Thank God that attempted assassin Thomas Crooks was unable to kill President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (PA). It was a turn of the President’s head to view an immigration chart that saved his life. Of course, believers know that it was Divine intervention, as God saved Trump so he could save America.
After being shot in the ear, Trump rose to his feet, yelling “Fight, Fight, Fight.” It was this act of bravery that sealed his presidential victory.
If Trump had been killed, it would have changed the course of human history, and America would have been thrown into chaos. It is unclear what exactly would have happened but there would have been unprecedented turmoil.
Without Trump leading the GOP, it is probable that Vice President Kamala Harris would have won the race, and the nation would have been subjected to another four years of mayhem.
Trump’s survival guaranteed his election. The tangible results have been incredibly impressive. In just six months, Trump has engineered a secure border, a huge increase in funding for border security, a massive increase in tariff revenue, the passage of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” the extension of the Trump tax cuts, lower inflation, job growth, reduced trade deficits, lucrative trade deals, substantial peace deals, a revived military that is surpassing recruitment goals, a successful military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and a ceasefire to the “12 Day War,” between Israel and Iran.
None of these accomplishments would have occurred in a President Harris administration. In fact, our country’s problems would have become much worse.
Despite Trump’s historic success and our march toward a “Golden Age” in America, one longstanding problem has not been rectified. The federal bureaucracy’s never-ending aversion to transparency and truthfulness remains. Exhibit A is the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt in Butler, PA.
One year later, questions persist about the assassination attempt. How was Crooks able to move around the rally site and mount the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building, closest to the stage, without being apprehended by law enforcement personnel?
Before being stopped by a Secret Service counter sniper, Crooks fired eight shots, injuring Trump and two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore.
In their handling of the Butler rally, the Secret Service displayed utter incompetence, according to former agent and John Jay College of Criminal Justice lecturer Anthony Cangelosi. He said, “I can’t understand how many errors were made on that site that day. If they agreed to leave that roof unoccupied, I can’t … understand it for the life of me.”
Cangelosi is not the only one with questions. In a Fox News interview, Helen Comperatore, Corey’s widow, said, “Why was that such a failure? Why weren’t they paying attention?” She also questioned why the roof was not “covered,” and why Trump was allowed to take the stage when there were reports of a suspicious person moving around the rally site.
Comperatore continued, “We were all sitting ducks that day. Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life. They screwed up.”
She demanded an opportunity to meet with the Secret Service and “talk to them.” After the interview aired, Comperatore was called by both President Trump and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who pledged to meet with her as well.
Crooks was supposedly planning the assassination for months, but he was not on the radar of the FBI, which was busy arresting January 6 protesters. There is still no understanding of his motive for attempting to kill President Trump. While it is believed he acted alone, Americans are justifiably unsure.
On the day of the rally, Crooks was able to do something that the Secret Service, with an annual budget of $3.2 billion, was unable to do. He flew a drone over the site to get a better view of the surroundings.
The Secret Service utilized no helicopters for the Butler, PA rally and stationed no personnel on the roof of the AGR building. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said the roof was unoccupied because it was “sloped…at its highest point.” She continued, “there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof.”
While the roof may have been too dangerous for the Secret Service agents, it was fine for Crooks to “bear crawl” to the right position to fire shots at the stage.
The AGR building was a known vulnerability, yet the roof was left unattended and there was nothing to block the line of sight to the stage. While farm equipment was supposed to be blocking the view, nothing was in place to stop Crooks from almost assassinating Donald Trump.
Obviously, the Secret Service was plagued by poor communications at the Butler rally and horrific pre-event planning. However, the only penalties that have been issued are the suspensions of six agents for periods of 10-42 days, and the resignation of the incompetent Cheatle as Director.
In the last year, there have been congressional investigations and independent reviews. Recently, a report was issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which discovered “critical security lapses,” as well as poor communication and planning.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) commissioned the GAO report. In a statement, he said, “One year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicaps led to one of the most shocking moments in political history. The Secret Service’s failure on July 13th was the culmination of years of mismanagement and came after the Biden administration denied requests for enhanced security to protect President Trump.”
Grassley noted that he has secured an additional $1.17 billion in funding for the Secret Service to prevent this type of catastrophe from ever occurring again. However, as Americans know too well, if spending taxpayer money were the only solution, there would be no problems in our country today.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
