ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT TRUMP

The attempted assassination of President Trump a few days ago has caused me to push back this week’s planned blog.
In light of this event, I want to raise a few points for you to consider.

The Actual Event

We have all seen the attack from multiple angles of newsreels, cell phone cameras, and interviews. What shocked me personally is that the Trump campaign has been asking to increase the size of his protective detail. That request has been repeatedly denied, along with the denial of any protective services to RFK Jr’s Campaign. Actions speak louder than words. I believe Biden wants his opponents un-protected.

In fact, some Secret Services resources were diverted to Jill Biden’s event.  Consequently, Trump’s event was apparently covered by many supplemental agents from different field offices (not Trump’s regular detail). Additionally, his detail had only two SS counter snipers. While this was in accord with agency protocol for a former President, it did not take into account his current status. President Trump was only two days away from again being the nominee of the Republican Party. Trump is not just a former President.  He is the only President in modern history to have run for President again, while being the focus of multiple controversies and prosecutions, which would likely make him even more of a target.

As a close friend and Retired US Secret Service Agent friend pointed out to me in an email the evening after the attack:

“If I had been the USSS Director, I’d have made the Trump Detail the same size as PPD or even larger. I’ve not been impressed with [USSS Director] Cheatle. She is just too tight with Biden and Obama, and pushing DEI. Also, recall when Ronald Reagan was shot and how Jerry pushed him into the car, and it rolled within a couple of seconds. The four or five gals around Trump’s car couldn’t decide what to do, and it showed.”

This is a massive failure on the part of the USSS to ensure the safety of a protectee. Yet Hunter Biden has a full detail?

USSS Rules of Engagement

This is similar to the ridiculous Rules of Engagement (ROE) under President Obama when I was in Afghanistan in 2016. We had to be fired upon by known terrorists before we could engage them. Furthermore, the American force was only to equal what we were being fired upon with. Using any weapon larger than a Hellfire missile essentially had to be approved by the White House. 

Regarding the President’s USSS detail: under the current ROEs if a suspected sniper is spotted, response teams are sent to check him out. Meanwhile, the Counter Sniper (CS) teams keep him under surveillance through their rifle scopes. In this situation, the CS team did not shoot him in the head until after he had opened fire on President Trump. Clearly, the ROEs need to be changed. If someone shows up aiming a weapon at the President within the range of a CS team, no order should be required for the response team to take action.  The CS people should have a green light to take the attacker(s) out, on the spot.

Think of it this way: you’re minding your own business when someone aims a weapon at you. In the United States, that’s sufficient justification to shoot them immediately. You don’t have to wait until you are fired upon, stabbed, or beaten to death with a baseball bat.

Why did the USSS CS Team not engage the shooter immediately, or at least have President Trump moved to safety while the response team investigated?

Operations like the one that the unsuccessful assassin undertook on July 13th require planning: pre-attack scouting, knowing the timing of the event, and luck. They rarely happen in a vacuum. Who helped this shooter? We need to find out — that is, if the FBI can break away from monitoring school board meetings for a few days. 

Shocking / Unsurprised?

Professor Johnathan Turley expressed in a July 14, 2024 article on his website how we are surprisingly unsurprised by this attempt.

The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump left a nation stunned. But the most shocking aspect was that it was not nearly as surprising as it should have been. For months, politicians, the press, and pundits have escalated reckless rhetoric in this campaign on both sides. That includes claims that Trump was set to kill democracy, unleash “death squads” and make homosexuals and reporters “disappear”.

It’s an interesting article and you should read it in its entirety.  I vehemently disagree with the good Professor’s belief that those on the left do not want actual violence. Nothing could be further from the truth. As we know in this dangerous world, words have meaning. When someone says they want you dead, you had better believe them. ANTIFA is the militant arm of the current Democratic Party — just like the Ku Klux Klan was for more than a century, before and throughout the 1960s. Our DOJ has not done anything of significance to rein in ANTIFA and its financial supporters in the Blue States. Even Biden said on July 8th, 2024, “We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

PRAY FOR AMERICA

As I said in my KCCI-TV interview aired on Sunday, and mentioned at the end of their story, “PRAY FOR AMERICA”. 

Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 do make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
President
Iowa Firearms Coalition