Tag: Gun Violence

Guns In The Age Of Donny

Note:  Today is my chemo session and because of the side effects this will be my only post today…..sorry about that….not to worry I will be back as soon as possible.

I guess a good place to start is with a recent set of findings….

A sweeping new review of nearly 30 years of gun policy research finds a small number of firearm laws consistently show measurable effects on deaths and violence in the United States, while many others remain surprisingly unproven.

The report, released by the RAND Corporation, concludes that policies focused on limiting access during moments of crisis, such as safe-storage requirements, waiting periods, and age restrictions, are associated with reductions in suicides and some homicides. At the same time, laws that expand public carry and legal protections for the use of deadly force are linked to higher rates of violent crime.

The findings underscore how much of the gun debate is driven by assumption rather than evidence, and how narrow the list of policies with strong data behind them really is.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/rand-us-gun-policy-research-data/

Under Donny’s control ICE has been the focus of the news especially all the people they have killed and at the same time massive shootings has taken a backseat to the antics of the Goon Platoon.

We know our Little Donny cares nothing for our Constitution and that seems to carry over into the realm of guns a GOP standard or it use to be….

…

Trump and his MAGA underlings have decided, in other words, that the Second Amendment—long an inviolable part of Republican orthodoxy—does not apply to anti-ICE protesters. This has dismayed not only guns rights groups but even some Republican lawmakers. “Why is a ‘conservative’ judge threatening to arrest gun owners?” Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky asked on X. Representative Greg Steube of Florida tweeted at Pirro, “I bring a gun into the district every week…. I have a license in Florida and DC to carry. And I will continue to carry to protect myself and others.” Of course, they were in the minority: Most Republicans have remained silent, tacitly acknowledging that they don’t have absolutist positions on gun rights and states’ rights after all.

(newrepublic.com)

Everything this admin does is hinkey in some way or another…..and guns are no different….

n December 31, in the waning hours of 2025, the Washington Post reported on an internal ICE document that concerned the agency’s “wartime recruitment” strategy, or rather its attempt to expeditiously swell its ranks of deportation officers. The memo, according to the Post, had in mind a pool of ideal candidates who lead a “patriotic” lifestyle and have an interest in “military and veterans affairs,” “physical training,” “gun rights organizations,” and “tactical gear brands.”

The memo’s logic was easy enough to understand, since what it described, if you read between the lines, was an informal paramilitary that was waiting to be tapped. Over the last month—as a violent federal occupation has unfolded in Minneapolis, where veteran immigration agents brutally killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti—both the memo and the new recruits it would draw into the fold began to take up outsized space in my mind. For a long time now, the gun rights movement has been animated by the promise of a violent reckoning, a sentiment nurtured by the groups that represent it and Republican politicians, who seek to channel a wild, truculent energy into votes and profits. It seemed the promise was being fulfilled in Minneapolis, like the fatal denouement of a production that had one harbinger after another.

Minneapolis Is the Violent Reckoning the Gun Rights Movement Has Long Wanted

This ‘new’ recruitment floes in the face of democracy and creeps closer to a police state….

Picture it: an America with no guns.

Our children would be safe in school. Our neighborhoods would be positively dreamy. Life expectancy would rise and America might just get a shred of respect from the rest of the world, which looks at us these days as the complete maniacs we most certainly have become.

But you think I’m the one who has completely lost his mind.

Never happen, Earl. Guns are here to stay.

You know, it wasn’t so long ago, that some sort of meaty gun control actually looked doable. Back then, when America was at least semi-sane, gun control was my No. 1 issue. I railed about it. I marched for it. I joined gun-control groups, and put some of my limited treasure into furthering this noble cause.

Hadn’t we seen enough of our children brutally slaughtered in all those classrooms?

America: Awash in Guns and Fast Becoming a Police State

For years the argument about guns was the 2nd was there so the people could protect themselves from the government….now think about this….what is happening in our cities with the Goon Platoon, who are acting as agents of the government, is it not what the whack jobs in the Tea Party were so concerned with happening?

If not then just what the Hell was the 2nd intended to be used for if needed?

I have found it interesting that the gun echo chamber has fallen silent in the days of ICE.

If you have any ideas then please voice them here and we all can try to understand.

I Reads, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

“To Punish And Enslave”

I know….I know this is old news….but is it?

Donny’s Goon Platoon is at it again….killing American citizens and getting away with it….by now everyone knows about Minneapolis….but the blow back is amazing to follow….

On Wednesday, an ICE agent killed a woman in her vehicle on the streets of Minneapolis. She was reportedly a U.S. citizen. But then President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made their own conduct even more damning by blaming the victim and insisting the officer acted out of legitimate self-defense. The video Trump posted didn’t come close to supporting his claims. Other videos strongly suggested the officer wasn’t at all in a life-threatening situation and that lethal force was in no way justified, and Minnesota officials vehemently backed that up. DHS officials then leaked that the agent had violated use-of-force protocol. We talked to New Republic contributing editor Felipe De La Hoz, who writes well about ICE accountability. We discuss the government’s collapsing cover story, how this saga sheds light on ICE’s worsening lawlessness, and what needs to happen to rein in this rogue agency.

Listen to this episode here.

A transcript is here.

Most every American has gotten pieces parts of this report….this is an update all in one place….learn what happened….

It could all come down to 399 milliseconds.

That’s the amount of time between the first two gunshots fired by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis Wednesday, according to an ABC News metadata analysis.

The circumstances surrounding 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good‘s death have ignited a national firestorm, with leaders of Minnesota’s largest city, along with numerous lawmakers, condemning the ICE agents’ actions, while federal officials say that the agents acted in self defense after Good tried to ram them with her car in an act of domestic terrorism.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/minneapolis-ice-shooting-minute-minute-timeline-renee-nicole/story

Speaking of Donny’s Goon Platoon, ICE, these little brown shirters are the scum of the pot….

The explosive Daily Mail report found that the administration’s $50,000 signing bonus attracted droves of unqualified recruits — high school grads who can “barely read or write,” overweight candidates with doctor’s notes saying they’re unfit, and even applicants with pending criminal charges.

The report exposed how Immigration and Customs Enforcement took a blowtorch to hiring standards, with one Department of Homeland Security official blasting: “We have people failing open-book tests and we have folks that can barely read or write English.”

Officials sent recruits to a Georgia training center before drug test results came back, later discovering some tested positive.

At the academy, some recruits showed up with tattoos tied to gangs and white supremacists. One bailed for a court date on a gun charge, and another was arrested for exploding at a bus driver. To boot, sex harassment accusations emerged, with a source describing to the Daily Mail predatory behavior during training.

The report poured cold water on ICE claims that over 85 percent were experienced officers already trained.

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-shooting-2674862836/

Not to worry Donny will make sure that this housewife will  have died for no other reason than a GOON thinking he is god….

Insider sources told independent journalist Radley Balko that the FBI was “initially open to a concurrent investigation” with the Minnesota BCA, but then Trump-appointed Minnesota US Attorney Daniel Rosen “intervened” and barred the agency from cooperating with local officials on the probe.

“Practically, unless something changes, Rosen’s intervention means there will be no independent police agency investigating the shooting,” Balko added. “It will be left entirely to Kash Patel’s FBI. Any chance of state charges will be entirely reliant on the FBI investigation and what evidence it decides to share.”

When asked by a journalist about the decision to end cooperation with Minnesota investigators on Thursday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insisted that “they have not been cut out,” but said that rather “they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/fbi-ice-shooting-investigation

Now the Donny troop of idiots will make it illegal for you to record and missteps by ICE….

The Trump administration believes you don’t have the right to record Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in public. This stance is both factually wrong and an attempt to chill free speech by conflating it with violence.

At a July 2025 press conference in Tampa, Florida, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said, “Violence is anything that threatens them and their safety, so it is doxing them, it’s videotaping them where they’re at when they’re out on operations, encouraging other people to come and to throw things, rocks, bottles.”

In September 2025, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin called “videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online” a form of doxing. She added, “We will prosecute those who illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law.”

These aren’t idle threats. The Trump administration strong-armed Apple into removing an app from its mobile store that tracked ICE activity and threatened criminal investigations into its creators.

https://reason.com/2026/01/08/you-have-the-right-to-record-ice/

Vance, the idiot in the second seat, has also puked up crap on this incident….

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday lashed out at the media and “left-wing” activists whom he blamed for the death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good at the hands of a federal immigration enforcement agent.

During a press conference at the White House, a reporter asked Vance if there was anything he could say to unite America in the wake of Good’s killing by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, and Vance responded by immediately attacking the media.

“The reporting over this has been one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen in media,” Vance complained. “I’ve never seen a case so misrepresented and misreported. We have a guy who was defending himself, who is now being treated as some sort of federal assassin by so many of the people in this room.”

Vance also described Good as “a woman who aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the accelerator.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/jd-vance-renee-good

I told you he was an idiot…..what a screamim’ prick.

Question:  Why was a blonde soccer mom stopped by the immigration thugs?

The orange shriveled husk of a human and his demented minions have been trying their damnedest to make the dead woman out as some ‘domestic terrorist’….seriously….

There was a woman screaming, “Shame! shame! shame!” She was an agitator. Probably a paid agitator. But, in my opinion, she was an agitator. A very high-level agitator. So professional. She wouldn’t stop screaming.

I said, “This isn’t a normal situation. This is a professional troublemaker.” ‘Cause you heard it and I had it. I will say this: The news sort of turned her down, turned her off, because you’re trying to watch — she was so loud and so crazy, and just not normal. When somebody sees something like that, they don’t go screaming and screaming and the same words. So, I guess you could say, professional, but I didn’t think she did a very good job. You have agitators, but we’ll always be protecting ICE, we’re always gonna be protecting our border patrol, and our law enforcement.

This situation just illustrates the disgusting attitudes that Donny and his Goon Platoon have toward the citizens of this nation…..and the real problem is those idiots twats that support this nonsense.

***My routine of labs, scans, treatment and doctors begins again today…..so this will likely be my only offering today….hopefully I can get back to normal tomorrow…..thanx for understanding.***

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Shot Heard Throughout MAGA-ville

Yesterday there was yet another shooting and this time it took out a MAGA favorite, Charlie Kirk….

Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. A law enforcement official tells the AP that Kirk was hospitalized in critical condition. NBC News reports that disturbing videos from the scene show Kirk slumping down in his seat, with blood flowing from his neck. In an alert, the Orem, Utah, university said “a single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker,” Deseret News reports.The university initially said a suspect was in custody, but UVU spokesman Scott Trotter later said police had determined the man taken into custody was not the shooter, the New York Times reports. Videos on social media showed police detaining an older man at the event.

Kirk is the CEO and co-founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, the AP reports. “We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, the organization’s public relations manager. Kirk, 31, is a close ally of President Trump and the “America First” movement. “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot,” the president said in a Truth Social post. “A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” The shooting was condemned by Republican and Democratic politicians alike, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom calling it “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” reports CNN.

Kirk was speaking at the university as part of his “American Comeback” tour. UVU professor Michael Andersen tells KSL News that he heard what he thought was a firework while Kirk, who was sitting in a tent, answered a question. “Then people started running out of the amphitheater and I saw some people trying to get up out of the terraces, Andersen says. “As I was walking away, as we were evacuating, the person next to me said he saw Charlie Kirk get hit.” He says the atmosphere was “fairly panicked” after the shooting.

Then later yesterday it had been confirmed the Kirk was indeed dead.

Charlie Kirk is dead, President Trump announced Wednesday, hours after the conservative commentator was shot in the neck during an event at Utah Valley University. Kirk was 31.

  • “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
  • In another post, Trump said he was ordering all American flags in the US be lowered to half-mast until 6pm Sunday to honor Kirk, “a truly Great American Patriot.”
  • Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said law enforcement officials told him the Turning Point USA founder had died, Deseret News reports. University officials say the shooter is not in custody. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he had spoken to Trump about Kirk’s death, KSL News reports. “Working with the FBI and Utah law enforcement, we will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy,” he said. “Those responsible will be held fully accountable. Violence has no place in our public life. Americans of every political persuasion must unite in condemning this act. Our prayers are with Charlie, his family, and all those affected.”

And the hunt goes on….

The person of interest who was taken into custody in connection with the murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday has been released following an interrogation, says FBI Director Kash Patel. He wrote on X, “Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.” NBC News reports Patel’s about-face came about 90 minutes after he had announced the shooter was in custody. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had strong words for the shooter, per the Deseret News: “I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you.”

President Trump posted a four-minute video on Truth Social Wednesday night addressing the shooting:

  • He called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom, and there’s never been anyone who was so respected by youth. … This is a dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk traveled the nation joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate. His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense.”
  • “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree,” Trump continued. “For years those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now.”

What typical bullshit from Donny….stoking the fires of hatred.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family (is that not what one says when there is a shooting death?)

Never fret….this will happen again…just a matter of time.

Then there is the call for all people to come together against this type of violence…..and the House was not the poster child for this call….

Two thousand miles east of Orem, Utah, where Charlie Kirk was shot to death on Wednesday, the House of Representatives honored the political commentator with a moment of silence—followed by a shouting match. With every lawmaker in the chamber still standing quietly in observance, Rep. Lauren Boebert demanded that Speaker Mike Johnson recite a prayer for Kirk aloud, the Washington Post reports. “Silent prayers get silent results,” the Republican hollered from the back of the chamber. That was met with jeers from Democrats about gun laws. Rep. Jahana Hayes shouted that school shootings, including one earlier in the day in Boebert’s home state of Colorado, are ignored, per the Wall Street Journal.

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a friend of Kirk’s, stormed out of the chamber while yelling profanities at the Democrats, per Politico. Johnson, who had led the moment of silence, eventually was able to gavel a brief halt to the chaos and move on to the next piece of business. That was the swearing-in of Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw, who’d won a special election the day before in northern Virginia. When he ripped President Trump in his remarks for actions including the mass layoffs of federal employees, Republicans jeered back. “Scoreboard,” one member said, referring to the GOP holding a House majority.

What a pack of clowns!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Stand Your Ground

I am writing about a subject that gets press these days….gun violence.

In Mississippi especially here on the Coast we have seen an increase of violence with deaths….and it is nothing unusual in ‘stand your ground’ states.

Stand-your-ground laws, which are in effect in more than half of U.S. states, are associated with higher homicide rates, increased racial disparities in legal outcomes and broader public costs, according to a new report from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control research and advocacy group.

Stand-your-ground or shoot first laws remove the legal duty to retreat before using deadly force in a self-defense situation. These laws evolved from the centuries-old castle doctrine, which permitted individuals to use force to defend themselves in their own homes.

Modern stand-your-ground statutes expanded this principle to apply in public spaces. Florida enacted the first such law in 2005, and the policy drew national attention in 2012 after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a private citizen.

Over the years, these laws have gained traction in state legislatures with strong backing from gun rights organizations. At least 35 states have stand-your-ground statutes or laws that expand the castle doctrine to apply beyond the home, according to a separate analysis by the RAND Corporation.

A standalone 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network found that stand-your-ground laws were associated with an 8% to 11% increase in monthly homicide and firearm homicide rates nationwide. Several Southern states –– Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana –– saw increases of 10% or more.

States that have adopted stand-your-ground laws have seen gun homicides rise by up to 11% annually from 1999 to 2017, according to the JAMA report. That equates to more than 700 additional gun deaths each year, according to estimates in the Everytown report.

https://stateline.org/2025/07/21/stand-your-ground-laws-linked-to-higher-homicide-rates-new-report-finds/

I realize that this situation in the age of His Royal Highness Donny is not as important as a bathroom or sports or tomato pickers but that is no excuse for ignoring the glaring stats.

What is my suggestion?

Stop applying political BS and apply commonsense and decency to the policies that now govern our states and the conserv agenda that does NOTHING to make us great or safe.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Awful Shootings

This is a re-post from my other blog, Daily Agitator, about the history we have with shootings, especially school shootings.

Just this past weekend a local high school had to cancel their homecoming dance because of a gun threat.

Every time there is a shooting the same lame statements are issued by politicians….for it is easier than actually doing something.

School Shootings: A Retrospective

When will this madness end?

A question every sane person should be asking.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Second Time Around

This is number two in a few weeks.

We all remember a few weeks back when some whack-o decided to shoot at Trump…..and it has happened again….this time in Florida while he played golf….

Donald Trump was unharmed Sunday when a man pushed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle through the perimeter of a Florida golf course while the former president played and Secret Service agents opened fire in response. The FBI said Trump was the subject of “what appears to be an attempted assassination.” The gunman dropped the rifle and fled Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in a vehicle, the AP reports, and law enforcement officials in the next county later said they had a person in custody.

The Republican presidential nominee quickly sent out a fundraising email assuring supporters he was safe. “Before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I am safe and well,” Trump wrote, adding, “I will never surrender!” The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said it believes the person taken into custody, whose identity was not released, is connected to the shooting. He was unarmed when he was stopped on Interstate 95, officials said. The golf course was partially shut down while he played, with Secret Service agents a few holes ahead of him when they spotted the person with weapon, officials said. There are several spots along the perimeter of the property where golfers are visible from the fence line.

Trump was returned safely to Mar-a-Lago, which is several miles from the golf course, on Sunday afternoon. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham posted on X that Trump was in “good spirits.” It was about two months ago that Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, which has brought fierce criticism of the Secret Service.

Later that day….the assailant has been identified….

The suspect accused of staging an assassination attempt on Donald Trump Sunday has been identified by a law enforcement official as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. Per the New York Times, last year, Routh gave an interview to the newspaper for an article about Americans traveling to Ukraine to volunteer in its war effort after the Russian invasion. At the time, he referred to himself as a “US citizen that’s helping out,” and said he’d traveled there in 2022 and had attempted to recruit Afghan soldiers as fighters as well. He said he’d also met with politicians in Washington in an attempt to bolster support for Ukraine. Routh also has a criminal record, having been arrested eight times for mostly minor offenses, Newsweek reports.

Several politicians ran to a mic and said…”there is no place for violence in America”….(thinking)….apparently these dullards do not watch the news.

And that was the most interesting event of the day….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Man Who Would Be An Assassin

Of course I am talking about the man that broke the media’s back on the Biden age thingy…..the shooter at the Trump rally.

We now have a name to go with the act…..

The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter at former President Trump’s rally as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks, reports the AP, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue at a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania, the agency said. Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene. One attendee was killed and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. All were identified as men. The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which will begin Monday in Milwaukee. Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.

A 20 year ‘registered’ Republican had his sights on Trump and basically missed….but what do we know about this person?

he Secret Service has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the gunman at Saturday’s Donald Trump rally. Some details emerging about Crooks, who was shot dead by Secret Service agents while on a rooftop adjacent to the rally:

  • State voting records have Crooks as a registered Republican, reports Reuters. The upcoming election would have been the first time he would have been able to vote in a presidential contest.
  • However, at age 17, Crooks gave $15 to the liberal group ActBlue, which works to get out the Democratic vote, per the BBC.  (How will this be spinned by those slugs in the campaign?)
  • Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The newspaper’s coverage of the graduation notes that he received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative. In a commencement video, “Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to modest applause after his name is called out, a slender young man with glasses in a black graduation gown who briefly posed with a school official and accepted his diploma,” per the New York Times.
  • Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN he was attempting to understand “what the hell was going on” and would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before talking about his son, per the BBC.
  • “We do not currently have an identified motive,” said the FBI’s Kevin Rojek.
  • Law enforcement swarmed the family residence in Bethel Park in suburban Pittsburgh, reports USA Today. It’s about 40 miles from Butler, where the Trump rally took place. Crooks did not appear to have a criminal record.

Now you know as much about the person as anyone (right now)….and in case anyone is interested the man that died has a name….

Proud “girl dad” Corey Comperatore drove half an hour with his family to see Donald Trump, a man he’d admired for years, the Washington Post reports. Apart from saving his wife and daughters, it would be the last thing he’d ever do. As gunfire erupted at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the 50-year-old engineer and father of two from Sarver threw himself on his family, shielding them, and was fatally shot, according to an account given to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who identified Comperatore as a victim on Sunday. He said Comperatore’s wife, Helen, told him her husband, a former fire chief, “died a hero.”

CNN Digital has put together a sort of time line of this incident as it unfolded….

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/14/politics/what-happened-trump-assassination-attempt/index.html

The following came to my attention and please save the BS….I am NOT saying I buy this just wanted to pass it on…..

As footage of the incident circulates, skeptics have raised eyebrows over several peculiar aspects of the alleged assassination attempt. The Secret Service’s handling of the situation has come under particular scrutiny. Typically, in an active shooter scenario, agents prioritize covering the protectee’s head, neck, and torso. Yet, Trump was allowed to stand upright and even raise his fist defiantly, potentially exposing himself to further danger without paying to the very high possibility of there being more shooters.

This moment of bravado, reminiscent of Trump’s dramatic mask removal after his COVID-19 hospitalization, has fueled speculation about whether the incident was staged for political gain. The crowd’s surprisingly calm demeanor following the alleged shooting has also raised questions. In most active shooter situations, one would expect more panic and chaos, not the relatively composed reaction witnessed at the rally.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/politics/was-donald-trumps-assassination-attempt-really-staged/

Like most any situation….someone can turn it into a conspiracy….again I am not saying that I am buying onto this situation….just wanted to let people know what is being passed off as news.

Any thoughts on the possibility?

Will history be changed by the actions of this would be assassin?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Martyr Is Born

Stop the Presses!

Biden’s age is no longer the major news fodder!

I interrupt my normally whimsical Sunday posting for something of a big deal…..Trump shot at a rally on Saturday…..

The shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania Saturday is being investigated as an attempted assassination of the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, law enforcement officials tell the AP. Trump’s campaign said in a statement that the former president was “fine” after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. The suspected gunman and a rally attendee are dead, and two attendees were reportedly injured, authorities say. “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility.

Two officials who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity said the shooter was not an attendee at the rally and was killed by Secret Service agents. Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers during his last rally before the Republican National Convention opens Monday when the gunfire began. As Trump was talking, a popping sound was heard. Trump said, “Oh,” and put his right hand up to his right ear as people in the stands behind him appeared to be shocked. Two more pops could be quickly heard and he crouched down.

Updated….

Donald Trump was indeed hit by a bullet Saturday when gunshots rang out during his rally in Pennsylvania. The president himself wrote about the incident hours later on Truth Social, reports the Washington Post.

  • “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” he wrote. “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.”
  • Trump offered his condolences to the family of the unidentified rally attendee who was killed. (Two other attendees were injured.) He also thanked the Secret Service and police for their quick response.
  • “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” wrote Trump.

His son Donald Trump Jr. issued a statement Saturday night: “I just spoke to my father on the phone and he is in great spirits,” he said, per the New York Post. “He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him.” The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt, reports the New York Times. No details have surfaced about the gunman, who was killed by Secret Service agents.

Multiple reports following the apparent assassination attempt at a Trump rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, indicate that the shooter may have been on a nearby roof. The incident left one rally attendee dead, two others critically injured, and Donald Trump shot in the ear.

  • A man who was listening to the rally from a spot outside the venue says he saw a suspicious man cross from one side of a nearby roof to the other. He didn’t see a gun, but still informed police, and a few minutes later, shots rang out. The man tells the Wall Street Journal he then saw officers on the roof, apparently standing over the shooter’s body. It was only when he got home that he found out from his wife Trump had been shot.
  • Another witness tells the BBC a similar story, claiming he was listening from outside the venue when he saw a man with a rifle “bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us.” He also told police what he saw, shortly before the gunfire broke out, and he says he saw Secret Service agents shoot the gunman.
  • Sources tell the New York Post the shooter was on the roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away from the stage at the rally venue, the Butler Farm Show grounds. Those sources say a counter-sniper team opened fire from a different roof, killing the shooter.
  • CNN has video that appears to show the suspect on a roof near the venue.

I admit I am not a big fan of Trump but this is not the way to handle him and his candidacy.

In the back of my mind I was wondering when this type of thing would happen.

Does anyone remember George Wallace?  (Probably not)  He was a third party candidate back in the Dark Ages, 1972….

On May 15, 1972, he was shot four times by Arthur Bremer while campaigning at the Laurel Shopping Center in Laurel, Maryland, at a time when he was receiving high ratings in national opinion polls.  Bremer was seen at a Wallace rally in Wheaton, Maryland, earlier that day and two days earlier at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Wallace was hit in the abdomen and chest, and one of the bullets lodged in Wallace’s spinal column, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.

Will this incident change the tune of the pro-gun violence GOP?

After all their fearless leader has been targeted.

Please, any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Day, Another Shooting

An all too familiar meme in the American news factory….gun violence with casualties….this time around it was at a parade for the Kansas Chiefs Super Bowl win.

Another whacked out d/bag with a gun…..

In a grim update on the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration in downtown Kanas City on Wednesday, police said nine children were among at least 21 people wounded by gunfire. Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said three people had been taken into custody, including one who may have been detained by fans, the AP reports. One person was killed, authorities say. The Kansas City Star reports that Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two who was at the parade with her family, died during surgery for a gunshot wound.

“She was the most wonderful, beautiful person,” says longtime friend Lisa Lopez (no relation), a Star employee. “She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life.” Another friend, Rosa Izurieta, tells the AP that Lopez-Galvan’s adult son was also wounded. Victims were taken to three hospitals, KMBC reports. According to the Kansas City Fire Department, eight victims had “immediate life-threatening injuries,” and another seven had life-threatening injuries. The Star reports that the injured children range in age from six to 15. Graves said no motive has been identified. She asked anybody with information or video of the shooting to contact police.

“I’m angry at what happened today,” the chief said. “The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment.” Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the Super Bowl victory and the scene became chaotic after shots were fired and people ran for cover, the New York Times reports. Some witnesses said they were nearly trampled. The Kansas City Chiefs confirmed that all players, employees, and their families were safe, NBC News reports. “We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all of Kansas City.” This story has been updated with new details.

I am sure somewhere there will be an idiot that will offer ‘thoughts and prayer’….that has done nothing to stop this insanity so if you are thinking that just shut-up.

I could go off on a rant but why?

Nothing will get done and it will continue to happen as longer as their are spineless slugs in Congress and Americans are too busy to care.

I did hear one idiot say that cars kill more people than guns (an old Repub talking point)….this was bullshit then and is bullshit now.

Unlike firearms, cars aren’t explicitly designed to kill or wound living beings (humans, animals, etc). They’re designed to move you from one place to another. Yet unlike firearms, cars and drivers are heavily regulated by the government, from emissions standards to annual inspections to safety features, and so forth. You can’t legally drive a car that doesn’t feature seatbelts, or a car that spews too much exhaust into the air. You have to take both a written and a behind-the-wheel test to get a license to operate a car. You often have to renew that license at regular intervals and, if you’re older, you have to prove that you’re physically capable of driving a car. You can’t drive a car while drinking alcohol or impaired by other chemicals. There are thousands of police officers patrolling our roads and, as most of us have experienced at one time or another, they will penalize or arrest you for improper handling of a car — with literally hundreds of laws to abide, and considerable penalties, ranging from fines to imprisonment to the government stripping you of your right to drive a car at all. So if the NRA and its supporters are going to keep using this car analogy, then let’s talk about regulating guns and gun owners the same way we regulate cars and drivers.

(huffpost.com

This has been a long standing Repub standard lie….they just trot it out whenever people start talking about reasonable gun laws.

The next attack is just waiting it’s turn for the headlines.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should We See The Photos?

Yet another mass shooting….and the usual rhetoric around it….

This will be an emotional post if it upsets anyone I am sorry.

In my little corner of the country we have had two mass shootings in one week…..shootings are nothing new around here but ones with multiple victims is…..

In this country in the last two weeks, there have been nearly 200 people shot in mass-shooting incidents.

Some action is called for….thoughts an prayers is doing  nothing to curb this disturbing trend….Congress is an impotent tool a society just looks the other way.

I had a conversation with a friend that believes the photos should be published for the public to see the carnage and that may turn the debate to decide to do something to help stop this carnage.

I also read a letter by William Falk published in The Week magazine……which I present here…..

When former police officer Stephen Spainhouer rushed to the scene of a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall last week, he came upon a battlefield. Bloody, torn bodies were scattered on the ground next to the dead killer and his assault rifle. A little girl seemed to be hiding next to a bush, but when Spainhouer turned her over, “she had no face.” He tried performing CPR on other victims, but “the injuries were so severe there was nothing I could do.” Hours later, cellphone images of the disfigured dead began circulating on Twitter. No mainstream publication, including this one, would publish such photos, for many reasons: the need for family consent; preserving the dignity of the dead; the sensibilities of readers. But by not showing what mass shooters do to human beings, do we make it easier to be numbed to the slaughter? If Americans were repeatedly exposed to images of children with their faces blown off, would they still accept that “nothing can be done?”

Images have great power; they can reach into hearts and minds in a way words often do not. When Emmett Till’s mother allowed publication of photos of her late son’s mutilated face in 1955, the revulsion galvanized the civil rights movement. Other photos have also marked turning points in history: the 1972 image of a naked, 9-year-old Vietnamese girl burned by U.S. napalm; the 2004 photos of Iraqis humiliated and tortured by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison; the video of a police officer with his knee on the neck of a pleading, dying George Floyd. What if we’d seen what an assault rifle did to the 20 first-graders and six adults in Newtown? (Some of their bodies had to be identified by DNA.) Or the 19 kids and two teachers methodically executed in Uvalde? Or the 26 churchgoers massacred in the pews at Sutherland Springs? Would their gruesome deaths still be written off as the regrettable but necessary price of “freedom”?

Interesting thought.

For me after Vietnam there is not much that shocks me…..so I say yes….of course with permission to use the photos.

I do not think it will make much difference to our lay-about lawmakers for their concerns are with donor dollars not the safety of our citizens.

What about you, my readers, should these photos be published?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”