By Anna Von Reitz
As more details emerge, we are told that the 20 year-old Pennsylvanian who attempted to shoot Donald Trump was "130 yards" away from the speaker's podium.
To most people that sounds like a long distance, but it is absolutely nothing to a sniper.
Snipers regularly take out targets that are a mile away, over 1700 yards, using heavy caliber long-trajectory 50 mm bullets.
So the failure of the security team to lock down elevated platforms only 130 yards away is stunning.
They knew, and we know, that lapse is not explainable within the purview of normal security operations.
Apparently, even the House Oversight Committee knows and wants answers:
For example, when former President Richard Nixon went grocery shopping, a perimeter of 2000 yards was cleared and all rooftops monitored.
Now you can see how puny and failed the security effort around Trump really was -- 2000 yards for Tricky Dick, but less than a 130 yard sweep for Trump.
With really long range shots snipers use heavy caliber guns-- "Whopping Mollies" of 50 mm or more; with short range targets (like 130 yards) they use small caliber high velocity ammo, typically 9 mm, and light-weight, long-barreled sniper rifles.
So, it was a headshot and high velocity small caliber sniper fire, just as you would expect at 130 yards, and nobody needs to wonder anything about it. This was an assassination attempt according to standard operating procedures for snipers worldwide.
What wasn't "standard" is the Secret Service's failure to control access to elevated positions within easy shooting range of the former President.
What also isn't "standard response" is the fact that numerous witnesses saw the shooter and made efforts to draw the attention of Secret Service agents, saying things like, "He's got a gun!" and pointing at the gunman minutes before any shots were fired.
If you were part of a security detail and someone started waving and shouting, "Hey, look, he's got a gun!" would you respond with rapid investigation and interception, or turn away and continue chewing your cud?
No doubt that's part of what the House Oversight Committee will want to ask about:
Unfortunately for Donald Trump, the cud-chewing response yielded predictable results. Trump was shot and came within half an inch of being killed, and his 20 year-old assailant is dead along with innocent bystanders killed and injured.
This was a mammoth and inexplicable security failure on the part of the Secret Service. They failed Personal Security Protocols 101 when it comes to DJT, and they also failed the Attendees at the rally.
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