Like many Americans CP watched the Trump assassination attempt play out live on television.
Not since the morning of September 11,2001 have I felt the same level of helplessness, while watching in real time people in fear and danger while I was not being to do a damn thing.
Now in the 48 hours after there is a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking so here's my take.
Advance Team Assessment:
Much of the Secret Service operation at these events relies on interagency response and advance threat assessment.
There is a group who are supposed to know all the details of the venue and conduct a complete threat assessment.
They work with local assets to map out routes and traffic and most importantly review the venue from a tactical what if scenario. Road, culverts, storage buildings, sewage and storm drains are known mapped and secured. No building with a 1/2 mile or more should be left unsecured or unmonitored.
A no-fly zone of at least 10 miles is established.
Asset staging locations are determined ingress and egress routes and security are planned and contingencies are laid out.
Guests are "pre screened" then screened again upon entry. Only a select group of VIPs and journalists are allowed within the bunker zone. Even these people are consider threats.
The counter sniper team:
One of the most integral parts are the counter sniper teams. In Butler Pennsylvania there were two teams.
They not only respond to threats but also serve as the eyes and ears of the entire protective operation.
In the above screen grab the Officer raises his head perhaps in disbelief in what some have called "buck fever" where a deer hunter makes a double take because he can't believe his good fortune. But more likely he's checking further down range for other threats or innocents.Witnesses say they saw the shooter "bear crawling" on the low pitched roof about 500 feet from the former President. From the counter-sniper team vantage point he would not be seen until he reached the roof peak.
However while in the dead zone unseen by Secret Service assets he was clearly visible to witnesses. Their calls and shouts can be seen and heard on several videos posted online.
Note: Even though the two assets on the roof are wearing tactical vests the say POLICE they are indeed Secret Service. Secret Service uniformed and counter-sniper (CS) teams wear police titles.
Delayed Response:
The time the first shot was fired and President Trump grabbed his ear and the shooter was on video seen down is about 11 seconds.
By the time the 3rd shot is heard secret service agents are rushing to cover the President.
Several more shots are heard then a volley of four shots follow on and the shots stop.
Video also shows the two members of the counter-sniper team to the left of President Trump. One is seen looking through his scope then raising his head looking in the direction of the building were the suspect is located and then going back to the scope with movements clearly indicating engaging the suspect target.
Keep in mind we don't know the rules of engagement or what the chain of approval to engage a target was that day and why.
Everything from general confusion to communications failing can play a part in a massive failure like this, much let on September 11th.
Also, this would be engaging a target with deadly force outside of the security zone. As many have pointed out this split second decision is a life and death choice with massive ramifications. It's not just some free-fire zone.
A lot of frustration is being placed on the CS team/teams. But we have a very small amount of information as to what they were dealing with at the time of the shooting.
Yes it seems beyond comprehension how a roof-line on the only nearby buildings in a relatively open flat area were not secured or at least watched very closely. How did so many people see this guy up there and even a cop supposedly venture up there to look but the event was allowed to proceed?
Once again, we don't know. Communications failure? Planning failure? Individual performance failure? Systemic bureaucratic failure? All the above? It's usually a mix of factors that lead to catastrophe. This is unlikely to be different, but we have such little info at this time, prematurely blaming the CS team is malpractice.
Protective Unit Follies:
We have all seen the defiant President Trump rising up from behind the podium fist raised screaming Fight Fight Fight. An iconic image to say the least however this photo below is also the definition of complete failure.
The protectee or target is completely exposed, giving the target time to wave at the crowd when the team does not know whether there are more shooters, whether it’s a terrorist attack, whether there’s someone else in the crowd with a gun that you may have missed or nearby buildings, or whether there are even explosives that were later found in the car.We also watched as three female agents struggled with basics including the one known as "chubbie" struggling with securing her weapon.
At times it looked like a poorly staged high school play. With one female agent suddenly remembering her sunglasses in a "oh I need to look the part" moment.
It would be comical except is was so deadly serious.
The question is did the protective operation succeed?
One person shot dead, a former president shot, two other people shot. The shooter shot minutes after multiple people warned there was someone on the roof with a weapon.
If that is the definition of success I'd be concerned as to what constitutes failure?
Where was the good intelligence gathering long before the shooting occurred? Was this an absolute DEI failure? Sure looks that way. Even if the women on the mission were in the protective unit I suspect there are other DEI hires up the chain of command.
Sure the shooter was neutralized.
It was a good shoot.
But the idea of the "Secret Service" Protective Unit is to protect not to just respond.
And in case you missed it, there were reports that explosives were found in the car of the shooter who attempted to assassinate Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Law enforcement officials discovered bomb-making materials inside his’ vehicle, which was parked near the rally site. This discovery prompted authorities to dispatch bomb technicians to handle the situation safely. This is why you take the target off that place immediately because you do not know much at that time and you do not want to wait to find out!
Perhaps the Biden administration has decided that Trump is not worthy of the best. Maybe this is the "B" team or even the "G" team. Afterall Obama, Bush and Carter still have full protective services. As does Pence and of course Harris.
One of the more interesting comments I've noted is someone who points out to the new Secret Service under Joe Biden lacks fun.
We all know guys that are good at this job and they are great at their job but also love it because it is fun.
The perfect person for this job lives for the job. He doesn’t want to do anything else. He goes to the bar after his shift and talks about new ways to identify and kill an assassin. He does hypothetical situations where he pretends he’s the assassin. He takes a service car out for a joy ride and burns the rubber off the tires. He sneaks the sniper scope home and tests different angles in the woods near his house.
When he’s bored he practices the hard look in the mirror. He gets his balls busted mercilessly if he screws up. He plays pranks on his team members. He knows every type of weirdo and deranged person he might encounter and points them out to friends when he drives by.
He laughs at their problems and weirdness. The only form he fills out is a standard logbook. He doesn’t sit by a computer doing HR training modules, because his training is lethal and fun.
He knows where the edge is because he’s crossed it once or twice. And not in some hypothetical way but in a jungle somewhere with real consequences.
This guy isn’t always a good dad or upstanding citizen but he cares. He knows that if he fails he’ll lose the thing he loves most. His only fear is the shame that will cause. But he takes this one fear in stride and enjoys his work because it is fun and important.
That's the guy I want on the Trump protective detail and frankly the Biden detail.
I have family that are these guys, two nephews, a brother (who misses Route Irish) even a cousin a female who is part of the diplomatic protective unit. They are frankly just a little batshit crazy that's why they are awesome at their jobs.
I'm not going to judge the Trump team, but they got lucky damn lucky.
Still this was a command failure. Mayorkas and Cheatle should have been put of leave Saturday night and fired on Monday. Doesn't matter where the breakdown was or who wasn't at their post, the blame falls on command.
The fact that Trump survived this attack, the fact that the shooter was nothing more than a deranged psychopath, the fact that the only victims are just ordinary people like you and me, and the fact that had Trump died conservatives would not have rioted in the streets emboldens liberals that support Biden and gives them justification to do exactly what Biden, Mayorkas and Cheatle are doing, nothing.
Like the Americans held or killed by Hamas, those lost in Afghanistan killed or imprisoned by the Taliban, or by those held by Iran, imprisoned by China, arrested by Russia the Biden administration has done nothing. So you need to ask yourself is this the government you want protecting you?
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