, the ritual condemnation of political violence, yeah, we got that, but a deeper heartfelt sense to say that, you know what, this is a man who I'm running against, but it is wrong that this should happen to anybody, and this is not who we are as Americans, and if I as a U.S. president have failed to create this environment in this country, then I will own that because the buck stops with me as the commander-in-chief.
00:48:44.000I don't think we saw that kind of message come from President Biden tonight.
00:48:48.000And for all the discussions about how he came short after the debate, I do think that even tonight was a moment for a man who ran on the platform of uniting the country to have fallen short in the way that he did.
00:49:00.000But this is less about criticizing President Biden and more asking the question of how we as Americans are able to say we're moving on.
00:49:07.000We're turning a page on a chapter of our history where we see our political opponents as our enemies.
00:49:31.000And he got up and he said, you know, I need my shoes.
00:49:34.000and then he stopped and he fist pumped a couple of times and he said fight fight and the response was USA USA because that's the natural response at all of his rallies he talks about fighting it's been a theme and the theme is they're coming for you but but I'm in the way so you got to keep fighting what do you think about that response and that having the wherewithal to do that
00:50:00.000Look, I think those images we saw, our kids and our grandkids are going to be viewing that image in their history books.
00:50:05.000That was American history tonight and for the better.
00:50:08.000It was like the images of George Washington crossing the Delaware with the flag in the background.
00:52:11.000You did post 24 minutes ago, FBI has so-so.
00:52:14.000First, you're the Senior Analyst for Strategy at the Center for Security Policy.
00:52:18.000And you've got a book called The Big Intel, how the CIA and FBI went from Cold War heroes to deep state villains.
00:52:24.000And you did post less than half an hour ago, FBI has so tarnished itself that it must not be in charge of investigating today's assassination attempt.
00:52:32.000The lead investigating entity should be a special prosecutor or independent commission.
00:52:37.000Michael, I'd love to get you to elaborate on this tweet and give us your thoughts on what we've discussed so far.
00:52:46.000The FBI, by default, would be the lead investigative agency for this type of incident.
00:52:52.000But the problem is, of course, it spent years from the top down on a false crossfire hurricane counterintelligence operation to prevent Trump from being elected in the first place.
00:53:06.000In its training and in its field office memos and so many other areas, it shows a distinct political bias against American citizens who support the president.
00:53:18.000So since it's lost the public confidence in more than half of the population, it's the wrong agency to be leading this because it's going to get us down a track into allegations of covering up Allegations of complicity, all sorts of things that we don't know where this is going to go.
00:53:39.000So then we get to the point, well, who is there?
00:53:43.000Who can be trusted by most of the population and we really don't have an entity anymore that has that kind of public trust.
00:53:53.000So I threw out the idea, I don't know the mechanisms that are necessary, but the idea of some type of a special prosecutor or investigative commission to lead the investigation and to supervise the FBI's vast resources and the use of its personnel.
00:54:11.000So as you guys can see, we read on the FBI website, they are going to be the lead agency on this investigation.
00:54:17.000We don't have an independent federal investigative agency worthy of the public trust.
00:54:23.000And just getting your thoughts, just taking a step back, what would that do to the credibility?
00:54:32.000So it just means that the credibility eroded away.
00:54:34.000I've covered it extensively in the Twitter files, and it obviously goes back well beyond the Twitter files.
00:54:39.000And now we've got this incident today.
00:54:42.000What happens to the trust in the FBI and other three-letter agencies, and what does that do to America's democracy that relies on these institutions?
00:54:50.000We need these institutions and we need most of the capabilities that they have.
00:54:55.000But when they go for years abusing their power, even abusing the congressional committees that are supposed to oversee them and their members, the reality is that it's the other way around where those agencies often oversee their overseers, which there's no constitutional basis for this.
00:55:12.000So we've gotten ourselves in a jam as a country where there's no one left who has But you know, the Republicans don't believe that an independent special counsel can be appointed according to Donald Trump and his lawyers, right?
00:55:33.000So how are you going to put someone independent in when basically Trump doesn't believe that should happen?
00:55:40.000Right, and that's the whole problem is that we don't have a mechanism.
00:55:44.000So I was just throwing out the idea We've got to have some kind of mechanism for this.
00:55:55.000When the former chairman of the House January 6th Committee introduced legislation to remove Secret Service protections from Donald Trump.
00:56:05.000And then you have people inside the Trump campaign who told the Federalists that the Secret Service detail around President Trump has been asking the Secret Service for more assets and has been refused by either the Department of Homeland Security or the White House to...
00:56:27.000And then you have the whole matter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
00:56:31.000being denied secret service protection by the White House.
00:56:33.000Just for everyone, just sorry to interrupt you, Michael.
00:57:09.000Yeah, my app is glitching a little bit.
00:57:11.000I do see that he's been listening for a couple of hours.
00:57:13.000I'll step down and then probably listen for a while, maybe step back up if he does come up.
00:57:17.000Our common friend George Gammon is down in the area, and he often has a view of the macroeconomic impact of these things, such as assassination attempts.
00:57:27.000So if it does go to the – what are world leaders going to do?
00:57:39.000I'll get in here and talk with these guys.
00:57:41.000And then you guys, Myron, on the background.
00:57:43.000But I'm going to mute my mic so you guys don't hear double.
00:57:45.000The bets on Trump being the winner of the election, he's – the likelihood – let me go back to the graph here.
00:57:52.000So it was – At about 60% chance, just before the assassination attempt, and it spiked by 10 percentage points to 70% chance that Trump will be the next president.
00:58:37.000I brought up oversight with the FBI and the FBI coming in.
00:58:42.000As I was a protective service officer, believe it or not, that was my additional duty in regards to counterterrorism and counterintelligence, which was my primary as a division lead.
00:58:52.000And the oversight of DOD, which I worked for, is very different than the FBI, of course.
00:58:59.000But you have, of course, Congress and the Government Accountability Office that oversee, for instance, like Director Wray, who is in and is, you know, of course, a very concerning figure in regards to a very concerning figure in regards to where we lie, at least on the Republican side.
00:59:18.000But, you know, what I will say is, you know, there is accountability.
00:59:22.000It is, you know, worrisome that you would have somebody like Director Wray overseeing a Trump investigation.
00:59:31.000You can only and unfortunately trust in Congress to And keeping things in check, right, with, you know, the Republican senators that normally you would watch just grill, you know, Ray every day, Senator Mayorkas, etc., down the line in regards to the wrongdoings that are going on.
00:59:52.000However, yeah, so the accountability is there, but unfortunately it's the integrity of that accountability is questionable.
01:00:49.000Also, I think, you know, that incompetence has led to openings for this weirdo to come in and, you know, shoot from the top of a building, which should always be secured.
01:00:57.000And I think it's also important for me to say, and I didn't get to mention this before with your audience, that Secret Service heavily relies on other agencies to augment their security details.
01:01:05.000So, for example, when I was working for HSI Homeland Security Investigations back in 2016, they relied on HSI a lot to help them with doing Secret Service details.
01:01:16.000A Secret Service agent has a different mindset from an HSI agent or state police or local police that they bring these other agencies in.
01:01:22.000Because as a criminal investigator, your job is to detect crime, do investigations, write affidavits, etc.
01:01:27.000You're not a protection-oriented agent like a Secret Service agent or Diplomatic Security Service.
01:01:32.000So when you rely heavily on other law enforcement agencies to help augment your security detail, well, the quality of the security detail is going to be compromised.
01:01:40.000Then you add in the fact that he's not a sitting president and he has You know, a diminished Secret Service capacity as far as security detail goes compared to a sitting president.
01:01:50.000It's almost like the perfect recipe for disaster where you have less personnel.
01:01:54.000You have a lot of other law enforcement agencies that don't necessarily share the same mission as Secret Service and aren't necessarily as well equipped to deal with protection details.
01:02:06.000The top of that building wasn't secured is inexcusable.
01:02:09.000The other thing I wanted to say, because I see Mr.
01:02:12.000J. Michael Waller had talked about how the FBI taking lead on here is a problem, which I agree.
01:02:16.000The FBI has a black eye on them right now.
01:02:19.000They're running two investigations as we speak right now, concurrent to this, where President Trump is the target.
01:02:25.000And that does cause quite a bit of I've worked with the FBI many times, and I will tell you guys 100%, most of them are good guys at the agent level.
01:02:34.000Once you start getting into problems is once you hit the brass.
01:02:36.000The top end of the FBI is where the issues are with the corruption and the political bullshit and the bureaucracy.
01:02:42.000But the agents on the ground are good guys.
01:02:44.000You know, there are a lot of times law-abiding citizens that love this country.
01:02:47.000But with that said, I don't think the FBI is the appropriate agency to run this investigation, given the fact that they're literally the lead agency on two of his prosecutions, whether it's in Washington, D.C. or down here in South Florida with the National Defense Information Classified Documents case.
01:03:01.000I think the agency that will probably lead this investigation should be Homeland Security Investigations, HSI. At the end of the day, they're the principal lead enforcement agency when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security.
01:03:10.000They have a lot of the same resources as the FBI. But, you know, the reason why the FBI is taking lead here is because they are the number one federal law enforcement agency and they have the most resources.
01:03:18.000Then on top of that, also, guys, which they're not going to put this out on the news, the first thing they're going to try to rule out here and why the FBI is probably taking lead is they're trying to figure out if this was counter espionage, if this was terrorism, etc.
01:03:29.000So that is probably why the FBI is taking lead.
01:03:33.000They have the most 1811s, aka special agents.
01:03:36.000So I think that's a big reason why they designated them as a lead agency, though I don't think it is appropriate.
01:03:41.000I agree with Waller on this, but it is what it is.
01:03:44.000And another thing, too, I want everyone to understand Because people are saying, hey, we should put a special prosecutor or independent commission.
01:03:49.000The problem with a special prosecutor or independent commission, guys, is you still need criminal investigators to run the investigation.
01:03:54.000These lawyers have zero idea on how to conduct a real criminal investigation.
01:04:05.000As we speak right now, I guarantee you guys, there's probably a search warrant being drafted for this individual's home, his phones, his computers, etc.
01:04:12.000You need special agents, 1811s, to draft that up and then swear to it.
01:04:15.000Go to the judge at 12 o'clock at midnight, which a lot of these lawyers aren't going to fucking do, by the way, and go get this thing sworn out and go search that house.
01:04:20.000And then you're going to need agents to go ahead and secure the property.
01:04:23.000You don't know if it's booby-trapped, etc.
01:04:26.000They're going to have to secure the location, go and get the evidence, all this other stuff.
01:04:29.000So prosecutors and independent commissions can't do this, which is why If you look at something like the Warren Commission, which was done after Kennedy's assassination, it was a fucking joke because they didn't really have real investigators doing it a lot of times.
01:04:41.000It was like a bunch of independent political bureaucrats running it.
01:04:48.000And unfortunately, the FBI is the biggest agency we got.
01:04:50.000And I do think it should go to another agency, maybe an HSI, etc., an agency that isn't leading a prosecution against our sitting president, Trump.
01:05:47.000They're probably going through all of his stuff right now as we speak and trying to identify him, other individuals.
01:05:52.000I think that's a big reason why they're reluctant to release his identity is because they're trying to figure out anyone that's connected to him and if there's other co-conspirators.
01:06:03.000Do you think that there's a likelihood, just based on this shooting, that he was a lone wolf, or was he maybe part of a larger conspiracy?
01:06:13.000You also mentioned that the FBI would look into whether this was terrorism, if this person worked on behalf of a foreign nation.
01:06:22.000Is that something that they would already have nailed down, or do you think that that would come...
01:06:30.000Yeah, I mean, it might take some time because they're going to obviously have to investigate this guy, figure out what his background is, etc.
01:06:37.000The FBI is the lead agency when it comes to terrorism and counterespionage, right?
01:06:40.000So I think that's a big reason why they're taking this on as the lead.
01:06:43.000And also, to be honest with you guys, I've worked with Secret Service before.
01:06:46.000They just don't have the capacity to conduct complex criminal investigations.
01:06:51.000Their forte is counterfeit money and financial crimes.
01:06:54.000Something like this is quite a bit, even though they're tasked with protecting the president, if there's actually a real assassination attempt like we witnessed today, you're going to need an agency that actually has robust investigative skill set to do it.
01:07:06.000So the FBI and HSR are probably the two agencies that are the best at doing this.
01:07:09.000So yeah, I mean, it'll take time for them to figure out what the deal is, but I'm pretty confident that alongside the FBI's huge resources they have, You know, the thought that this could be espionage or terrorism, etc., is definitely, you know, in the back of their minds from a law enforcement perspective as to why they're taking lead on this thing.
01:07:28.000One more quick question, Myron, if you don't mind.
01:07:31.000Typically, like in a mass shooting situation, we would have the name of the shooter, all of their socials within sometimes hours of the shooting.
01:07:40.000In this particular case, do you think it'll take days or even weeks before this information is released to the public?
01:07:53.000But I guarantee you that, you know, it's a small team of agents that are probably running this case.
01:07:58.000And they're keeping everything as close-knit as possible so that, you know, things don't leak because they're trying to, as we speak, they're trying to figure out who the hell this guy is and if there's other conspirators.
01:08:06.000That's probably their number one Go right now.
01:08:08.000And if they can go ahead and dispel that, you know, there's other conspirators, etc., then that's when we might figure out who this guy is and, you know, what his background is and stuff like that.
01:08:17.000But I think their number one concern right now is to make sure that there aren't other conspirators.
01:09:16.000Myron, would you do you think that in this case, if it was just a lone person, I had this thought in my head on.
01:09:28.000Often with these crazy shooters, if it is a lone wolf, they post manifestos somewhere.
01:09:34.000We've seen that in other mass shootings.
01:09:37.000What are the likelihood, just in your opinion, that we will hear about a manifesto or see something on this person's social media accounts once they're identified?
01:09:49.000I think the only thing that would hold it back is if he, you know, if there was like national security issues where he was working for a foreign government or something like that, where they would need to classify it.
01:09:59.000But there's a good likelihood that it would be released publicly down the road eventually.
01:10:04.000I mean, I'm hoping we get it, you know, within the next 24 to 48 hours.
01:10:07.000But, you know, they're probably going to try to keep this as tight knit as they possibly can in this situation.
01:12:17.000There have been multiple requests according to reports.
01:12:20.000It goes back to something we've been critical about when it came to RFK as well, who was refused secret service protection.
01:12:29.000And I gave the example when I interviewed RFK in Austin a few weeks ago, or a couple of months ago now, his security was minimal to say the least.
01:13:19.000Yeah, I'll just say this in terms of the question about how Trump is going to do poll-wise after this whole thing, if that was your question.
01:13:25.000I think that Trump is going to have a humongous lead after this whole thing.
01:13:32.000The race is effectively over, in my opinion, after the debate.
01:13:36.000After this, it's completely over at this point.
01:13:41.000I'm guessing, you know, it'd be, you know, like, if anything, it would be, like, before it was, like, what, four or five points?
01:13:47.000It might be, like, eight points or even higher.
01:13:50.000I think this is, again, a pretty closed election after this whole thing.
01:13:54.000And this shows, again, Trump's strength.
01:13:57.000He had a bullet go right by his head an inch away from going from his ear to his brain, to his entire head and blowing it up on the actual, like, live video.
01:14:08.000And he still stood up despite being shot at.
01:14:16.000Someone who, despite being literally shot at, which is an experience that you or I most likely don't have, despite being shot at and in the crosshairs of someone trying to kill him, Still stood up on his two feet.
01:14:53.000The shot of Trump being shot at and still standing to fight another day.
01:14:57.000The shot of Trump, despite all the hurdles he's faced through years and years, standing up for adversity and standing up to fight the American people.
01:17:41.000...about the motivation saying that the way that he has built up the stakes for democracy has put this, literally there's some saying that he has blood on his hands.
01:17:51.000Again, that's an irresponsible statement based on what we know right now.
01:17:55.000But the rhetoric that led up to this moment in some ways or that make this moment so obviously a sad and horrific one for the nation is not ending with this incident pretty clearly.
01:18:08.000And I think in some ways we can see it boil over even more in the days ahead here in Milwaukee.
01:18:57.000From Milwaukee, we also have on the phone with us Reince Priebus, former RNC chair, former chief of staff early on in the Trump administration.
01:19:08.000What's the mood right now among Republicans?
01:19:11.000Well, I'm also chair of the Milwaukee Host Committee, which raises the money, and I lead the community group here that helps put on the convention.
01:19:22.000Obviously, people are stunned and saddened.
01:19:27.000It's horrific and dreadful and all the other emotions that everyone has, which is a whirlwind of...
01:19:41.000But I will say that right now things are moving forward as planned.
01:19:48.000And, you know, just being a person that's been around President Trump a lot, and I still am, I would suspect that, you know, the president's going to be Even stronger moving forward in both attitude and probably tone.
01:20:08.000And so I don't expect right now anything to change moving forward.
01:20:13.000I want to follow up on that because obviously people have been thinking about the former president and we know that he is doing fine.
01:20:21.000He suffered that minor injury to his right ear.
01:20:24.000And he says what he believed was a bullet that whizzed by.
01:20:32.000An innocent bystander who was just there for this political event.
01:20:36.000And it's a reminder that you can't protect Every location, 100% all the way.
01:20:44.000And, you know, law enforcement often talks about soft targets and large crowds and gatherings.
01:20:49.000And it's one thing to say that the convention itself will be safe.
01:20:54.000But, Reince, I guess my question is to you, like, how can you guarantee the safety and protection of the other people who are there participating, engaging in some of the other events around the convention?
01:22:23.000I said I haven't been taking L's all night when it comes to my takes on this stuff, right?
01:22:26.000I told you guys that Secret Service is in dire need of agents.
01:22:30.000They've had problems for a minute now with being able to keep their people.
01:22:34.000And you can see here that they got this special agent achievement recruitment program.
01:22:38.000And that tells you right there, guys, what I've been trying to tell y'all, that they can't keep agents, guys, because once people become Secret Service, they realize this job fucking sucks and they leave.
01:22:46.000It is not easy to be a Secret Service agent, guys.
01:22:54.000I was protecting the president of Congo, if I'm not mistaken.
01:22:57.000And, dude, I was sitting in front of a fucking door to his, what's it called, to his hotel for like 10 hours, just sitting there, just in my suit like this.
01:24:54.000It's that the FBI stands with the people of Butler County in western Pennsylvania and our hearts go out to the victims of this heinous act which occurred today.
01:25:06.000This is our community and I want to let the public know that the FBI has deployed a number of our resources including investigative agents, our evidence response team, bomb technicians, And we have additional resources coming from other field offices, as well as from FBI headquarters, including our evidence response from Quantico, Virginia.
01:25:38.000We have intelligence analysts as well working from our field office in Pittsburgh working feverously to attempt to identify the individual who did this and the motives behind why this was done.
01:25:50.000That's what they're figuring out is the motives.
01:25:54.000Anyone who was on scene who saw anything, who identified any information, please report that to the FBI using either the phone number 1-800-CALL-FBI Or online at FBI.gov slash Butler.
01:26:14.000This evening we had what we're calling an assassination attempt against our former president, Donald Trump.
01:26:53.000With that being said, also, we do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was.
01:27:05.000And that's why they don't want to tell you guys who he is yet.
01:27:07.000They're trying to identify the motive first.
01:27:09.000At this time, I'm going to turn over the podium to Colonel Chris Parris from the Pennsylvania State Police.
01:27:23.000Commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police.
01:27:25.000I would just like to say that the state police have been in regular contact with the governor's office and the full support and assets of the entire agency are behind the FBI and our other federal and municipal partners to assist with this investigation.
01:27:43.000The thoughts and prayers of the Pennsylvania State Police are likewise with the victims of this terrible act.
01:27:50.000We are prepared to support this investigation in any way, shape or form, and we stand ready to participate in a full, fair and competent and thorough investigation.
01:28:01.000To give you an operational rundown, Deputy Commissioner of Operations Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens is behind me and he will discuss the operational portion that's being conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police.
01:28:18.000So let me describe for you a little bit about the scene that we have over there.
01:28:23.000As you know, there was a grandstand, a very large area, a lot of people there when this all unfolded.
01:28:30.000The former president had come out and begun to speak shortly after 6 o'clock this evening, and within about 10 to 15 minutes, a number of sounds were heard, and it became apparent that shots were being fired It was a chaotic scene.
01:28:49.000Law enforcement, I believe, acted heroically, quickly identifying and neutralizing the threat, as well as responding to assist the various victims.
01:29:03.000PSP had a significant presence on the scene along with all of our federal partners at the time of the shooting.
01:29:10.000We have since enhanced that presence significantly bringing in resources from all over the Commonwealth to ensure that we have a speedy, thorough investigation.
01:29:20.000We are working very closely with the FBI as we work through this.
01:29:26.000As you can imagine, Because of the variety of crimes that have been committed, some are under federal jurisdiction, some are under state jurisdiction.
01:29:37.000And so we're working through all of that.
01:30:04.000There were some complicators that hopefully the next time we speak we can describe for you, but some complicators that slowed down some of the processing and the positive identification of the shooter.
01:30:19.000But know that at this time we have no reason to believe that there is any other existing threat out there.
01:30:27.000We're doing everything we can to make sure that this is thoroughly investigated and that if there is any information developed that anyone else was involved that between PSP and the FBI that will very quickly be followed up on.
01:30:43.000So I think at this time we would open it up to questions from all of you.
01:30:49.000I knew someone was going to ask that, lone wolf.
01:30:51.000Again, I think it's too early to say that.
01:30:53.000We have one shooter tentatively identified, but we're not stopping there.
01:31:02.000We're following up on a lot of information.
01:31:04.000it will be some time until we can conclusively say or answer that question I think Again, that will all be part of the investigation, but I can tell you that preliminarily it appears everything unfolded very quickly.
01:31:34.000So, you know, again, we'll have more information on that, but it's just too early to start definitively saying this happened at this exact time.
01:33:14.000The FBI, which is leading the investigation, and the Pennsylvania State Police.
01:33:20.000And they said that because of the different layers, they said at this time there are a variety of different crimes, some under federal jurisdiction, some under state jurisdiction, but they will be working together.
01:33:31.000They also said at this time they're not prepared to identify the shooter.
01:33:55.000I'm going to get some more info on this guy real quick.
01:33:57.000But at this point, this is significant, especially for the area.
01:34:00.000No reason to believe that there's any other existing threat out there.
01:34:03.000Now, one part of the question and answer I thought was interesting.
01:34:06.000There were reports that police confirmed of someone on a rooftop.
01:34:12.000And so let's go ahead and listen in to the presser.
01:34:15.000So I think the credit goes to not only the Secret Service who was on site, but also the state and local partners who were there on site and were able to react immediately when the incident occurred.
01:34:28.000Do you know how many officers fired their weapons?
01:35:38.000You've also heard a possible related scene in Bethel Park.
01:35:45.000Is there anything you can tell us tonight about other areas where law enforcement may be searching in relation to this event?
01:35:51.000Again, right now we're tracking down all leads and doing all interviews and tracking anything that we can regarding suspicious locations, vehicles, locations, interviewing individuals.
01:36:02.000So it's all related to this event, but I can't confirm or deny anything that's going on.
01:36:43.000It's a primarily standard procedure of any suspicious packages.
01:36:47.000In this case, there was identification of suspicious packages around where the shooter was.
01:36:53.000And so we deployed in an abundance of caution Bomb assets to make sure that those were cleared for investigators to move safely in the area.
01:37:04.000We're still working on, it's still an active crime scene, so I'm not going to say that the scene is 100% clear at this time.
01:37:10.000Why aren't a Secret Service agent here right now for the press conference?
01:37:15.000So Secret Service wasn't available for the press conference at this time.
01:37:19.000100% of the packages that you're talking about.
01:37:22.000What is suspicious packages that you're here to hear?
01:37:25.000Really anything, I don't have specifics on what they were looking at, but you know there's people in the crowd will leave badges, they're fleeing the scene like this, so any suspicious packages we have to treat as it may be an explosive device.
01:37:41.000And how quickly did everybody jump in and who ended up taking them out?
01:38:32.000Or was it potentially something else that could?
01:38:34.000I don't have that specific information as far as the injuries to the former president.
01:38:39.000I understand you're not releasing the suspect's identification right now, but as you know, is this person knowing to you guys to see somebody that you guys have been looking at through the threats he's possibly been online, et cetera, et cetera?
01:38:50.000Again, the information that we currently have, we're looking at that obviously very intently.
01:38:56.000And as we know that information, we'll release that as well.
01:38:59.000So we'll need to plan another time for a follow-up press conference.
01:39:06.000We're looking at all investigative leads and everything from, and that's why we ask the public, because I'm sure there'll be cell phone video, there'll be all kinds of information that we'll use to fully flesh out exactly what happened here.
01:39:21.000I think you're saying you can't say what type of gun it is, but do you know how many shots were fired?
01:39:44.000So we do have identification on those.
01:39:46.000We're not prepared to release it at this time.
01:39:48.000We have notified a number of family members, but they have not had an opportunity to notify extended family and things.
01:39:56.000I would confirm for you that we did have one individual killed, and I know I heard somebody say about two victims.
01:40:02.000There were three in total besides the former president.
01:40:04.000So two critically wounded, one killed.
01:40:08.000At this point, do you know they were sitting near each other and where in relation to the former president?
01:40:13.000I don't have their exact seating by individual.
01:40:17.000Again, that will all be part of the investigation, but their shots were scattered somewhat, and so they weren't just into one particular location.
01:40:27.000You're saying just one fatality as of right now?
01:40:45.000When did they say they saw a semi-automatic rifle used by the shooter?
01:40:50.000Can you share any of what you tell them that that's what you believe?
01:40:53.000I've heard those reports as well, And again, we do have a good idea of what the weapon was.
01:41:00.000But again, that's all part of the ongoing investigation.
01:41:04.000And I'm not trying to be cagey about that.
01:41:07.000You know, when the SAC talked about the need to be very methodical and to be cautious with that scene, We are doing just that.
01:41:17.000We don't want anybody else getting hurt and candidly there are some concerns that we'll be able to talk more about later on about just what those concerns are and continue to be.
01:41:34.000There are a lot of really angry people.
01:41:37.000Are you monitoring if there have been any threats in response to this?
01:41:41.000Are you worried if there have been any specific threats?
01:41:43.000That's certainly a concern, and we're monitoring that whole situation.
01:41:47.000I mentioned that we're bringing a lot of assets to bear, and so like the FBI utilizing their analysts, we also have the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center.
01:41:55.000We will utilize the resources of our Intelligence Division and the Criminal Intelligence Center to be able to monitor for concerns about any threats, regardless of the side of the issue or the political spectrum.
01:42:09.000We want to make sure that we try and avoid any further violence.
01:42:33.000How difficult for the day is this for your department, though?
01:42:35.000Are all your partners going to talk to these family members, including the civilians who have come down while they just went to a rally and trying to celebrate, I guess, the upcoming election?
01:42:43.000What are these conversations like, and how do you kind of get through that?
01:42:46.000We have trained investigators, and we're partnered hand-in-hand with the FBI, again, because we've got some federal violations.
01:42:53.000Some state violations, and so our investigators are going out methodically.
01:42:56.000We have a large team of investigators that are going out dividing up these interviews and trying to conduct them as quickly as possible, and then there will be follow-ups.
01:43:06.000You know, with the FBI asking for people to call in tips, I have no doubt that we will receive a lot of additional information that will also require follow-up.
01:43:16.000But again, we're working very well together, and it's only a short matter of time until we get through all of those interviews.
01:43:28.000There were no police hit with bullets.
01:43:31.000From your experience, how close a call was it for President Trump?
01:43:34.000I'm not going to speculate or comment on that.
01:43:39.000And as we're listening to this press conference in Pennsylvania, you're looking at a live picture right now.
01:43:45.000This is the plane of former President Donald Trump flying into Newark.
01:43:50.000We understand that the president is going to regroup with family, with advisers.
01:43:56.000In New Jersey as they get ready for what is still set to go forward with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee starting on Monday.
01:44:06.000So quite a day for the former president.
01:44:08.000What law enforcement again are describing as an attempted assassination on Donald Trump today.
01:44:14.000Trump himself saying that a bullet whizzed past his ear, his right ear, and actually clipped part of it.
01:44:20.000He was injured slightly, taken to a hospital for medical treatment, but has since been released, left the area, and that the image of former President Trump's plane landing in New Jersey right now.
01:44:32.000Once again, this press conference is playing out in Pennsylvania.
01:44:36.000We're getting a few more details of what they're looking at.
01:44:39.000I believe they're still wrapping up right now.
01:45:01.000If Trump had been the nominee already, would he have had additional security for this event?
01:45:06.000There again, Secret Service has the lead, and I'm not going to comment or speculate on what may or may not be provided at any given point, depending on their status as a candidate.
01:45:18.000What I will tell you is that, in my experience, Secret Service does an excellent job of maintaining security on protectees.
01:45:27.000They don't hesitate to ask for resources and, candidly, we don't hesitate to supply those resources.
01:45:32.000Deputy Colonel, you're asking for the public's help.
01:45:35.000Can you elaborate and be more specific about what you would really like to see from the public?
01:45:40.000If it's videos, photos, personal accounts?
01:45:44.000I think the videos and photos would be very helpful.
01:45:49.000And I think that once the shooter is identified, anyone that has specific information on that shooter, that would be very helpful as well to help us assess motive.
01:46:00.000And again, as I mentioned earlier, we are absolutely not taking for granted that this was a lone wolf attack.
01:46:07.000And so we would be looking for any additional information that might point us toward anybody else that may have had a hand in this.
01:46:14.000Sir, at this point, what is the main focus of the investigation?
01:46:18.000What's the most important thing for you right now in a few hours?
01:46:21.000Well, there's not any one single focus.
01:46:24.000I mean, certainly the immediate focus was life safety, getting the former president out of there and to care, getting care to the other victims and trying to secure the scene as quickly as possible.
01:46:37.000It shifted then from a life safety situation We're just beginning the political season.
01:46:57.000Are you guys concerned with all of these rallies that happened and how they're set up?
01:47:07.000Again, I would refer you to the Secret Service in terms of what they work out with the campaigns.
01:47:12.000We will continue to supply resources, as I'm sure the FBI will, and local partners as well.
01:47:21.000And again, you're listening to this press conference with law enforcement in Pennsylvania, the state police and the FBI speaking.
01:47:27.000But the image to the right of your screen is President Biden stepping off of Air Force One, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base.
01:47:36.000At Andrews, this was just moments ago.
01:47:39.000We know that President Biden ended his trip.
01:47:42.000He was in Rehoboth, Delaware for the weekend.
01:47:44.000He ended his trip early to come back to Washington as all of this started playing out.
01:47:53.000I was just listening to see if we're going to go ahead and we're going to leave this press conference right now and go to Mary Bruce, our Chief White House Correspondent.
01:48:01.000Mary, a couple things that I just wanted to point out before we come to you as we're getting all of this information here.
01:48:07.000Once again, law enforcement saying that they are calling this an attempted assassination of former President Trump.
01:48:14.000I remember earlier tonight when President Biden was asked that question, he wasn't ready to go and confirm that, but now we're officially hearing it from officials.
01:48:23.000And once again, before I come to you, forgive me.
01:48:25.000I just want to point out, too, that they mentioned that one victim was killed, two critically wounded.
01:48:33.000Also, guys, breaking while he reports that.
01:48:35.000So New York Post is reporting right now, guys, that...
01:48:39.000FBI is yet to identify motive behind gunman Thomas Matthew Crook's attempted assassination of Trump during PA rally.
01:48:45.000And this is a big reason why they didn't want the name to get out, but obviously got leaked somehow.
01:48:49.000The FBI has not identified the motive.
01:52:09.000and you can see his face like kind of like because he could feel the burn now at this point of course idiots gotta scream Do that one more time.
01:52:39.000Really see something that said, take a look at what happened.
01:53:42.000And then those shots are the shots back at the bad guy, at Crooks.
01:53:46.000So we heard, I think three shots go off.
01:53:55.000And then you hear that fire, that retaliatory fire, which I think was the secret service sniper shooting back.
01:54:07.000Alright, let's go back to the KBC. This is in Pennsylvania.
01:54:12.000It was a joint presser, the Pennsylvania State Police, also the FBI, talking about the teamwork that they'll be seeing law enforcement start the process of carrying out this investigation, just the beginning stages.
01:54:30.000We just lost the signal to the presser, but just a couple of other things that I just wanted to highlight because some things that we hadn't heard before.
01:54:37.000They did say that there were a number of reports that they heard from people and the state police did confirm that they heard that people were trying to report suspicious activity prior to those shots being fired and that there were reports of someone on a rooftop somewhere.
01:54:52.000Now, state police couldn't elaborate on exactly what those reports were, but they did say that that was something that they were looking into with this investigation.
01:55:01.000Let's go ahead and listen back to that presser in progress.
01:55:08.000In their defense, what I would want to say is it is incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public and to secure that against any possible threat, against a very determined attacker.
01:55:26.000The investigation will really give us an opportunity to take a look at where any failures occurred and what can be done better in the future.
01:55:36.000Lieutenant Colonel Vickens, do you know when another briefing might be held?
01:55:42.000We don't have one scheduled, but I would tell you we will let you know and give you plenty of notice.
01:55:50.000Certainly as soon as additional things develop, that would be noteworthy or of interest to you.
01:55:56.000we'll get that scheduled and have another with you.
01:55:59.000Locally, what can residents' businesses expect to happen with the investigation over the next couple of days?
01:56:06.000Again, the interviews will all be occurring, and so they may see law enforcement in their communities.
01:56:11.000People came from a wide area to come to this rally, I'm told.
01:56:15.000So there's going to be law enforcement fanning out, and as additional calls, photos, videos come in, those additional interviews will result in law enforcement being out in the community conducting those interviews.
01:56:30.000But otherwise, they really shouldn't see any other significant impact in the community.
01:56:34.000Can you confirm whether it's a male or female, the homicide, the bystander who died?
01:56:56.000I know that is a philosophical question, but how could you talk to the people outside the United States about what happened here in Poland?
01:57:04.000Well, again, what I would say is this is a tragic incident that occurred.
01:57:10.000We're not in a position to start second-guessing how or why or anything else at this point.
01:57:16.000Just know that it will be thoroughly investigated.
01:57:18.000If there is anyone to prosecute, that will be done and we'll move forward.
01:57:24.000But I don't have a good answer for you.
01:57:28.000I know that PSP said that you guys were not aware of any additional requests from the Trump team for security.
01:57:36.000What about the FBI? Was there an additional request for additional security from the Trump team, and was that denied in any way, shape, or form?
01:57:55.000So we are, we showed up after the fact.
01:57:58.000We were monitoring the event, but it was once the incident occurred that we come and we take the primary jurisdiction for the investigation.
01:58:21.000It's been easy, Whit, because authorities say the shooter was carrying no identification on his person, so they've had to use DNA technology to identify him that way.
01:58:33.000That may be what's giving the The FBI some pause in formally releasing the name so they can do that biometric identification.
01:58:43.000So that also tells you that perhaps this person didn't want to be identified.
01:58:50.000And what that means as far as motive, we're not sure.
01:58:54.000The authorities have not yet identified one.
01:59:06.000nearby in western Pennsylvania at locations that may be associated with this young man.
01:59:13.000They've undoubtedly tried to scour his social media information If there is any, talk to people who knew him, relatives, friends, because they do want to, as you heard the authorities say, understand a possible motive herewith.
02:00:36.000This whole thing is a teaching moment for them because this guy had to be, again, me guessing, outside the perimeter Of what they had covered.
02:00:50.000And only, I suspect, when he started shooting that they were able to draw a beat on him and stop him.
02:00:55.000So this will go together, I think, pretty quickly.
02:01:00.000And we should have a lot more information, I think, by tomorrow.
02:01:03.000And already in the past five hours or so, we have learned a lot.
02:01:17.000And what's your takeaway in the sense of the shooter profile that we're starting to get right now?
02:01:24.000Look, we don't have a ton of data about assassination attempt attackers, in part because there just aren't that many assassination attempts.
02:01:32.000But we do have a lot of data about the type of attackers that carry out targeted We know that many of them have some sort of life stressor in their life experience in the last year, some sort of crisis.
02:01:58.000Sometimes it's a job loss, sometimes it's a Loss of a loved one.
02:02:02.000Many of them have mental health challenges, not necessarily a diagnosable illness.
02:02:27.000Okay, Bethel Park, unofficial, the municipality of Bethel Park is a borough with home rule, a status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb within a Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
02:02:37.000This is where this guy is from, Thomas M. Crooks.
02:02:40.000As you guys can see, we pulled up his voter registration earlier.
02:03:22.000And again, we are learning more and more as the minutes and the hours go by already into the evening.
02:03:27.000And the next 24 to 48 hours is likely to be very illuminating with more information.
02:03:32.000elizabeth newman thank you so much we cannot forget in all of this the people who are there the witnesses and the victims authorities again confirming that one person was killed two critically wounded all adult males we heard from so many witnesses who saw all of this some of them rushed in to try to help we've been speaking with some who are at the trump rally describing what they saw A warning.
02:04:17.000So I did my speech earlier today during the pre-program and I was a few feet from where this all occurred.
02:04:26.000We heard the shots and I thought it was, first of all, it was fireworks because, you know, people are on edge and any kind of loud boom you hear, you don't think gunshots immediately, especially because of the environment of what was going on.
02:04:42.000I turned around, and someone yelled, medic.
02:04:46.000And I looked, and there was no way a medic could have got to that person in time.
02:04:50.000So I left my seat, took my tie off, I jumped over the barrier, and I ran to the individual.
02:04:57.000But when I got there, it was too late.
02:04:59.000The person was bleeding out through their head.
02:05:04.000And like I said, once again, respect to the family, because this is a very tough time.
02:07:13.000There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy, although we don't know what exactly what happened, and this is hours ago, right?
02:07:19.000We should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn't seriously hurt and used this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.
02:07:25.000Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.
02:07:27.000I just said, I'm just here for the comments, and then, like, boom.
02:09:43.000I guess Secret Service jumped on top of him and shielded him.
02:09:47.000But as soon as everyone in the crowd figured out what was going on, we all ducked, and my buddies just jumped on top of me, piled on top of me.
02:11:46.000I don't want anything to happen to them because if anything ever happens to a sitting or former president, it looks bad on the United States, period, man.
02:12:30.000You know, it's hard to process all this.
02:12:32.000You know, your heart rate is through the roof.
02:12:34.000But, you know, best wishes for their family.
02:12:37.000And, you know, they were supporting the country that they love.
02:12:39.000And in the meantime, it's definitely sad.
02:12:42.000And, you know, it's heartbreaking, honestly.
02:12:46.000And Stephen, we've been hearing from people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, you know, independent candidate, RFK Jr., all with the same sentiment, condemning political violence, saying there's no place in this country for something like this.
02:13:04.000And I just wonder, from your perspective, too, You're out there, you're exercising your right to support a candidate.
02:13:10.000What message do you have for people out there?
02:13:13.000Because the country is at this political boiling point.
02:13:16.000There's so much division and anger and hatred right now from one side and the other.
02:13:25.000At the end of the day, whether you're on the left, the right, the center, or you don't believe in politics at all, we all still put our pants on in the morning.
02:13:34.000We all breathe the air and go to work.
02:13:36.000And a lot of these issues, in 10 years, no one even thinks about them or cares about them.
02:13:41.000So we're all people at the end of the day, and it's not worth taking someone's life over political beliefs or whatever.
02:14:04.000Regardless of you're independent, you're fucking Republican, you're Democrat.
02:14:09.000One nation under God, and people tend to always forget that part.
02:14:12.000That's why you got idiots like this stupid bitch that don't really love their country, because if you loved your country, you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to any president.
02:14:19.000I don't wish any harm to befall on Joe Biden.
02:14:22.000You know, obviously I think he's an incompetent leader, but I wish him a very healthy and long life.
02:14:26.000Kamala Harris, she's an idiot, but I wish her a very long and healthy life.
02:14:30.000I will never, ever, ever wish death upon anybody, especially anybody that is running this country.
02:14:36.000That's the worst thing that could fucking happen.
02:14:38.000And the fact that we got people here calling for violence or calling for bad things to happen to our politicians, you're a fucking ass clown.
02:14:47.000Instead, just, you know, ignoring them and walking up the stairs to Air Force One and back down.
02:14:52.000All of this has completely changed everything, you know, about this race and this political moment.
02:14:57.000And the president, you know, before you get to any of the politics, is simply going to have, you know, a lot of the same questions that all of us have.
02:15:03.000And I do think it is interesting to remember that the president's events, the president's campaign events, they have a very similar Security procedure, security process.
02:15:11.000So, you know, there are a lot of questions that the president is going to have, you know, as the president, as a candidate, about, you know, how this could have happened and what lessons can be learned going forward.
02:15:22.000So, first and foremost, he is reacting to this as the president, trying to get some of those answers here in the coming hours with.
02:15:28.000Yeah, as you noted earlier, president first, candidate second, and everything is being recalibrated now.
02:15:34.000This is a pool video right now that we're also getting.
02:15:37.000This was President Biden and his motorcade pulling up to the White House.
02:15:43.000He cut his weekend trip short to come back to help handle this crisis and respond to it.
02:15:49.000So the president flew from Delaware, he flew into Andrews, and then picked up the motorcade, and then we saw the Beast and the other vehicles.
02:15:56.000People that are saying this is a staged event, I don't think so, guys.
02:15:58.000I know some of you guys got your tinfoil hats on and you guys think it's a staged event.
02:16:02.000I think it was a little too close for comfort for it to be a staged event.
02:16:05.000Like, oh yeah, let me go ahead and do this speech.
02:16:08.000I'm going to turn my face like this and I need you randomly to shoot at it, okay?
02:16:12.000Thomas, I'm going to need you to shoot me on the head, but now shoot me on the head so I get some blood so I can go ahead and raise my fist like that.
02:16:24.000Trump's family and the Trump campaign and a video that they're sending out.
02:16:28.000Yeah, this is a video that one of the aides that was traveling with Donald Trump back in New Jersey just posted.
02:16:36.000I know our control room is working to turn that around very quickly, so we'll bring it to our viewers.
02:16:40.000But again, I think this is all just remarkable.
02:16:45.000As we've been reporting for the last several hours, as you've been leading our coverage with, the Trump team has really been learning everything in real time.
02:16:55.000I can tell you that I have been speaking to members John, forgive me.
02:16:58.000I'm interrupting you just for a moment here because I just want to make clear to our viewers what they're seeing right now.
02:17:04.000This is video, the first video that we have seen of former President Donald Trump since the shooting earlier today.
02:17:11.000This was released by a campaign official.
02:17:13.000This is him stepping off of the plane that he flew into Newark, New Jersey.
02:17:18.000Remember, Trump was swept off the stage by the Secret Service.
02:17:23.000He was taken to the emergency vehicles, taken off.
02:17:26.000He went off to a hospital for treatment and was told that he suffered a graze wound to his right ear.
02:17:33.000And these are the very first images that we're seeing of the former president walking down the steps off that plane since the shooting, the assassination attempt.
02:17:44.000I just wanted to point out what the viewers were seeing.
02:17:47.000But again, you have been in touch with the Trump family throughout the course of the day.
02:17:52.000Yeah, and with that image, I can tell you something that, you know, at the end of the day, Donald Trump, we all know, is larger than life, if you will.
02:18:03.000And, you know, I can tell you that none of the children were with him today in Pennsylvania.
02:18:08.000They were all scrambling to reach their father to get an update.
02:18:11.000They were actively in touch with Secret Service.
02:18:14.000I spoke to his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
02:18:18.000They both were able to reach their father.
02:18:20.000Donald Trump Jr. telling me that when they spoke, his father was in good spirits, commented about how much blood was coming down to his face.
02:18:30.000And there's UFC tonight for what I'm saying.
02:18:36.000Chad, let me know, what time was UFC supposed to be tonight?
02:18:39.000I think to see Donald Trump showing our viewers on screen right now, you know, to think hours earlier, that image that we have played over and over again of Donald Trump, you know, with agents swarming him and pulling him into that motorcade.
02:18:57.000I can tell you from many aides and sources of mine that I have built in 10 years of covering Donald Trump for ABC News.
02:19:04.000Many were horrified, several of whom I've known for quite some time, answered the phone when I was trying to find out what was going on in tears.
02:19:12.000Oh, the main event is on right now, so I guess he didn't go to UFC.
02:19:26.000Trying to learn what was happening in real time.
02:19:30.000Now, look, as far as what we know for tonight, our expectation, you mentioned to our viewers, is that Donald Trump right now is in that motorcade, leaving Newark, heading back to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
02:20:25.000Private meetings with the three finalists, if you will, would potentially be his running mate.
02:20:30.000And he thought that this rally today in Pennsylvania was going to be that big event.
02:20:35.000That ended up not being the event because of the coverage.
02:20:38.000Obviously, he's been talking something nobody could have predicted.
02:20:41.000But our understanding is that Donald Trump is still full steam ahead with the convention, expected to head to Milwaukee on Monday, and we still believe that is then and there.
02:20:52.000We'll find out who his running mate is.
02:20:54.000It is, though, I have to tell you, just as an observer of someone who's covered him for this time, I'm surprised at the fact that they are moving so aggressively ahead with the campaign.
02:21:08.000We know that Donald Trump has had so many twists and turns over the last year, and so often they collide with the campaign, and Donald Trump finds a way, if you will, to make it all work.
02:21:22.000And I think that's exactly what's going to happen now.
02:21:30.000On the left side of your screen, that is that image that we discussed.
02:21:33.000The first images that we've seen of the former president after the shooting, stepping off the plane and then heading to Bedminster, New Jersey.
02:21:42.000On the right, those are the earlier images of the motorcade after he flew into Newark, then escorting him to Bedminster.
02:21:49.000And joining us now, I believe on the phone, is Rachel Bate, our political contributor.
02:21:53.000Rachel, we've had Many conversations in recent weeks about the state of the campaign.
02:21:58.000And once again, another unprecedented moment in this campaign.
02:22:03.000An attempted assassination of a former president.
02:22:06.000What are you learning from your sources tonight?
02:22:11.000I mean, we can certainly say right now that this is going to further scramble a presidential campaign that is already roiling in chaos, as you just said.
02:22:19.000I mean, it is very much electrifying Republicans who are already rallying around Donald Trump.
02:22:26.000And from Democrats who already have heartburn about this campaign, they're even more worried about dimming prospects of taking back the White House.
02:22:35.000I mean, my colleagues and I were hearing Just hours after this assassination attempt from Republicans who are saying, look, we think this is going to solidify Trump's chance of winning back the White House.
02:22:47.000One congressman here in Wisconsin, where I am right now, Derek Van Ouren, said that President Trump survived this attack.
02:24:12.000And so I started looking into what was going on and immediately interceding and praying for the president and for the people who were at the rally.
02:24:28.000And this was an attempted murder, an attempted assassination on President Trump.
02:24:34.000and continued to pray and do what I could to offer support and send messages to those who I know who are close with him and to him and himself that I'm there, not expecting any response, not expecting any response, because I know that this is a very heightened time.
02:24:55.000And immediately texts and calls started coming into me from other people.
02:25:02.000But it was it was extremely emotional.
02:25:05.000All right, she's a gun right advocate.
02:26:52.000I think Matt Gates and I are probably like the top two who actually go out into the crowd.
02:27:00.000I've seen other members of Congress who sit back in the green room, in the VIP tent, wherever the air conditioning is, in these scorching hot areas where these rallies are held.
02:27:13.000And I make the effort to go to the very back of the rally.
02:27:18.000To connect with the people who are there just to say they were there, knowing that they're not going to have an opportunity to see President Trump, to speak with President Trump, to get a picture with President Trump, maybe be even too far back to see him on the jumbo screen.
02:28:09.000I mean, obviously, President Trump is a deep state target, has been since 2015 when he announced that he was running.
02:28:16.000If this was someone like Ron DeSantis or any of the other people that were running for president against President Trump, this wouldn't happen to them.
02:28:43.000Look, tell us about the plans and everything at this point, as we're told, is moving forward.
02:28:53.000Yeah, I wouldn't call it business as usual because everyone in the city is stunned and some of the events and parties have been scaled back or canceled.
02:29:01.000This is obviously the only topic that anyone is talking about right now and all concerned about.
02:29:07.000And I've been hearing from delegates all day say that their thoughts, their concerns, their prayers are with Donald Trump.
02:29:12.000And it strikes me on this day We're good to go.
02:29:37.000From this horrible incident that occurred just hours ago, it's going to be felt in Milwaukee in the coming days where this convention is planning to go ahead as scheduled starting Monday, and it could be felt throughout the rest of this campaign and beyond.
02:29:49.000This has just cast a pall over all of America and American politics and closing out this really, truly sad and horrific day.
02:29:58.000Rick Klein for us once again and to our entire team.
02:30:01.000No doubt this is a moment of reflection, a defining moment in this country, as people from all sides of the aisle are going to have to ask themselves, who are we as Americans going forward after this unprecedented moment in this campaign, the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, again escaping with only minor injury.
02:30:34.000Developments have been coming in moment by moment, hour by hour.
02:30:37.000We expect to learn much more in the coming days.
02:30:40.000For now, I do want to thank you and all of you who have been with us throughout the course of the day, followed by these major developments that we've been tracking this evening.
02:30:47.000We return you now to regular programming.
02:30:50.000We will, of course, be monitoring all the developments and all the changes across all of our platforms on ABC News and our programs tomorrow, beginning with a special edition of Good Morning America and a special edition of This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
02:31:03.000We leave you now with this image here that we noted earlier, the American flag still illuminated, still flying above that stage at the side of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
02:31:13.000For now, I'm Whit Johnson in New York.
02:31:50.000You get the proper protection that you need.
02:31:56.000We've got to protect every presidential candidate.
02:31:58.000But, you know, coming from your family and your background and your personal experience, what was your reaction to today?
02:32:07.000Well, you know, my reaction is hope, Sean, that Americans can kind of take a step back and take a breath and say it's time to end the vitriol.
02:32:20.000You know, you were talking about and Laura was talking about just the anger from both sides and from the media.
02:32:30.000And people pointing to other political candidates and saying they're going to be the end of the republic.
02:32:36.000They're going to be the end of democracy.
02:32:38.000And that kind of poison feeds into this.
02:32:46.000And the morning that he landed in Dallas, there were posters all over Dallas and a front page of a newspaper which had his picture on it saying, wanted dead or alive.
02:32:58.000And that was the gestalt of that time.
02:33:02.000It was driven by anger and in many ways His murder was a product of that anger.
02:33:08.000When my father was killed, it was the same time.
02:33:10.000It was the most divisive time in American history.
02:33:14.000It was very much like today, most divisive since the Civil War.
02:33:19.000There were riots in over 100 cities that summer.
02:33:24.000Martin Luther King was killed two months before my father.
02:33:28.000People were being shot on college campuses.
02:33:32.000And that anger Fed laid the foundation for my father's murder.
02:33:40.000And, you know, after Princeton Kennedy's murder, there was a time of regrouping, and there was a time of where Americans said to each other, we have to stop this.
02:33:50.000We have to start looking at each other as part of a big family.
02:33:54.000We can have differences with each other without despising each other.
02:33:58.000We are the exemplary democracy of the world.
02:34:01.000We can't allow our country to devolve into violence.
02:34:04.000We are better than And I'm not talking about the other media, but also you and me and all of us are complicit in some ways in what happened tonight.
02:34:19.000And I think all of us have to sort of step back now and say, how do we change the tone of this whole campaign?
02:34:28.000How do we change the tone of the political dialogue in this country and start to forgive each other, to reconcile, to love each other again, and to see each other, to be able to have differences with each other without wanting to murder each other?
02:35:21.000And I was with him when he died in Los Angeles.
02:35:24.000So I, you know, I sent a message out, a note out to President Trump tonight and to his family, telling him how relieved I am that he was not more badly injured, wishing him a quick recovery, thanking him for his courage during that event, which was inspirational.
02:35:46.000But also telling him that Cheryl and I are praying for him, our whole family is praying for him, for Melania, and for his family, not only for his quick recovery, but for his continued safety during this campaign.
02:36:02.000And I really wish, I really hope, that President Biden reaches out to President Trump and offers him a podium somewhere where the two of these men We
02:36:42.000There was a moment of peacefulness that Congress got together, both sides, and passed the Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing the right to vote for black Americans.
02:37:52.000You guys will see why they don't want to release it.
02:37:53.000Would you have a request into President Biden?
02:37:57.000Have they given you any legitimate reason why they keep refusing you the Secret Service protection that you have requested in light of what has happened to your family?
02:38:07.000Yeah, I mean, but I don't, and listen, Sean, I really appreciate you going to bat for me on that issue because you've done that before and you've done it pretty persistently despite our personal differences with each other.
02:38:20.000And I think that's the kind of example that, you know, we all need to look on.
02:38:24.000You don't, you don't, you don't like anything about my politics, but you have been asking for me to get protection.
02:38:31.000I don't want to I don't want to make this evening about me.
02:40:06.000Prayers go out for President Trump and his family.
02:40:09.000And we all, I think every American, Whether you like President Trump or not, you know, should be praying a prayer of gratitude that he did not, that this was not worth.
02:40:20.000And also a prayer for his recovery and for healing in our country.
02:40:25.000You see that picture that we have on the screen and him like very strongly showing a fist pump.
02:40:31.000He just got shot in the ear and had his ear pierced.
02:40:34.000He came within a millimeter or two of being shot and assassinated.
02:40:40.000Your family's been through too much, sir.
02:40:42.000I stand by my statement that you deserve that protection, and I'll continue to advocate for whether you want me to or not, but it wouldn't be our first disagreement.
02:44:16.000You know, but I'm not surprised, right?
02:44:18.000Like, these fucking radicals, man, they're always on some bullshit with, you know, they take their political views a little too far and they think that it's okay to enact violence.
02:45:56.000You know, for that, for a guy to be able to climb up on the roof of a building, literally a couple hundred meters away from where the president was, I think it was like 100, between 100 to 200 meters away, is wild, bro.
02:46:08.000That's just, or yards, whatever the fuck.
02:46:20.000And the Secret Service, I was mentioning this earlier, like the Secret Service relies heavily upon other agencies to augment their security details whenever they're on, whenever they're doing these rallies, especially when it's like a presidential candidate, like someone like a Trump.
02:46:33.000They don't have the same level of security as a sitting president.
02:46:36.000So, you know, they cut corners, they bring HSI agents on, they bring state police on, they bring local law enforcement.
02:46:41.000And a lot of times these guys aren't necessarily, their thing isn't necessarily protection.
02:46:48.000You know, these are law enforcement agencies and protection and security versus law enforcement are two different things.
02:46:53.000So I think it's really important for the audience to understand that.
02:46:56.000That when Secret Service brings these guys on, they don't have the same training and background experience as a Secret Service agent.
02:47:02.000So, you know, this was kind of people seeing the ugly side of law enforcement and how understaffed Secret Service really is.
02:47:08.000I've been mentioning that all day today, that Secret Service has been, for years, Chronically understaffed and it's because this job of being a secret service agent fucking sucks for like a better term They're watching they're sitting in guarding fucking garbage cans right for like 10 hours a day And it just blows it's and you know you keep in mind that's assuming you even got a halfway decent detail a lot of times you're and you're protecting you know a President or a close relative of the president and you're not necessarily involved in anything cool So I think when people get on the job and they realize
02:48:13.000It seemed like he had a lot of women on his team.
02:48:16.000And if I'm the former president, if I'm as hated as Trump, I'm not hiring that many women.
02:48:20.000Yeah, I mean, the problem here is that he has a watered-down Secret Service detail, bro.
02:48:24.000You're not going to have the same level of protection as a sitting president.
02:48:28.000So that's another issue, too, which I think it's crazy when you have someone as divisive as Trump, how he's not having sitting-level security detail as a president, which I hope after this they're definitely going to give it to him.
02:48:42.000But this was a fuck-up on Secret Service 100%.
02:48:45.000They've relied way too much on other agencies.
02:49:38.000That was one of the bravest and most strong moments we've seen and one of the best examples of leadership that we've seen in recent history.
02:50:46.000Obviously, those photos are going to live on in history.
02:50:49.000You know, an attempted assassination on, you know, a former president of the United States that failed, and it was done in 2024 with HD cameras all over the place.
02:51:00.000This is going to live on in infamy, and it's a huge day.
02:51:02.000It's a huge W for Trump, it's a huge W for the Republican Party.
02:51:06.000It's a huge W in general for anyone that is conservative in mind that our resolve is strong and we will not be held down.
02:51:13.000And him being able to pump the fist and say fight after being shot at where a lot of other people would have fucking cowered and just stayed down is a testament to Trump's character.
02:51:22.000And I think also people got to understand that it's protocol.
02:51:25.000If there's shots fired, the president has to hit the floor.
02:51:28.000So and that's why the Secret Service agents, if you notice, like Trump was a little reluctant to get down and then they just jumped on top of him.
02:51:34.000So people got to understand that a lot of it is protocol.
02:51:37.000A lot of it is stuff that's out of Trump's control.
02:51:39.000If you notice, they're dragging him off.
02:52:09.000And also I think it's a very pivotal moment because we're seeing the difference in how the mainstream media will so clearly try to blatantly lie.
02:52:16.000And then I have to say Jeff Bezos had the correct response.
02:52:21.000A lot of people are coming out and showing support.
02:52:23.000The only thing the Democrats could say was, we condemn violence.
02:52:26.000They couldn't take away how badass that moment was.
02:52:28.000All they could say was we could have violence.
02:52:30.000Trump had a good response to True Social.
02:52:32.000You can see a lot of influencers have the right response.
02:52:34.000Like Jake Paul said some good things and a lot of celebrities and others.
02:52:37.000But at the same time, you're seeing how the liberal media, not just random TikTokers, you know, with the witch nose ring, all the liberals saying like...
02:53:06.000I'll even share my screen here for you ninjas.
02:53:07.000But yeah, dude, it's just wild stuff, what he's saying here.
02:53:12.000And I was saying this earlier, like advocating for violence or being happy about anything happening to any American politician is a problem.
02:53:20.000Like an injustice against one American politician is justice at all because people forget that when you take the Pledge of Allegiance, what does it say?
02:54:07.000He's showing a moment of strength when the country's worried.
02:54:10.000Think about how many millions and millions of Americans look up to Trump and look up to him as a source of leadership and guidance in America.
02:54:53.000I'm looking at his Twitter timeline right now.
02:54:55.000But yeah, if an American politician is killed, that reflects poorly on the entire country.
02:55:01.000So we can't have any of our politicians being taken out.
02:55:06.000It's really a reflection of a weakness in our country.
02:55:09.000If the same thing happened to Joe Biden, I would be worried for the safety of our politicians and especially how our enemies are going to look at us and try to find holes and try to find weaknesses right there.
02:55:21.000It's really insane too because we're banned off of most social media.
02:55:26.000I've never incited violence on anybody.
02:55:28.000You could see so many people on TikTok are wishing death or try to incite even more violence and they don't get banned at all.
02:55:35.000So it's really clear what the narrative is when all these people are allowed on TikTok, these people with the nose rings and the satanic imagery everywhere, the vaccinated soy face, all this, they're allowed to push that.
02:56:37.000But instead of trying to fight, instead of fighting for freedom, instead of fighting for these values, they continue to go and backbite and try to take down Trump more.
02:58:08.000So he's doing it because obviously he sees problems with the United States.
02:58:12.000He thinks it's run by a bunch of bureaucrats, which it is.
02:58:14.000And he has more of a business mindset when it comes to running the American...
02:58:19.000Government, which I think did serve us pretty well from 2016 to 2020.
02:58:23.000But then, you know, you got guys like Biden who are career-long politicians that have never done anything else and don't have any other outside experience in the private sector.
03:00:43.000Like, you guys need to focus on your own problems.
03:00:45.000Focus on Trudeau and your communist country, what you guys got, where you guys can barely afford a fucking coffee.
03:00:50.000A Canadian dollar is worth fucking nothing right now.
03:00:52.000So, I love it when these foreign nationals try to come in and give their shitty ass political takes as if we give a fuck what they think when they can't even vote.
03:01:10.000So, these guys, man, and I love my Canadians, but some of y'all, man, you guys give stupid fucking political takes and nobody gives a fuck about your opinion.
03:01:33.000It's like, bro, like, we have a lot of issues in our country that's ridiculous for you to think that he's going to align with you completely.
03:01:39.000For you to think that Trump is going to be like a free Palestine, like liberal on a college campus with a cafe is ridiculous.
03:01:54.000You just got to pick the guy that's the best when it comes to dealing with it.
03:01:59.000And I think in this situation, it's a no-brainer.
03:02:02.000But yeah, of course this dude's going to say that.
03:02:04.000Look, I'm all for conspiracy theories.
03:02:06.000I'm all for thinking, you know, certain things happened.
03:02:08.000But for anyone that thinks that this was staged or whatever, like, think of how preposterous that is.
03:02:13.000Like, Trump's gonna sit there and say, okay, hey, I'm gonna coordinate with the shooter to shoot me millimeters away from my ear, by the way.
03:02:20.000This guy who is a random that doesn't have any military training.
03:02:22.000Yeah, I want you to shoot at me so I can go ahead and stage this perfect picture of me raising the fist after you missing your shot.
03:02:29.000And then, by the way, you need to die at the end of this thing.
03:03:25.000So, like, just for people to even insinuate that it's an insider thing or whatever, at least if you're going to talk 9-11, you're going to talk about JFK conspiracies, etc., there's an enormous amount of evidence to show that, you know, the conspiracy theorists aren't correct on a lot of the things.
03:03:39.000But when it comes to this, there's no benefit for Trump to faking his own assassination like this and being millimeters away from his own death.
03:10:40.000The overall thing is that, obviously, it's a wild day, right, that, you know, someone would actually try to attack a president in 2024.
03:10:49.000You know, I gave more of my background as far as, like, you know, the monumental failure from the Secret Service perspective, and other people were giving their different takes on things.
03:11:22.000Are they really going to try to do it again?
03:11:24.000He should definitely just go out with more security.
03:11:27.000And then, yeah, he should go to UFC tomorrow.
03:11:30.000But it actually is alarming, I have to admit, I've been to a lot of Trump rallies.
03:11:33.000I went to one in Vegas, and it was, like, the security was good, but it's like, I remember thinking at that event, it was only 200 people, it was like a private dinner.
03:11:41.000Strickland was there, the North Boise people, that's where Strickland asked me to spar.
03:11:45.000And at this, I was like, if I wanted to, like, if I was an enemy of Trump, it wouldn't be that difficult.
03:11:50.000And again, there was another one at the UFC. I was able to stand right next to him.
03:11:54.000And even then, I've seen some people put their arm around him.
03:11:57.000I should not be able to put my arm around Donald Trump.
03:12:00.000There should be somebody separating that.
03:12:02.000I shouldn't be able to get that close.
03:12:03.000If I really wanted to do something, when I was a kid, I thought it would be impossible.
03:12:12.000All these times, I've been in many, many rallies.
03:12:15.000I'm like, there's not that much barrier of security as I thought there would be.
03:13:25.000Okay, so the FBI... It was the sore boy.
03:13:29.000Yeah, he looks exactly like Penguin Zero, huh?
03:13:34.000Yeah, so the FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania.
03:13:41.000This remains an active and ongoing investigation of annual information.
03:13:44.000So all you fucking trolls in this chat, shut the fuck up!
03:13:46.000It's officially Thomas Matthew Crooks.
03:14:34.000Okay, so if I was the case agent, I'd really like that you asked me this question.
03:14:37.000If I was the case agent and I was assigned this investigation, the first thing I would do is I would write up a search warrant for his house, right?
03:15:00.000Put it on an automatic thing where it extracts the data.
03:15:03.000If there's a code on it and they don't know the code, I'll try to maybe get a loved one to give me the code.
03:15:06.000If not, then I would go ahead and get...
03:15:09.000I would use a subwrite to break the code, etc.
03:15:12.000That might take several days or weeks depending on what type of phone he has.
03:15:15.000But I would get into the phone and do a search on his house.
03:15:18.000That's going to reveal a lot of the stuff because if you want to find a manifesto or any of that stuff, it's probably going to be located there.
03:15:23.000Next, I'd want to interview, obviously, his family, all of his close friends, look into any type of organizations or clubs he was a part of, and interview all those people as well.
03:15:31.000I mean, make no mistake about it, guys.
03:15:32.000This is going to be a massive, massive investigation with all of the agencies involved.
03:15:37.000The reason why the FBI took lead on an investigation like this is because Secret Service simply doesn't have the investigative prowess or ability or resources to do something like this.
03:15:48.000Okay, but is it important for them to try to hide his social media presence so that people don't try to associate his ideologies with the shooter or with something crazy?
03:24:42.000They actually make more than most special agents, bro, because they're one of the few agencies that gets overtime.
03:24:48.000I don't know if you want me to do a whole fucking breakdown of how you get paid by the feds, but if I'm going to just summarize it nice and shortly and succinctly, Secret Service agents are one of the few 1811s that get overtime.
03:24:59.000So they actually get paid more than a lot of other 1811s.
03:25:02.000Hell, one of the few times that I got overtime when I was an agent was when I did Secret Service details because the hours are so fucking weird.
03:25:25.000What if you do a breakdown on the pay?
03:25:27.000I want to figure out why it's so understaffed because seeing that I'm like why there's so many women like I might even try to make this like a red pill talking point but there should not be this many women doing security detail like that.
03:25:38.000Well there's there's um there's high incentives to get women into law enforcement.
03:25:42.000There's like women only uh diversity higher positions made for all of them.
03:26:34.000So, most agents get hired, this is the scale right here, right, guys, right?
03:26:39.000Most agents get hired somewhere between a seven or a nine.
03:26:42.000Typically, when you get hired as a seven, you know, you got a bachelor's degree, and if you get a nine, that's typically if you have some advanced degree, master degree, whatever.
03:26:47.000So, you can see our step one is 60,597, right?
03:29:38.000Their ideas of evil are racist comments or so-called homophobic comments.
03:29:44.000But when it comes to wishing death or publicly making dances about bullets going to the former president's brain, they don't think that's evil.
03:29:52.000But they think one racist, something that they call misogynistic, is literally worse than wishing death on someone and their entire family.
03:30:01.000The metrics of evil have been exposed.
03:30:05.000Anyone else feel like this is the start of the civil war?
03:30:14.000I mean, what's very telling is that here in Miami right now, if the bullet went a little bit to the right, and it actually really damaged Trump, right now we would hear something outside.
03:30:24.000Right now, I think that people would be taking to the streets.
03:30:28.000Did you see the response of the Trump supporters against the media where they're spazzing at the media's face?
03:30:34.000Yeah, you're going to see a lot more of that, and you're going to see riots now, for sure, 100%.
03:30:40.000Because Americans are already fed up, but now it seems like it is a scary place where it's like now anything they do is kind of like, hey, you guys shot first, you know?
03:33:00.000Alright, so I want to get a little bit of this Fox News stuff coverage here.
03:33:03.000When, you know, we're all veterans at this point, I try to focus on the good stuff.
03:33:09.000The sane, the normal, the, this is not good, we are praying, and we cannot have this happen more.
03:33:20.000Yeah, I want to talk about the Biden campaign, the Biden White House too, but you know, we've talked about it at length in the last two and a half weeks now.
03:33:27.000The fallout from Biden's poor debate performance and the calls on him to, you know, step out of the race completely, not run for re-election.
03:33:36.000The Biden campaign is telling Fox, Tom, they're pausing all outbound communication.
03:33:41.000They're working to pull down their TV ads as quickly as possible.
03:33:44.000$50 million worth in all swing states, all several swing states.
03:37:30.000It looks like Jackson Hinkle is on a Discord call now, so we'll jump back in there.
03:37:34.000Because, yeah, guys, imagine you're trying to do search warrants and imagine you're trying to do search warrants and like you got the fucking news and civilians trying to roll up and get in the way and shit like that.
03:37:53.000Like, you're going to be like, what the fuck?
03:38:42.000That's why they do this stuff with World War III. And Donald Trump isn't even like a massive threat to the agenda, but he's a percentage of a threat.
03:38:51.000I don't know what percentage, but some sort of a threat.
03:40:01.000I'd like to hear especially Myron's thoughts on this, but I think that in the next few days, everyone's going to be so focused on who this kid was, how much of a soy boy he was, whatever groups he was affiliated with.
03:40:16.000But we all know it doesn't really matter because he didn't just do this on his own.
03:40:25.000These sorts of operations are never just one person.
03:40:41.000So just, I guess, try to obfuscate the truth as to why they're actually doing this.
03:40:50.000Do you actually think that the media is going to focus on him that much?
03:40:53.000It doesn't seem like it's in their favor.
03:40:54.000If you look at the trans shooter who they never released a manifesto of, the media did a good job of trying to hide it.
03:41:00.000Especially if you look at the FBI and the Pennsylvania police response, it looks like they were trying their best to try to avoid speaking about the shooter.
03:41:08.000And even CNN hasn't spoken about the shooter at all.
03:41:14.000I don't think that they want to give that.
03:41:15.000It doesn't really benefit them to talk about this guy.
03:41:17.000I guess I mean like a real journalist, and I don't consider myself a journalist.
03:41:23.000I just host the show, political commentator.
03:41:27.000But like a real journalist, if you had the assets of the New York Times behind you, right?
03:41:32.000Might be looking into the connections between this kid, his private family life, what they might say about whether or not he had any sort of contact with federal agencies, whether or not he was being influenced by certain nefarious dark web groups or something.
03:41:49.000You know, you'd be looking into the the nitty ditty greetails that no one else at CNN today is actually going to look into.
03:41:58.000I think they're going to do a surface level analysis of who he is and leave it at that.
03:42:14.000What do you think is going to be the next step for the media?
03:42:17.000Well, we already know right now that they're doing a search warrant at his house.
03:42:20.000That got confirmed by the Mug Club guy trying to go over there to that address, and they already had the whole place cordoned off.
03:42:27.000So they're either A, already at the house searching it, or B, they're securing a warrant right now as we speak with a federal magistrate to go ahead and get in there.
03:42:41.000I would say probably before fucking tomorrow, we'll know what this guy's background is and everything else, how people are already pulling his graduation fucking video.
03:42:48.000So we're going to know everything about this guy within the next 24 to 48 hours, I would say.
03:43:21.000It's like Lee Harvey Oswald, it was obviously multiple shooters, but the fact that he had the capacity to even potentially shoot the gun that well was rebutted by a lot of people.
03:43:35.000There's no way he could have done that.
03:43:38.000But he was training with the CIA and stuff like that.
03:43:42.000So you look at this kid and he looks like a nerd, but if he did shoot that, how did he get to be such a good shot?
03:45:02.000I'm going to have to be Dominican again.
03:45:04.000I'm glad that I wasn't a black dude because then I was going to create more racial divide.
03:45:07.000The fact that a soy boy, a white soy boy specifically, is the perfect target to not mess up the movement and also to not start any racial war.
03:46:10.000No, I was sitting there and I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, if that was a fraction of an inch right here to where we're sitting right now, we'd be watching a civil war already taking place.
03:46:23.000I think that they're going to do more.
03:46:34.000Again, regardless of what you think about those guys, they were targets of the deep state.
03:46:39.000Fidel had like 100-plus assassination attempts that he survived.
03:46:43.000I mean, they did the most ridiculous things.
03:46:46.000He was an avid scuba diver or snorkeler.
03:46:50.000So they actually tried to put a bomb inside of a giant shell at the bottom of the ocean in Cuba so when he would go down to dive for it, that it would explode in his face.
03:48:13.000But when I was there, I saw American missiles stuck halfway in the ground, just 100 feet away from where they store all of the nuclear waste.
03:48:21.000Like, we are so close to World War III. And if you have the wrong guy in office, it's going to make it 1,000 times worse.
03:48:34.000Because original MKUltra was giving people LSD, was trying to brainwash them and keeping their eyes open.
03:48:40.000Can MKUltra be as simple as a federal agent messaging and convincing somebody through Discord chats to go and take medication and giving them ideas?
03:48:48.000Is MKUltra direct or can it be more subtle?
03:48:51.000It always comes from a trauma or a crack in the psyche.
03:48:55.000So basically, when these soy boys are experiencing the highest level of trauma, they enter a dissociative state, which they could be programmed in.
03:49:05.000And in that dissociative state, they can get a phone call, and the phone call can say, go shoot it up!
03:49:10.000And then in that trauma, they hear their tormentor, and they get triggered to do it.
03:49:15.000now usually for mk ultra they get cracked at a young age and they've been doing this since like ancient times but they'll they started with like uh soldiers of like ripping a puppy's head off with a knife then they started with killing a family member in front of them and then as they're in a dissociative state because the psyche can't handle the trauma it's seeing as a child it actually goes to a happy place and that happy place they can make you do anything right that's where they but the interesting part is
03:49:40.000did this happen to this guy the young man and then they came to claim him decades later well a lot of the conspiracy guys say that yet there's so many sleeper cell agents that can be activated with just one phone call Thank you.
03:49:56.000Mario, did you experience anybody under this sort of hypnosis or this sort of mind control?
03:50:06.000I mean, when I was in a job, I was going after mostly Mexican cartel people, drug trafficking, human smuggling, firearms, that type of shit.
03:50:13.000So I wasn't really dealing with assassination attempts.
03:50:17.000I mean this is something that happens only a couple of times in American history.
03:50:20.000Right, but I'm saying, like, when would you go so far as to claim somebody is mentally ill or somebody has been, you know, completely been brainwashed by something?
03:50:29.000Like, how many of the people were you arresting could you consider mentally insane?
03:50:35.000You know, judges are the ones really that can see if the defendant can stand trial, you know, and they're, you know, when you plead insanity or whatever it may be, it's something that a lot of crooks do.
03:50:43.000They try to plead insanity, but, you know, to try to make themselves, because it's one of the few defenses for a lot of criminal prosecution.
03:51:14.000Has anyone discussed the fact, like, I see the video where the Secret Service sniper looks like he's locked in, and then he doesn't fire until the kid fired.
03:51:35.000He looks like he's aiming directly there.
03:51:37.000The shot goes, and then he moves his gun a little bit and then shoots.
03:51:40.000So it's like there's no way he didn't already see him.
03:51:42.000He was looking directly in that line of fire.
03:51:45.000I'm no expert in secret service stuff, but I feel like if I saw someone on the roof where they're not supposed to be with a gun, I'd have to hear a red flag.
03:51:59.000Jackson, you don't have experience to talk on this, okay? - Okay.
03:52:05.000Listen, sometimes people just chill on roofs with fucking rifles.
03:52:10.000Yeah, this whole thing is so fucking fishy, man.
03:53:40.000But if he, like, actually got hit, like, dude, yeah, you would have seen brain matter.
03:53:45.000I mean, if the person that got shot actually got killed, like, his brain matter was all over the place.
03:53:50.000The surgeon, there was a doctor that was there on the scene that even said it.
03:53:56.000Yeah, and it is crazy for the conspiracy guys, the guys to go extra far.
03:54:01.000It is crazy for them to say, oh, it's a pellet gun, because think about it, even if it was an orchestrated pellet gun, what kind of president would want to risk getting blinded in the eye by a metal pellet?
03:54:11.000No one would fucking risk that, so it's clearly, it's a real deal.
03:54:38.000I mean, people probably did grab video and pictures, but yeah, they flew the body out immediately.
03:54:42.000Like, the doctor gave them CPR and shit, but the body got out of there immediately because they thought that they could potentially save them.
03:54:54.000If this guy got that, you know, he had that opportunity this easily, you imagine in a really, really populated area, it's gonna be a little too easy to hit Trump, you know what I mean?
03:55:06.000If the Secret Service can't do a fucking grass field, another grassy knoll situation, it seems like, bro, Trump shouldn't be going to no fucking UFC arenas.
03:55:17.000Well, he wanted to go to UFC, but they clearly told him, fuck no, you're not going to see.
03:55:21.000They brought him back somewhere secure.
03:56:27.000It's very common for Secret Service to use HSI agents to help them with protection details because Secret Service is understaffed significantly.
03:56:38.000Yeah, but, Byron, you know the biggest conspiracy around you is that You're a Fed still working for them who opened up just to infiltrate the red pill space.
03:57:43.000It turned me into the man I am today, man.
03:57:44.000I thank God that I kind of started with a real job before just going right into social media because a lot of social media people are fucking stupid, as you guys know.
03:57:51.000You guys have met a lot of these people.
04:00:53.000But anyway, yeah, guys, I think I'm going to sign off because I've been on this shit for five and a half hours now covering this whole thing.
04:04:22.000This is going to be standard operating procedure for presidential campaigns to come.
04:04:27.000Even an independent candidate should get Secret Service protection.
04:04:31.000I think you're going to see a broadening of what they do.
04:04:34.000You know, they have a different, it's not necessarily, it's not party affiliation that determines Secret Service protection as much as where the candidate is, the viability of the candidate.
04:04:44.000You know, one of the things they have to do at the beginning of the primary season is a little bit of triage because we've had past elections where the, you know, things start up and you can have, you know, a dozen plus more candidates out there.
04:04:58.000And of course, Whenever you vote and you look at all the people listed on the ballot, you realize there's a lot of people who are running for president, and those people are not under any threat.
04:05:11.000For example, and I don't mean to pick on them, but I don't think there's any particular threat to the candidate for the Transcendental Meditation Party.
04:05:19.000That's just probably one where they would say they don't need Secret Service protection.
04:05:23.000But they are going to be looking a lot harder at things like the Riff Kennedy Jr.
04:06:12.000And you know, that's a little bit old, that chart.
04:06:14.000That charts a couple of months old and if you want to really see something that said take a look what happened And I'll leave you guys with that man I'm glad that Trump is okay.
04:06:57.000Disagree with him on a couple of things, but regardless, I think we need to galvanize, you know, as people that support the right for our president, our president to be, because I think he's going to absolutely win this situation.