Trump assassination attempt must be fully investigated – Orange County Register

Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Trump was escorted off the stage and into his motorcade by Secret Service agents just minutes into his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday after a series of bangs that sounded like gunshots were heard. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Conspiracy theories are circulating on both the left and the right about Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. But there is a simple explanation: laxity in the Secret Service.

Therefore, two things are necessary.

Firstly, calm the country. Secondly, thorough investigations into how such an attack could have happened.

This should be seen as a good reason to reduce the rhetoric on both sides. Representative Jared Golden, Democrat from Maine, is in a tough re-election campaign. But he set He puts it well: “We can start by dropping exaggerated threats about the meaning of this election. It should not be misleadingly portrayed as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, or a battle against fascists or socialists who want to destroy America. Those are dangerous lies.”

In an address to the nation on Sunday afternoon, President Biden said he had a “short, good conversation” with Trump and said “we will debate, we will disagree,” but violence was unacceptable.

He added that the FBI is leading the investigation, “and investigators will have every means at their disposal to accomplish this.” He also had to assure the full cooperation of all agencies with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. promised “comprehensive investigation.”

Biden was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is responsible for the FBI, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is responsible for the Secret Service.

I hope President Trump uses this week’s Republican National Convention to call on his supporters to remain calm, work for harmony, and discuss the serious issues of this election campaign.

A few points about what we know so far. A conspiracy seems unlikely. The shooter, to put it bluntly, missed. A professional would not have done that. Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was quickly killed by a Secret Service sniper, was 20 years old and worked in a nursing home.

The crooks climbed to the roof of the building closest to Trump’s lectern, just 480 feet away, without anyone stopping them. It’s obvious that the Secret Service should have prevented this even if they had an agent on the roof.

Evy Poumpouras, a former Secret Service agent who worked on the president’s details, told NBC’s Today show asked, “Why weren’t the adjacent buildings investigated? They’re very close.”

Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida is a former sniper with the 82nd Airborne Division and the Joint Special Operations Command. He told According to CNN, for a good sniper, “a shot next to the President’s stage would have been nothing… In my opinion, this is a massive breach of security.”

A key figure in this is the Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly A. Cheatle. According to the secret service biographyShe worked for them for 27 years, most recently as Deputy Director of the Office of Protective Operations. After her retirement, however, she was Senior Director of Global Security at PepsiCo. This prompted Elon Musk to to mock to X: “So before she was responsible for protecting the President, she was guarding bags of Cheetos…”

At the very least, she should be fired immediately. Next, Mayorkas should be fired for hiring her. As for her top boss, Biden, his bosses, the voters, will make their decision in November.