One year after Donald Trump was wounded at a campaign rally in Butler Pennsylvania, questions still remain about the failures of the Secret Service.

Donald Trump raises his fist seconds after being hit by a bullet in the famous AP photo. 

One year after Donald Trump was wounded in a failed assassination attempt at Butler Pennsylvania, questions still remain about the failures of the Secret Service. AP. The 20 year old assassin was able to climb onto a roof and fire 8 shots, wounding Trump and two other people and killing Corey Comperatore, in a massive breach of presidential candidate security. That incident, along with a 2nd failed assassination attempt on Trump last September, raised serious questions about the competence of the Secret Service. 

One problem is that the Secret Service had expected farm equipment to be blocking the line of sight from the roof, but did nothing when that equipment was not there. There was also no unified command center between the Secret Service and local police. It was also found that the Secret Service denied extra protection for Trump due to threats, threats that were not shared with local police or agents at the Butler rally. The Secret Service has implemented changes in response to the incident and former head of the Service, Kim Cheatle, did resign, and a few agents were suspended, but nobody was fired for the incident. No motive for the crime has ever been discovered or released. 

My Comment:

It's both hard to believe that this was already a year ago and it's also hard to believe that it was only a year ago. So much has happened since this failed assassination attempt that the world is absolutely a different place. And it absolutely was a 9/11 moment, one where you will always remember where you were when you heard the news. 

It was also the moment that Trump won the 2024 election. There was no serious chance of Trump losing after taking a bullet and being able to shake it off quickly enough that he was able to raise his fist in the air and yell "fight". Trump was still in danger at that point, nobody knew if there were more assassins or if the first guy was really dead, so it was a display of courage to do so. It changed more than a few minds about who exactly Donald Trump was, his haters still hate him, but it gave cover for a lot of folks to change their votes to him. 

The failures of the Secret Service were disturbing, especially after it was clear that they hadn't learned their lessons when Trump was almost assassinated again that September. That attack could have worked had the assassin there been better at concealing himself. 

Of course those of a more conspiratorial mindset would obviously have questions that maybe this was all allowed to happen. I am not so sure. Never blame malice on which can be adequately be explained by incompetence, and without direct evidence that the attack was either directed or allowed to happen, that is what I am going with. 

Because it sure seemed like the Secret Service was incompetent in this case. The mistakes that they made are things that seem pretty obvious in hindsight. Having local police and Secret Service agents on different command structures seems like almost day one stuff. And the whole line of sight thing should have been obvious as well. 

Are things better now? Possibly. Possibly not. Trump now has the full presidential protection, which was not something he was afforded during the campaign season. And they have at least made noise about fixing things, creating an aviation unit and buying armored ATV's and command vehicles. Plus, I get the feeling that much of the problem was due to Kim Cheatle, who was incompetent and probably a DEI hire. With her gone things may have gotten better in the Secret Service. It would have been hard to do any worse. 

The final mystery is one that is unlikely to be solved. There has been little in terms of revelations as to why Thomas Michael Crooks did what he did. Even his politics seem to be a mystery, with several contradictory things coming out. He never wrote a manifesto and may have simply been doing it for notoriety. Perhaps if Joe Biden had been doing a rally in Butler instead, he may have targeted him. As frustrating as it is, we might never know the truth as to why he did what he did.