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[Starver]

They could have:
a) Used a high-point/drone to actually keep an eye on it, like it seems loads ok Mk1 Eyeballs in the crowd managed to, and/or,
b) Erected screens (could be decorated as campaign banners) strategically on that edge of the perimiter.

But hindsight is 20:20.


Also, apparently JD Vance might be VP-pick (I've heard the name, unless I'm thinking of a rock guitarist/similar, but I couldn't say anything about him... presume you native 'Merkins know who I mean, though), plus the Classified Documents case has been punted over some legal issue with the Special Prosecutor (which is likely to be counter-appealed, but not in time to get anywhere before a potential return to the Whitehouse puts the scuppers on any subsequent due-process).

If I didn't misunderstand the news summaries I just heard.

[Frumple]

The judge in the documents case finally pulled the trigger on full on horseshit, yeah. It'll get appealed, the chances of it losing that appeal are incredibly slim, the case won't be finished until after the election regardless (i.e. if trump gets the vote, the case is dead; if he doesn't, it keeps going), so... honestly, nothing's actually changed on the net, ha, except it being fairly likely the judge gets booted off the case. Barring an election interrupt, it may have actually sped things up.

Vance is indeed the nom, and his name is similar to some other folks of more note and merit as a human being, so it's not unlikely it's ringing some bell or another. Far as I can tell, it's... probably actually hurt his campaign, since vance is both basically a mini-him (there's no voter outreach going on, basically) and has some very clear dirty laundry (having previously called trump hitler, photographic evidence of hanging out with proud boys, etc.).

It's very much not the sort of triangulation pick pence was, in any case. We'll see how things go, but you can probably expect the campaign rhetoric to get worse as a results, ha.

[pisskop]

Im rather surprised there arent drones flying around already, tbh

A drone from a couple blocks away can see just about everything, no?

[Frumple]

From what I understand, US SOP when it comes to drones at protected events is "No." Not theirs, not anyone else's, either. Keep the skies clear, basically. Considering how easy the things are to weaponize, it's probably not that surprising.

It's definitely not a global standard, tho'. Drone overwatch is fairly common outside the states, apparently.

[Flying Teasets]

Why wasn't there anyone on the water tower next door?

[anewaname]

So security failed to either put a guy on that roof or have an observer cycling eyeballs on it...

That was the roof the shooter used. How did he find the weakness in the security screen? That does scream conspiracy.

[Frumple]

I mean. No, it screams "local cops covering swaths of the security". Among their myriad other sins, our police force is, in general, also not exactly the picture of competence. It doesn't take conspiracy for the local popo to fuck up.

[anewaname]

Put aside the incompetence of the local popo, because they were following orders and securing positions that were assigned to them by the secret service.

How did the shooter select that unwatched rooftop? Maybe he could have seen no popo was standing up there, but how did he know it wasn't being watched by an observer?

[hector13]

Put aside the incompetence of the local popo, because they were following orders and securing positions that were assigned to them by the secret service.

How did the shooter select that unwatched rooftop? Maybe he could have seen no popo was standing up there, but how did he know it wasn't being watched by an observer?

Someone reported him to the police as he was on it, not sure why it took until after he starred shooting for them to do something about it.

[Great Order]

Fucking hell, I only go to London for the weekend and Trump gets shot.

I'm going to maintain Hanlon's Razor with regards to the failings of the USSS, and in current circumstances assume raging incompetence. If more evidence comes to light that might have to change.

I think Trump's getting elected now, bar a miracle. I'm not looking forward to another four years of "Trump says/does [Insert incredibly stupid/anti-democratic/narcissistic here]"

Really feels like we're beginning to witness the end of the US as the global superpower. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but the turn towards isolationism, anti-science and an increasing ratchet effect on internal liberty/privacy erosions... Yeesh.

[Frumple]

The current indication is this may just kind of pass with a wet fart instead of a bang, tbh. Trump's pretty immediately set to squandering any goodwill this could have generated, and the shooter is currently being widely reported as republican -- it's not a combination that suggests a major swell from the event. Some, probably, but not major or lasting.

Most of the momentum that could have been rode off the attempt seems to have just kinda' shriveled when it turned out the shooter was a young white guy registered GOP.

[None]

Trump's Classified Documents case has been thrown out, due to Special Council Jack Smith's appointment being deemed unconstitutional.

Not that this actually changes anything, as President Trump would have had the case thrown out anyway.

jesus fucking christ, i want out of this country

[Folly]

The current indication is this may just kind of pass with a wet fart instead of a bang, tbh. Trump's pretty immediately set to squandering any goodwill this could have generated, and the shooter is currently being widely reported as republican -- it's not a combination that suggests a major swell from the event. Some, probably, but not major or lasting.
Most of the momentum that could have been rode off the attempt seems to have just kinda' shriveled when it turned out the shooter was a young white guy registered GOP.

The biggest impact I'm perceiving is that Biden no longer feels free to attack Trump as aggressively after the assassination attempt. Biden's campaign have already withdrawn most of their ads.
And attacking Trump was really the one slim chance Biden had to turn public image back in his favor, which has been on a consistent downslide ever since the debate. Things looked grim before, but now there is simply no possible avenue for Biden to recover. And even if he stepped aside at this point, whoever replaced him would face the same issue.

[Flying Dice]

Looking at aerial pics from the site, I cannot comprehend how utterly incompetent the Secret Service must have been.
It's like, one of the only vantage point buildings in the area within novice recruit skill shooting distance, and then they say it's not their responsibility but the local police's? Geesh. What good is a Secret Service then?

My understanding is that normal procedure is for the Secret Service to be the primary perimeter and local authorities to be the secondary perimeter. In this case IIRC the Secret Service checked all surrounding buildings (including that one) before the event but pulled in to their own perimeter afterwards.

There's been a lot of attempts to assassinate U.S. presidents (~45 that we know of), and they generally fall into two categories: the assassin(s) are caught during their planning and preparation by the FBI before they have a chance to do anything, or they are killed/caught after they make the attempt.

The only really noteworthy thing about this one is that they drew blood, which puts Trump in pretty rare company, considering that the "first place" club has four members (or six if you believe certain theories) and he's only the third in the "second place" club. Most of the time either they miss, don't wait for a good opportunity, or have their equipment malfunction.

[Starver]

...I think, possibly, my prior knowledge of JD Vance arose from having originally seen this intruiguingly relevent/relevence-adjacent xkcd comic from 2019.

(And noting that the protagonist, in the original, did play rock guitar, so yet another weird co-inky-dink!  )