• Nougat@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    66
    ·
    5 months ago

    The only way that would be relevant would be if there was a determination that the shooter was trying to do some kind of ad hoc false flag thing, as opposed to writing his own name into history. Everything we know at this point indicates that the latter is true, and the former is not.

    Whether Trump’s injury was the result of a fired projectile or a piece of shrapnel, the injury was caused by an assassination attempt.

    • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      104
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Whether Trump’s injury was the result of a fired projectile or a piece of shrapnel, the injury was caused by an assassination attempt.

      We all know what really happened.

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      5 months ago

      It’s also relevant because one of Trump’s current campaign statements is that he “took a bullet for America” which may be another lie.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        5 months ago

        It would certainly neuter that (over)statement, but I honestly wouldn’t go as far as to call that one a “lie” without some indication that he knew that it wasn’t a bullet he was hit by. I don’t think that even a reasonable person wouldn’t come to the conclusion that “Shots were fired, at me, now my ear is bleeding all over my face” as “I was hit by a bullet.”

      • ArbiterXero@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        5 months ago

        I disagree.

        The sheer number of lies he tells, what difference is one more? Especially an inconsequential one?

        We’re all fairly sure it wasn’t the bullet, but glass, or shrapnel or whatever, but that buries the lede.

        The point here is whether it was an assassination attempt or a false flag attempt (personally I think assassination) and that trumps own hateful rhetoric has created such a ridiculous scenario where this shit happens.

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          5 months ago

          Because it’s always important to point out the hypocrisy of his fake patriotic bullshit. Every lie should be pointed out, to everyone who will listen.

          • ArbiterXero@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            5 months ago

            But then you lose the bigger point that his rhetoric and horse shit has lead us here.

            You’re too zoomed in.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      except if the shooter was just shooting into the crowd and hit like a railing or something then it wasn’t an “assassination attempt” it was a mass shooting.

      • Carrolade@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        5 months ago

        Frankly, it could be a mass-shooting anyway, simply one that had a high-profile figure as one of the targets. Apparently he had explosives in his car and some sort of remote detonation mechanism, so it was clearly about more than just Trump alone.

        • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          5 months ago

          so it was clearly about more than just Trump alone.

          Not necessarily. To my knowledge, we don’t know where any explosives would have been planted. He was seen wandering around the rally area a few hours before the rally. It’s possible at one point he thought he could plant some explosives near Trump’s podium or something so he gets taken out in the blast, and maybe abandoned that plan when he walked around and realized it wasn’t viable.

          IMO, there’s nothing indicating he had any intents other than taking out Trump by any means available to him. Anyone else was probably either collateral damage in his mind, or “deserved it” for being Trump supporters in the first place. He may have decided that trying to snipe him from that rooftop was his most viable option, but it looks like he woke up that morning with at least two separate plans on how to go about it.

          • Carrolade@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            5 months ago

            Fair. None of that speculation is inherently any better than the mass shooting speculation though, there’s similarly zero indication he had anything personal against Trump. He even had potential dem targets in his search history. There’s no sound evidence for anything so far, that I’ve heard at any rate.

            Though I do think it’s a little far-fetched that what appears to be an intelligent engineering student is going to think sneaking over and planting explosives is going to be a viable plan. That’s a little video gamey.

            • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              5 months ago

              It’s a lot video-gamey. Let’s be realistic…the United States Secret Service just got owned by a 20 year old kid camping in one of the windows from Nuketown. The kid looks like he got beat up for his lunch money last week. Whatever plans were gong through his head, the plan he ultimately settled on involved him climbing to the one rooftop that the Secret Service somehow missed and was somehow able to not get caught until he fired off half a dozen or so shots. Everything he did that we know of so far looks like something a newbie would do the first time they played COD.

              We’ll of course never really know his true motives. Remember that despite all the speculation over political motives, Ronald Reagan’s would-be-assassin did it because he was trying to impress a teenage Jodie Foster. For all we know, this kid could have woke up that morning and believed that Trump was Gargamel and it was his responsibility to kill him in order to save Smurf Village. Why he suddenly wanted Trump dead remains a mystery especially since he was supposedly a long-time Trump supporter, but I haven’t seen anything to make me believe that his target was anything other than Trump himself, and maybe anyone who was just unlucky enough to be in the way.

              • Carrolade@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                5 months ago

                Again, there is also no evidence he specifically wanted Trump dead and was not simply committing a blaze-of-glory act of terrorism for some misguided chance at fame. Having no evidence does not mean we default to one preferred interpretation.

                Regarding the rooftop, from all indications he carefully scouted his method. The drone, the rangefinder, the ladder, etc. The building was local police’s responsibility, as well, they actually even had a cop inside that very building. Regardless though, it certainly was embarrassing for the SS anyway, hence the director resigning.

                • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  5 months ago

                  Again, there is also no evidence he specifically wanted Trump dead and was not simply committing a blaze-of-glory act of terrorism for some misguided chance at fame. Having no evidence does not mean we default to one preferred interpretation.

                  No, but you at least go where what evidence you do have leads you. The kid fired off half a dozen shots, at least one of which came within an inch of killing him. If his plan were a mass shooting, bullets would have been sprayed everywhere. If his plan were to go for some blaze-of-glory shot at fame (or the most convoluted suicide-by-cop of all time) but didn’t want to kill Trump, he could have just shot well above everybody’s heads.

                  When you get that close with that many shots, it’s more reasonable to assume that Trump was the target and he missed than it would be to assume that Trump wasn’t the target because he missed.

                  Regarding the rooftop, from all indications he carefully scouted his method. The drone, the rangefinder, the ladder, etc. The building was local police’s responsibility, as well, they actually even had a cop inside that very building.

                  Right. Which is why I think we both can agree the whole situation is video-gamey. The kid came up with an elaborate plan that was 100% reliant on the United States Secret Service somehow forgetting to cover that specific rooftop, and him being able to get all that equipment over there without a single bit of interference. If that isn’t the stealth mission of virtually every first person shooter in the past 30 years, I don’t know what is.

                  Regardless though, it certainly was embarrassing for the SS anyway, hence the director resigning.

                  Oh absolutely. A lone 20 year old kid essentially playing out the plot of Call of Duty made the entire Secret Service look like a laughing stock live and in real time. There should have been a lot more than that director resigning.

                  • Carrolade@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    5 months ago

                    Successfully shooting Trump would garner more fame than any of the other things you described. He unquestionably wanted to shoot Trump, I think. After Trump dropped down and got piled on by the SS, though, he seems to have begun shooting other people.

    • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      ad hoc false flag

      Dont be in such a rush to rule this out lol. Ad hoc false flag should be Trump’s middle names

      He’s always been a real ad war hoc

      • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        5 months ago

        The grenade landed 18.6 metres (61 ft) from the podium

        Bush was thrown at by someone who couldn’t throw

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        5 months ago

        The grenade failed to detonate. Although original reports indicated that the grenade was not live, it was later revealed that it was. After Arutyunian pulled the pin and threw the grenade, it hit a girl, cushioning its impact. The red handkerchief remained wrapped around the grenade, and it prevented the striker lever from releasing.

        No mention of it being “a training grenade [which] could not fire.” Source?

    • rsuri@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      I think there’s essentially no limit to what the shooter’s motives could be. What was the Las Vegas shooter’s motive? What was the motive at Columbine? There’s a million possibilities. Narcissism, delusions, non-specific rage.

      Sure, there’s one conclusion that seems simplest, which is that he shot at Trump but missed. And if he grazed Trump’s ear, that’s almost certainly true. But what if it comes out that the FBI finds that the closest shot was over 10 feet away from Trump? If that happens, I think we’d be fools to continue to assume it was an assassination attempt.

      The smartest thing anyone could say at this point is “I don’t know”.