The assassination of Donald Trump exposed glaring security gaps. Three factors in particular stand out. New perspectives on the incident also show how lucky the Republican was—and how a movement of his head likely saved his life.
“I just now understand what actually happened,” Trump explained in his first newspaper interview with the Washington Examiner. In addition to the Republican, the picture of the attack is also clearing up. It is becoming increasingly clear how lucky the 78-year-old was in the small town of Butler, Pennsylvania. Millimeters and milliseconds separated a bloody ear from almost certain death.
The ‘Krone’ was now able to locate the exact position of the shooter who fired at Trump from a rooftop. Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks had a clear view of the American president.
The shots came from about a 90-degree angle from Trump’s position on stage, a so-called “3 o’clock position”:
By his own admission, Trump survived the attack because he turned away from the crowd at the crucial moment to read statistics. “I rarely turn away from the crowd. If I hadn’t done that at that moment, we wouldn’t be talking today, right?”
Turning head at the last moment
Significantly slowed-down footage shows his head moving to one side. It appears that Trump narrowed the area of the shot at the last moment. Otherwise, the bullet would likely have hit him in the back of the head — and not his upper right ear.
The moment of the first shot in slow motion:
But it is also clear that the entire security team on site failed. Three factors stand out:
The Secret Service uses a layered defense approach to its protection missions. The so-called security perimeter is divided into different levels, security expert Tim McMillan explains on X.
I am inner area We are on alert for threats in the immediate area. These are the officers who attacked Trump shortly after the shooting to form a human shield.
A second middle level is dedicated to defending against medium-range threats. That unit is largely made up of local and state law enforcement officers temporarily assigned to security, McMillan said.
Finally there is one more extended levelwhich covers threats at a distance. During the election campaign in the small town of Butler, snipers were positioned on rooftops behind Trump.
Zone was way too small
Experts criticize that this security zone was far too small during the Republican’s speech. The shooter’s position was outside the security zone, although he only aimed his barrel at Trump from a distance of 137 meters.
It’s reasonable to assume that the sniper teams were covering an area outside of the 20-year-old’s position. Video from an attendee at the event clearly shows them pointing their weapons downrange as Crooks fires the first shots (see tweet above).
Because what was a gray spot for the safety zone teams should have been controlled by the local police.
How does it happen that a twenty-year-old at a high-security event grabs his father’s assault rifle and calmly climbs onto a roof to shoot one of the most protected men in the world? The answer: not at all!
Crooks was spotted by event attendees minutes before the shot was fired. Trump fans filmed the attacker scaling the building to get into position. Several witnesses reported alerting local police to “suspicious activity.”
Trump fan films the killer shortly before the attack:
Local police officers followed up on leads and were able to locate Crooks after a brief search, Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Slupe told CNN on Sunday.
While searching for 20-year-old Crooks, city police officers discovered the shooter on the roof. Two officers formed a robber’s ladder to reach a ledge. The shooter turned, saw the officer and aimed his gun at him.
The officer let go of the ledge to “take cover” and save his own life. The gunman then began firing from the roof. Moments later, Trump’s blood spurted from his ear and down his cheek. One firefighter was killed and other participants were seriously injured.
The sheriff himself speaks of a “clear” failure. It is not yet known whether and when communication took place between the hard security zone and the local police outside the core area.
By pinpointing the shooter’s exact location, it’s clear that at least one sniper team’s view was obstructed by a tree. But even here, Trump may have gotten lucky.
“Given the position of the two sniper teams and the shooter, it appears that only the southern team was not completely obscured by a tree. If the shooter had been a meter further east, their view would have been obstructed as well,” OSINT expert Oliver Alexander explains in an article about X.
“I shouldn’t be here, I should be dead,” Trump said in an interview published Monday by the New York Post. He’s probably right.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
