A split-second decision may have saved former President Trump’s life during a shocking assassination attempt at his outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, it is being said. Israeli special operations veteran Aaron Cohen,
Hours after the incident, Cohen told Fox News’ Trace Gallagher that the former president might not have survived if he had not turned his head when the shot was fired.
He said, “God must be watching over the President.”
“Snipers are usually trained to shoot into the cerebral cortex of the cerebellum, at the top of the brain stem. It incapacitates you, it stops your hands from moving… That’s about the distance of the shot. One hundred and thirty yards. It’s a put-on. Anybody can put two, two, three, optics on a target from that distance and hit it. It’s not a hard shot to make…”
Trump says there was an attempt to assassinate him at Pennsylvania rally and he was ‘shot at’
Republican presidential nominee Former President Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
He further said, “It is very clear to me that if the President’s head had been straight and the bullet had hit his ear, he would have died. But, by chance, at the time of the bullet hitting, his head turned towards this side, which saved his life.”
Some speculate that the bullet, which grazed the former president’s ear, was fatal from a distance of just a few centimetres.
Cohen briefly mentioned security “failures” related to the incident, but he was reluctant to criticize the Secret Service more heavily for somehow allowing a would-be assassin armed with an AR-style rifle to get close enough to Trump to wound him.
However, some former FBI and Secret Service agents are appalled by the security lapse, and some allege that the shoddy efforts to move Trump out of the danger zone could have produced far more dire consequences if multiple threats had been present.
“have worked with secret Service Earlier, when I was watching all of this, I couldn’t believe how long it took to get him off the stage and into the car, and then how long it took for that vehicle to leave that area. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience from a security standpoint,” former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam said during a special Sunday broadcast of “Fox & Friends First.”
“Many people in the news … didn’t want to criticize the Secret Service, but when I looked at it again … I’m amazed at how things played out, because it seemed as though the campaigns to defend and against Trump were being built on the fly, and this elite service should not have been prepared for this kind of tactic and this kind of situation.”
Former assistant FBI director Chris Swecker, who appeared on the channel Sunday morning, explained the Secret Service’s response to the assassination attempt.
“It was a nearly fatal shot,” he told Carley Shimkus and Todd Piro.
“If there had been a second shooter, he would have had ample opportunity to kill again, so this violates all rules of Secret Service protocol and normal executive protection.”
Swecker criticized security at Saturday’s event, saying it “failed from start to finish.”
Suspected Trump assassination attempt raises questions about rally security
“The primary mission of the Secret Service is to deter this type of action and then to react as quickly as possible to get the person out of the danger zone. Nothing like that happened here, so I don’t want to pass a harsh judgment, but this was certainly a security lapse,” he said.
Retired Secret Service agent Jeff James was also taken aback by the incident.
He joined other guests on “Fox & Friends Weekend” when he said outdoor rallies complicate security, and said he would like to see some things done differently.
“Once they got to him, they should have grabbed him and taken him (off the stage). He wanted to wait for his shoes. That’s great, but no, we’re leaving. If I had any criticism, it would be this. I would have liked to see him get off the stage and get into the armored vehicles quickly. Once you get into those armored vehicles, and you’re locked in, you’re pretty safe, and you can move very quickly if you need to,” he said.
Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as a 20-year-old man. Thomas Matthew Crooks, a native of PennsylvaniaAccording to Reuters, he lived about an hour away from the rally site in Bethel Park.
