WHAT

  • Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump was shot at a rally in PA.

TRUMPS STATEMENT

“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW SO FAR

  • gunman is dead
  • Trump “is fine”
  • one attendee is dead
  • another attendee is in critical condition

News Sources

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    2 months ago

    Alright, let’s get it out ahead of time, since I’m already seeing this:

    It’s probably not staged. Trump reacts quickly - the fuck kind of timing you think that bloated potato has? To lift his hand to his ear just as the gunshot rings out? And the idea that the shooter grazed him on purpose is, likewise, absurd. The kind of risk that would entail, to just nick his ear?

    Whether the shooter was insane or politically motivated, this is a real event.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      I said this in another one of these threads- it is not at all outlandish to think that someone unhinged with a gun would see the threat of a fascist dictator and decide to do something about it.

      • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah, I remember my grandfather telling the story of how Hitler held a speech at a Stadium that was visible from his attic window, and his biggest regret was, that he did not have a machinegun to take him and the other Nazi officials with him out. The US has enough guns and desperation for someone to attempt this, definitely.

          • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            I don’t remember him mentioning the exact year, it’s been ages and I was a child still when he was still alive, but I know it was before the Machtergreifung, because he told it as having been a rally during an election campaign, eerily fitting, I guess.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        The right has been agitating for stochastic terrorism for about sixteen god damn years. Well, they got it.

        It’s likely a good thing the guy missed. Trump being assassinated might just kick off the open violence that has been brewing. Still might, but it’ll depend on the next couple of days. If that dude turns out to be a left-winger, and Trump makes no attempt to stop it, I could see things getting very, very ugly.

        • Burstar@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 months ago

          If that dude turns out to be a left-winger

          That dude’s political leaning will turn out to be whatever the news we prefer says he was.

    • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      It’s a very common gut reaction to assume something like this has to be “staged”, I said it in the other thread in some discussions: It’s understandable to have it as this feeling. But everyone who feels that way: take a breath, remember the world is much more chaotic and much less controlled than you think, you don’t have to think of yourself as stupid for thinking it, but wait for more information to come out and be ready to give it up then.

      Reacting properly to this new reality is much more important, than trying to adjust reality to fit an emotion. It’s human to do that, react instinctively in a first gut reaction, but it is also human to be able to let go of that.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        the way i like to look at it, is that it doesn’t matter whether it was staged or not, it still happened. People still died, people still evacuated, trump still got shot, none of that changes.

        If it does, you’re doing a conspiracy theory, and you should stop.

        • Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          I think it absolutely does matter for the political conclusions.

          But at the very least it is far to early to get into these conspiracies, even if the events had unfolded very differently like the bullets not hitting anywhere close.

          However given what we already know and what was caught by dozens of cameras, all the points the conspiracy theorists are coming up with are just insane.

    • Queue@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Genuinely infurating that the moment anything happens, NeoLibs will just start copying right-wing talking points.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yeah, a 120 meter shot to graze does not exist. One inch to the right and he’s dead. With wind variables and stuff, the shooter who can reliably pull that off in one shot or volley does not exist.

      • nepenthes@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        Everyone keeps saying it can’t be staged because it was so close.

        I just wanted to point out it can be both staged and a successful assassination if the end goal is to point the finger at the left and martyr a polarizing figure.

    • kescusay@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      Thank you. And fuck the idiots spouting off with the “staged” nonsense. The time to believe something is staged is when you have evidence that it was.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        i mean honestly, it’s scary, but it’s also not a good time to be an american right now, from the immunity rulling to the jan 6th delays, and all the other bullshit going on, things seem to be getting vastly more interesting now than they were just a few months ago.

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        People are obviously on high alert, considering how far Trump is willing to go given Jan 6th. From the Reichstag fire to the Russian apartment bombings, such events manufactured or actual have profound impact on public perception and action. Naomi Klein’s (not to be confused with the nut job Naomi Wolf) The Shock Doctrine details this well.

        No sign this was a false flag, but holy fuck does it have terrible implications.