There are events throughout history where people remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned of it. Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan and the 9/11 attacks. These are a few seminal moments in history where life afterward was different than life before.
We experienced another such event on Saturday July 13th in Butler PA.
President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign rally with thousands in attendance. At 6:05 pm, President Trump took the stage and began speaking to the crowd. He was speaking of the number of illegal immigrants in America resulting from Joe Biden’s open border policies. He directed everyone’s attention to a graphic depicting the growth in illegal border crossing. At 6:11, President Trump turned his head slightly to the right to emphasize the chart.
Shots rang out. President Trump flinched and covered his right ear. He went to the ground to take cover behind the podium. Three Secret Service agents covered President Trump to protect him. They yelled, “Get down!” to the crowd. Blood was seen across the former President’s right cheek. Several rounds were discharged from the gunman, Secret Service and possibly other law enforcement. Three attendees at the rally were struck by gunfire. Nobody knew how badly President Trump was wounded or possibly worse.
A minute later, a Secret Service sniper had killed the gunman with a single shot. President Trump stood up under the cover of US Secret Service. He told the Secret Service agents, “Let me get my shoes!” that were knocked off as he took cover from the gunman. Possibly realizing the crowd was unaware of his condition, President Trump turned to the crowd, raised his right fist in the air and said, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” The crowd erupted as they realized President Trump was injured but appeared to be okay.
Sadly, there was one casualty. Corey Comperatore, his wife and daughters were sitting in the VIP area behind President Trump. Mr. Comperatore forced his wife and daughters to the ground in the bleachers. He dove over them to provide protection. He was struck in the head with a bullet and was killed quickly if not instantly. His wife and daughters were unharmed.
Two others at the event were seriously injured. David Dutch of New Kensington, PA and James Copenhaver of Moon Township, PA were identified as the other victims. Thankfully, they are on the path to a full recovery from their physical injuries.
It is interesting that the crowd did not panic as events unfolded. There were obvious concerns but there was no stampede that could have resulted in additional injuries.
In the aftermath, there have been several theories of how this was even possible. There were obvious failures in how the event site was secured. How the rooftop of a building from which there was a direct line of sight to President Trump was left unsecured is the most glaring. That it appears a credible threat had been indicated on site several minutes beforehand yet, President Trump was still allowed to take the stage is another. Hopefully, the truth will be borne out. The conflicting and a few ludicrous statements from the Secret Service leadership and the Administration have not produced much confidence.
“A republic. If you can keep it.”
The Framers understood political violence was a common occurrence throughout history. Political unrest results from the enforcement of government tyranny or the response to it. This is why they drafted our Constitution the way they did. A centerpiece to avoid the stress and political upheaval political violence causes is the Article V convention of states process. This provides We The People working through our state government to protect our government structure as set forth in our Constitution.
The political unrest and sometimes violence is a symptom of the erosion of our constitutional government structure. Its restoration will not happen magically. The starting point is a critical mass of self-governing citizens who understand our Founding Principles, our Constitution and are willing to work to restore them. When Benjamin Franklin was asked what form of government the delegates to the 1787 Convention had drafted, he responded, “A republic. If you can keep it.”
Those were prescient words and the continued challenge to us and every generation. The question is, will the American people rise to the occasion? I believe we will.
In liberty,
Brett
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