September 16, 2024 | Read Online

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

🔫 Donald Trump was the target of another assassination attempt. A man armed with an AK-style rifle exchanged gunfire with the Secret Service at Trump's West Palm Beach golf club while the former president was playing. Trump was unharmed, and the suspect was taken into custody, marking the second assassination attempt in two months. The FBI is investigating the incident.

🇺🇦 The shooter donated to Democrats and spent time in Ukraine. The shooter appeared to have supported Donald Trump in 2016, but has since become vocally anti-Trump and has donated exclusively to Democrats since 2019. He also stayed in Kyiv in the summer of 2022 and tried to fight for Ukraine but was turned away, instead opting to recruit foreign soldiers for them.

🚨 High-ranking Secret Service officials plan to resign ahead of a damning report. Several top Secret Service agents will step down just before the release of an internal investigation into Donald Trump's Butler, PA assassination attempt. The report reveals critical security lapses, including the fact that their radio room lacked the ability to receive real-time alerts from local police monitoring the crowd and perimeter.

🐋 RFK Jr. is under investigation for a decades-old whale incident. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed on Saturday that he's being investigated for transporting a decapitated whale skull across state lines, a story dating back to the 1990s. Kennedy dismissed the probe as part of the "weaponization of our government against political opponents."

WHAT WE'RE HEARING

Donald Trump, in response to his second assassination attempt, said that he is "very proud to be an American."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said MAGA is a domestic threat to the country.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D), just one hour after Trump was targeted for an assassination, called Republicans "extreme," saying, "We must stop them."
JD Vance called out CNN's Dana Bash for engaging in "basic propaganda."
Donald Trump posted that he hates Taylor Swift.

IN THE LOOP

MSNBC blamed Trump's rhetoric for his own assassination attempt.
Kamala Harris plans to scrap degree requirements for federal jobs, an idea implemented by Trump in 2020.
Oregon accidentally registered hundreds of non-citizens to vote.
Students are being cheated from attaining a quality education. "Gender fluid" restrooms, DEI policies, and low standards are destroying schools. Parents, educators, and concerned citizens must fight back. Sign the petition to stop woke education!*
TikTok is beginning its legal fight today to remain operational in the US.
83 percent of Americans support Trump's plan to end taxes on Social Security benefits.

*This is sponsored content

MY THOUGHTS

0-2

Good morning. Yesterday, while playing golf at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump was shot at by a Democrat-supporter who had spent recent years recruiting Americans to fight in Ukraine.

First, it's no surprise. Despite the media and polls favoring Kamala Harris, Trump still has strong odds of winning, and the threat of assassination has never disappeared. Kamala's recent debate performance, where she implied Trump supported neo-Nazis, only added fuel to the fire.

Given this, and the near-fatal security lapse in Butler, Pennsylvania, how did American intelligence — FBI and CIA — allow a man with weapons charges and foreign ties to get anywhere near Trump with a firearm? The attacker shot from hundreds of yards away, through a fence, but the question remains: how was this even possible?

From the start, the media has downplayed the event, calling it the "golf course incident." NBC's Lester Holt went so far as to blame Trump's rhetoric about the migrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio, for provoking the attack.

It's a dark day for America. One party has embraced violence in both rhetoric and action, and the nation's institutions have failed to protect the man who represents half the country.

MEDIA

Massachusetts attempts to criminalize self-defense

A pro-Israel activist faces possible jail time for shooting a man who tackled him
The prosecution by a Democratic DA's office reflects a pattern of punishing self-defense in left-leaning areas
Some in the media ran with the DA's version of the story, focusing more on the shooter than the aggressor

The story

A small pro-Israel demonstration in Newton, Massachusetts, turned violent on Thursday when a man shot a counter-protester during a scuffle, hospitalizing him with life-threatening injuries, authorities say.

At least, that's how countless news outlets framed the story.

The real details were caught on video from multiple angles: the pro-Israel demonstrator, 47-year-old Iraq war veteran Scott Hayes, shot in self-defense after the man followed him, yelled at him about Israel's "genocide," ran across the street, and tackled him to the ground.

Following the shooting, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan (D) appeared to place the blame on Hayes by announcing charges against him and naming him publicly while doing neither for his assailant.

Ryan mentioned charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and "violation of a constitutional right causing injury," implying that the anti-Israel agitator was exercising his constitutional rights when he tackled Hayes. However, only the assault charge was brought at Hayes' official arraignment.

Hayes pleaded not guilty and was released on $5,000 bail. He is required to wear an ankle monitor and obey a curfew order. Only after bringing Hayes to court did prosecutors say they were seeking charges against his assailant.

A progressive DA

Marian Ryan ran on a progressive platform in Middlesex County and received funding from George Soros, who has helped install left-wing DAs in communities across the country.

Her policies — such as scrapping bail for selling drugs and other offenses — match the typical lenience of Soros-backed prosecutors. Their approach stems from an ideology that deems criminals to be victims of societal ills.

This sympathy often comes with a hyper-scrutiny of those who protect themselves or others from violent people. This has prompted outcry in the cases of Kyle Rittenhouse, Daniel Penny, and Jose Alba, who were all charged by Democratic prosecutors over killings that many believed were justified.

The US Supreme Court has even rebuked Ryan in the past. In 2019, it unanimously overturned the conviction of a woman her office prosecuted for owning a stun gun to protect against an abusive boyfriend.

"Massachusetts was either unable or unwilling to do what was necessary" to defend the plaintiff who owned the stun gun, according to Justice Samuel Alito, "so she was forced to protect herself."

Misleading news coverage

Several news reports of Hayes' altercation merely regurgitated Ryan's statements, vaguely describing "a tussle" or "a shooting" at the top of their stories. Some referred to the aggressor as "the victim," and many national sources did not emphasize the relevant details of his actions.

Local outlet Boston.com went beyond lies of omission and got the facts plain wrong, publishing the headline, "Pro-Israel demonstrator in Newton shoots man who jumped on other demonstrator, authorities say."

During the entire video of DA Ryan's press conference, no reporter is heard asking if she would charge Hayes' attacker. The overall focus of reporting was on Hayes, his actions, and his political activity — not the unhinged, screaming aggressor who initiated the violence that got him shot.

Why it matters

Hayes' story is a case study of both left-wing officials' approach to crime and mainstream media bias. Prosecutors working for Ryan quickly moved to portray Scott Hayes as a criminal for defending himself — and journalists parroted their lopsided narrative of what happened.

If the case moves forward despite the backlash, Hayes' trial may be contentious, especially with the political issues surrounding Israel involved.

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