OPINION: Was it Secret Service negligence or deliberate sabotage at Trump rally?

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump reads like a C-rated Hollywood script, rejected for its contrived plot.

Scene 1: A 13-year-old boy hears Trump’s been elected. He’s told by Democrats that Trump’s a Nazi fascist (“literally Hitler”) and must be stopped to protect democracy. In this C-rated script, it’s crucial to give our antagonist a hokey name like "Crooks."

Scene 2: At 17 and on Biden’s inauguration day, Crooks donates to the progressive PAC ActBlue, supported by Vice President Harris. He is a bullied recluse and a poor marksman, rejected from his high school rifle team. Put him on anti-depressants.

Scene 3: At 18, Crooks registers as a Republican to vote against MAGA candidates.

Scene 4 (T-6 days): Crooks makes a 20-minute walkthrough of the Trump rally site.

Scene 5:

T-9 hours: The Secret Service (USSS) sets up security for the rally with a skeleton crew due to a concurrent Jill Biden event. They post counter-snipers on a nearby roof but do not secure the roof of a building 150 yards away nor a water tower 225 yards away, both with a direct line of sight of Trump. Rationale: those are outside their 500-yard perimeter. Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU) holds a briefing for local SWAT and sniper units, but the USSS does not attend.

T-6 hours: Crooks does a 70-minute walkthrough of the site.

T-2 hours: Crooks flies a drone for 11 minutes over the venue, checking out the American Glass Research building (AGR). The FAA doesn’t set up a no-fly zone, the USSS doesn’t question nor stop the drone nor fly one of their own.

Scene 6:

T-61 minutes: A sniper on the second floor of AGR sees Crooks checking out the roof, then takes pictures as Crooks walks away and returns.

T-43 minutes: Sniper takes pictures of Crooks’ bicycle and backpack near AGR.

T-39 minutes: Sniper spots Crooks using a rangefinder.

T-33 minutes: Sniper sends message to the “Sniper Group” about Crooks.

T-31 minutes: Sniper told to “call into command” regarding Crooks.

T-30 minutes: Sniper calls command and provides description of Crooks and the rangefinder.

T-22 minutes: Photos of Crooks sent to ESU.

T-16 minutes: ESU confirms receipt of photos and states they’ve been relayed to USSS.

T-12 minutes: ESU asks for direction Crooks is traveling.

Scene 7:

T-8 minutes: Trump walks to podium. His personal USSS detail is not informed of the sniper.

T-6 minutes: Sniper states Crooks is moving northeast with a backpack.

T-5 minutes: Sniper goes to ground floor to meet local law enforcement patrol to alert them to Crooks’ presence.

T-3 minutes: Festival goers see Crooks on the roof with a rifle and yell "shooter!" An officer tries to climb to the roof but retreats when Crooks points his gun.

T-2 minutes: The USSS receives calls from the police department about an armed man on the roof. The USSS snipers just look at Crooks through the scope but take no action.

T-0 minutes: Trump turns his head to read a slide. Eight shots ring out. A bullet nicks Trump’s ear. He hits the deck, and his USSS team tackles him.

T+26 seconds: USSS sniper waits 26 seconds after the first shot before shooting Crooks.

T+1 minute: Trump stands in defiance, blood running down his face, fist raised, yelling "fight, fight, fight" against the backdrop of a flying U.S. flag.

Scene 8: USSS agents try to get Trump off the stage. Female USSS agents are shown cowering from gunshots, unable to shield Trump because of their height, struggling to holster their pistols, fumbling with their dark glasses, and looking like bumbling idiots. Clearly DEI hires.

Scene 9: Cut to the director of the USSS. Since she’s also an antagonist; give her a hokey name like Cheatle. Make her another DEI hire with connections: the former head of security for Jill Biden. Cheatle blames the local PD, explaining how the AGR rooftop was outside the main security circle and the roof was "too sloped" for snipers. Cut to USSS, FBI and ESU members walking on the flat AGR roof.

Scene 10: Cut to President Biden handing the investigation to the FBI. Create an FBI reverse-engineering scenario of the assassination attempt.

Emphasize the FBI’s role in actively promoting anti-Trump disinformation in 2016: suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story and the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

Highlight past FBI issues: botching investigations into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Include previous multi-shooter coverups like Lee Harvey Oswald and the grassy knoll shooter.

Thus ends this fictional C-rated script that portrays the USSS not just as extraordinarily negligent but fractally wrong. Every layer of the USSS response suggests a sinister, conscious decision to leave security open for the assassination attempt.

Courtney served 20 years as a nuclear engineering officer aboard submarines and 15 years as a graduate school instructor. A political independent, he spends his time chasing his eight grandchildren around Moscow.