Matthew Bracken (@Matt_Bracken)

DID CROOKS HAVE HELP? About the near-assassination of Donald Trump, and the alleged would-be assassin T. M. Crooks, I'm thinking in terms of odds and probabilities. I may be on Coffee and a Mic today, and I'm going to use a combination safe analogy. A guy walks into a bank, passes the tellers and goes to the back unnoticed, opens the combination-locked vault unnoticed, (after guessing the combo), and wheels out a money cart, unnoticed. Yes, "it could happen," but the odds would be millions-to-one against, unless: 1. Somebody laid out the exact path for the robber to take and 2. Somebody gave the robber the vault combo, and 3. Some of the bank employees were in on it, and were "not noticing" the robber on purpose. So Crooks "just happened" to find the 20-foot ladder and climb the roof, in direct sight of the stage, just relying on blind luck that the roof was not occupied by LE, or under observation by the CS teams or SWAT? Oh, sure, it "could" happen. Just like the imaginary bank vault robbery. It "could" happen that way. It's also highly suspicious that they have not released photos of the weapon by the shooter's body. They released a bloody closeup of the head shot, so why not the overall roof scene with the body, weapon, blood trails, fired shells, etc.? Scope or iron sights? What kind of scope/optic? Bipod or no bipod? Photos would include the position of shooter's hands, any extra mags, expended shells, blood trails due to roof gravity etc. Even a range finder has been mentioned. Photos of all of the many components would enable tracing each purchase to create a full picture of his planning. . . or somebody's outside help. Roof scene photos would also allay doubts about the post-shooting scene being "managed" for nefarious reasons. Where are the roof photos? No photos of the roof scene after Crooks was shot tells me his rifle was probably not a standard grade "dad's gun" AR-15. Some witnesses said Crooks was wandering around wearing a backpack, so his rifle was probably taken down and concealed. (An AR can be reduced to backpack size by taking it down.) I'm just mystified why they released a bloody head shot photo, but not the body, rifle, shells, blood trail etc. to put the scene in context and for later forensic analysis. Personally, I think the roof was left uncovered intentionally, and Crooks was guided there by a handler. Butler is one hour from his house, so it's possible Crooks did a pre-recon, in which case his movements over the past month since the announcement of the venue will be critical. His movements and geolocated phone contacts. These will be key to discovering any handlers or outside help. (Of course, even if his handler was a "former FBI informant," they will never tell us. That's why internet sleuths must do the work, and why roof photos would be critical for outside analysis.) During the James Earl Ray / MLK assassination era, there was no internet. Many of the mysteries of Ray's travels to Canada and Europe came out in congressional testimony that was released years later, if my memory serves. Ray always said a mysterious "Raoul" planned the whole thing, before the Memphis hit and after. Including giving Ray non-public info on MLK's exact motel room, the optimal shooting position, etc. After the MLK hit, with the biggest manhunt in memory under way, it's very unlikely the unschooled (and broke) hillbilly James Earl Ray would even know how to get a passport, much less travel to Canada to find a guy to obtain fake ID and pay for plane tickets, then find safe hiding places in Europe without help. Ray "could have" done it alone, but the odds against him fleeing to Europe without help would be like my bank robbery scenario. Ditto that Crooks "could have" done the Trump operation solo without any outside help. But unlike Ray, he's dead now, so he'll never tell anyone about any possible outside help. (See my 2011 short story "Professor Raoul X.") https://coldfury.com/WRSA/WRSA-WP/2024/07/15/bracken-sends-7/ As stated, during the James Earl Ray era, there was no internet. Many of the mysteries of his travels to Canada and Europe came out years later. Ray always said "Raoul" planned the whole thing, gave him cash, advised him on the rifle to purchase etc. It's extremely unlikely Ray would even know how to get a passport, much less to travel to Canada and then obtain fake ID and a plane ticket to Europe. "Planners and handlers" could get away with that level of help in 1968, but not in 2024 with the internet available to sleuth all the facts around T. M. Crooks and the Butler hit. IMHO an attack vector for Crooks was cleared. But here's the BIGGEST tell, that few are discussing: With a suspected gunman wandering around, Trump was still allowed to go on stage. If LE had a suspicious possible shooter wandering around for 26 minutes, they should have AT LEAST kept Trump off the stage until the risk was gone. Even in the last 2 to 5 minutes, when LE and the counter-snipers were all in near-panic mode, they let Trump stand at the podium! Nobody gave the "DANGER! GET TRUMP DOWN!" code word on the radio during the hunt for a possible shooter reported to LE by many eye witnesses. Forget for the moment when or how the CS team acquired and shot Crooks. Just the fact that THEY LEFT TRUMP STANDING IN THE OPEN during all that confusion over a possible shooter on a roof with a rifle is DAMNING.