Stephen Smith 🇺🇦
I am a long-time advocate of space exploration, settlement and commerce. Migrated from @WordsmithFL on Twitter.
Joined Nov 2022
From #CNN: A Butler Township police officer was approaching the #Trump shooter suspect when he opened fire. The suspect pointed the rifle at the officer, who tried to take cover, then the suspect fired his rounds.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/14/politics/local-officer-tried-stop-gunman-trump/index.html
From #NYTimes: #SpaceX's Assault on a Fragile Habitat.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/07/us/politics/spacex-boca-chica-takeaways.html
BTW ... The suspect who tried to shoot FDR and who killed Mayor Cermak? Florida executed him by electric chair about a month after the incident.
For or against the death penalty, ya gotta admire the swift justice.
Some politicians and pundits are saying, "This is not who we are," but it IS who we are.
It keeps happening. We as a society do nothing about it. The phenomenon goes back to the mid-19th Century. FDR escaped an assassination attempt in Miami in February 1933; one of the bullets killed Chicago mayor Cermak.
Our culture teaches to solve our differences through violence. It's on TV every day. De-escalation is discouraged.
We are a shameful, and shameless, people.
End of sermon. (4/4)
In my lifetime, I've been through many assassinations/attempts -- JFK, MLK, RFK, Wallace, Ford (twice, 0 for 2), Reagan, Scalise, and now #Trump. (Expand the net if you wish to include the FBI Cincinnati office shooting and Paul Pelosi.)
There have been a few incidents over the years at the White House. In 1994, a man crashed a Cessna on the White House lawn. In 2011, a man fired at least seven rounds that hit the White House.
Probably more that I'm forgetting ... (3/x)
I've been out of law enforcement for nearly 40 years, but the principles remain.
The big flaw to me is how that roof wasn't covered. That was the lesson from Dallas, all those elevated positions.
Why wasn't there a police helicopter? Maybe #Trump didn't want the noise. Maybe the rural agencies didn't have one. An elevated platform would have spotted the shooter.
From what I saw on TV, the response on the stage was textbook.
Much still to be learned. We need to be patient. (2/x)
Random #Trump shooter updates I gleaned during lunch, reading reliable sources ...
Other than Trump, three shooting victims. The deceased, I'll keep the graphic description <redacted>, but he died instantly. The other two are critical.
Police found two explosives in the suspect's car, and a third at his residence. (Unclear to me if he was living with his family or on his own.)
I'll be curious to find out what kind of rounds he was using, given the graphic nature of the wounds ... (1/x)
Stephen Smith 🇺🇦
boosted
The victim at the Donald Trump rally shooting has been identified as Corey Comperatore. Pennsylvania's governor says he was a former fire chief who died a hero. https://apnews.com/article/trump-rally-assassination-attempt-db24c5bfbbe7d09fa2437c3c836bb434
Am I the only one who didn't know you could do this with Google Maps?
I needed to know the "as the crow flies" distance between Vandenberg SFB and Edwards AFB.
Turns out that Google Maps has a Measure Distance feature.
I've been using Google Maps for many years, but never knew this until now.
I'm having a big "Duh" moment. 😳
#Politics Idle speculation, trotting out my Poli Sci degree ...
The Republican National Convention starts tomorrow in Milwaukee. What if the assassin had succeeded?
There's been so much speculation about how the DNC could overturn Biden's nomination at the convention. What would the RNC do this week if they'd lost #Trump?
Being monarchical these days, I suspect they'd just nominate Don Jr. What about other candidates?
But it certainly would have been chaos. Postpone or keep going.
File under, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished ...
Over on FB, I always report spoofed accounts of my friends. I receive a phony friend request, I click on the three dots and report it.
I did that this morning, only to be instantly suspended myself!
To be restored, FB wanted both a selfie and a copy of my driver's license. I gave it to them, but I really have a problem with these social media companies asking us for personal identification.
Thankfully, #CoSo and @th3j35t3r don't stoop to that.
Overnight ... From #CNN: #FBI identifies would-be #Trump assassin as 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park PA. Crooks was registered Republican but apparently gave $15 to a progressive PAC in January 2021. The deceased suspect had no identifying information on his body.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/14/us/trump-shooting-thomas-matthew-crooks-intl-hnk/index.html
Calling it a night, so you'll have to get updates from authoritative sources. PLEASE do not believe what you see posted in social media, unless the post cites a credible source, and that source's evidence.
A lot of horrid things are being said right now in social media, including here. Having gone through many of these over the decades, I can't stress too strongly that we need to set an example and not act like the people who exploit this for personal glorification.
Good night. 🇺🇲
#CNN quotes law enforcement sources as saying witnesses saw a person walking through a field outside the perimeter, then saw him on a roof with a rifle. The witnesses also were outside the perimeter, listening to the rally.
#CNN reports that, in addition to the killed spectator, there are now two known injured spectators.
Stephen Smith 🇺🇦
I am a long-time advocate of space exploration, settlement and commerce. Migrated from @WordsmithFL on Twitter.
Joined Nov 2022