by Robert M. Traxler

President Donald Trump was shot while giving a speech at a campaign rally on 13 July in Butler Pa. The old saying, “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is a bastard” is apparent here.

The media, depending on its political bent, is concentrating its blame on the Secret Service or local or state law enforcement. President Trump to his credit has not joined the blame game, quite the opposite — he and his family are complimentary of the Secret Service and law enforcement.

Way back in the last century I was commanding the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command District unit in Seoul South Korea when President Ronald Reagan visited Korea in November 1983. We had the privilege of working with his Secret Service advanced team and the rest of the presidential security detail. They were an exceptionally professional team, totally dedicated to the mission.  

The Secret Service’s worst nightmare is a sniper. Telescopic sights have been in use for the last 240 years; couple sights with better powder, rifling of barrels, bullet composition, design and triggers, and ranges of well in excess of a mile are very possible.  To control the space a mile or more around an open forum is damned near impossible, hence, their worst nightmare.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle (“she” and not a “he” as our current president stated) did not do herself any favors when she maintained the roof used by the sniper was so steep it was unsafe for her agents. Federal Bureau of Investigation snipers and special agents were posted on roofs with a greater slope in the same area.

We must ask, did she look at the overwatch photos of the crime scene? OK, she did screw up that interview, but contrary to some media calling for her head she is qualified to be the director.

Why Director Cheatle is not opening up the investigative file to the public and Congress is a mystery, leaving people to cook up wild theories of the assassination attempt. Why not publish the investigative timeline? Second by second it would show the speed of the assassination attempt, both good and bad for the Secret Service and state and local law enforcement. Facts can be stated out of sequence and appear damning or exonerating if not in the proper sequence.

Our government blaming the state and local police is not a smart move; they were responsible for the overall security operation and failed. They should own it and learn from it, and not try to pass the blame.

CNN commentators saying President Trump’s ear was cut by broken glass rather than a bullet goes to the hatred they have for anyone who supports President Trump. It is a stupid thing to say, but it is consistent with them still maintaining he was hurt in a fall for almost two hours after the assassination attempt, and some even today.

Our friends in the media continue to say a weapon on the AR-15 platform is a high-powered rifle and the .223 or 5.56 is a high-powered round. It is not a big deal, but they are wrong — fast yes, but it does not have great muzzle energy.  

People asking why President Trump did not duck when the shots were heard before he was shot are showing their monumental ignorance. A .223 or 5.56 bullet travels at plus or minus a few feet per second, three times the speed of sound.

An old truth is that you never hear the bullet that kills you. So much for the idiots who maintain an AR-15 bullet that hits the tip of your finger will tumble and rip your arm off, a truly asinine thing to say, but a fact in many ignorant folks’ minds. The bullet that struck President Trump did not tumble. 

Why have we not learned anything of substance about Thomas Mathew Crooks, the perpetrator of the attempted assassination or murder? We all live our lives on social media, we all have a vast online presence, it is hard not to. What we read, purchase, what movies we watch, what stores we shop at, what gas we use, coffee we drink, with whom we communicate, our political preferences, the list is endless.

Why the government and media are withholding information is a mystery, as Mr. Crooks is dead and has no rights to protect. My opinion.