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This is a horrible thing, but sadly nothing new. Pardon the Wikipedia block quote: > Four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John W

This is a horrible thing, but sadly nothing new. Pardon the Wikipedia block quote: > Four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John Wilkes Booth), James A. Garfield (1881, by Charles J. Guiteau), William McKinley (1901, by Leon Czolgosz), and John F. Kennedy (1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald). Additionally, two presidents have been injured in attempted assassinations: former president Theodore Roosevelt (1912, by John Schrank) and Ronald Reagan (1981, by John Hinckley Jr.) If anything we’ve been “overdue”.

gnicholas 2y ago
It's not very common in the modern era, though I would add in RFK Sr., who was assassinated while running for president several decades ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Ken...
LarsDu88 2y ago
6/45 presidents have been shot today. Today that number is 7/45 So it went from 13% to 15%. Not only that, but firearms technology has advanced considerably. If anything, statistically speaking we've been incredibly lucky in the past 30 years
- spaceship__sun 2y ago
  Curious how the shooter missed though. And just, how they seem to miss quite often in general.
  - christophilus 2y ago
    It’s probably not easy to take careful aim while in a large crowd without someone noticing— especially since there are skilled professionals whose only job is to watch for people taking careful aim…
    - qup 2y ago
      Dude was on a roof. 400ft away
      - defrost 2y ago
        Less than 140 yards and missed? Firstly needs to learn how to engage in politics w/out a gun. Also needs to practice. Meanwhile, next door in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEY00iJv4CQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEY00iJv4CQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6KJM-MODME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6KJM-MODME but we're just farmers.
        Jensson 2y ago
        > Less than 140 yards and missed? Person aimed for the head, seems like he wasn't trained how to kill people. Anyway, the person knew they would die seconds later, heavy breathing makes it is massively harder to aim when you are nervous, then it is easy to miss a moving head at 140 yards.
        chgs 2y ago
        Presumably Trump would have a vest on
        Jensson 2y ago
        Rifle rounds go straight through medium vests, you need a really heavy and bulky vest to stop them, Trump wouldn't wear one of those. The typical vests you see just stop low caliber bullets like pistols, and then you hope secret service can stop anyone with a rifle from getting a shot.
        chgs 2y ago
        The times I’ve worn vests I’ve had to have ceramic plates in for ak-47 style bullets, but I’d assume that the secret service would have something more fancy available.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    shooting is quite difficult in real life.
  - ultimafan 2y ago
    Anecdotally, it seems like many people seem to underestimate how difficult accurate shooting actually is. I genuinely can't count the number of times I've taken someone interested in shooting out to the range for their first time and they get dismayed when they can't place accurate shots even at a fairly close range (<25 meters), from a sitting position, with a rifle rest and being able to aim as long as they want with no stress or pressure before firing. The general pop culture opinion cultivated by movies, shows, video games, etc. seem to mislead a lot of people towards the idea that guns are just a "point and shoot" type of deal at any range in any situation. When the reality is like any other hobby it takes many many hours of practice and lots of $$$ worth of ammo to get to the point where you can consistently place shots on target at decent ranges and even then that's in a controlled environment with a paper target that doesn't move, no pressure on you, you're probably not firing standing up without a support etc.
    - sanswork 2y ago
      They also forget all those times they've gotten excited in a confrontation and started to shake. Trying to be accurate is hard. Trying to do it while pumping with adrenaline changes it to basically impossible.
    - frankzinger 2y ago
      A former sniper said on CNN that it should've been so easy to hit from such a short distance that it could only have been "divine intervention" that saved Trump.
      - griffzhowl 2y ago
        Apparently Crooks was rejected from his school rifle team for being such a bad shot they thought it would just be too dangerous if he participated...
      - ultimafan 2y ago
        A former sniper would also have a few hundred to a few thousand hours more range time than a random member of the public. I wouldn't doubt that "easy" for someone like that would have a much different meaning than for everyone else.
  - type0 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - comfysocks 2y ago
    One report I heard said that someone (security?) went up to the roof to confront the shooter before he made his shots. The shooter pointed his rifle at this person who then backed down for cover. This might explain why the snipers got a fix on him so quickly. One ex-USMC commentator on Bloomberg said that the shot wouldn’t have been very difficult at that range. As to why he missed, maybe the shooter had to rush his shots since he was spotted. Maybe he was just a bad shot. It was explained that he wasn’t accepted into his high school shooting team. This is what I remember hearing while doom-browsing YouTube, so take with a grain of salt.
- sam_goody 2y ago
  Being President is statistically the most dangerous job in the United States Compared to other places (like ancient Greece that switched rulers twice a year).. I guess it's a risky job, but someone's gotta do it.
  - Log_out_ 2y ago
    Have you considered exile? The populatuon majority declares you a dividing figure and banishes you for ten years from the (city)state(s). Very Preferable to civil war.
taimurkhaliq786 2y ago
[flagged]
comfysocks 2y ago
Maybe, but hopefully we can move towards a future with more voting and less violence.
- redeeman 2y ago
  and maybe if we are really lucky, we could also move towards a future where candidates are allowed to be on the ballot, and shouldnt be kept off to "save democracy" - we must save democracy by disallowing people voting for who they want!
  - bitnasty 2y ago
    Or a future where the loser doesn’t desperately cling to power and incite violence to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
  - comfysocks 2y ago
    I actually agreed that Trump should be on the ballot back when that was a thing. I guess my point is: if anyone thinks their grievances justifies violence, remember that the other side has grievances too. We have free speech in the United States, so we are free to say things like “Biden is senile” or “Trump is anti-democratic.” But if we can’t exercise free speech and disagree without descending into violence, then it will be our downfall. Xi and Putin will be delighted. Maybe they’ll take over and we’ll have a system where saying the wrong thing gets you disappeared, strapped to a tiger chair, or thrown out of a window.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
dredmorbius 2y ago
Excepting Eisenhower and Johnson, every US president (or president-elect) has been subject to an assassination attempt dating back nearly a century to Herbert Hoover (1929--1933). Shots have been fired at FDR, Truman, Kennedy(†), Ford, Reagan, Clinton, and yesterday. Bombs or explosives have been placed or deployed against Hoover, Truman, Kennedy, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presiden...>
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  Clarifying: attempt or plot, though some physical action was taken against all but Eisenhower & Johnson, per Wikipedia.
LocalH 2y ago
"And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure." - Thomas Jefferson, 1787
- cafard 2y ago
  And what was TJ's attitude when New England cut up rough about the embargo?
  - krapp 2y ago
    Thomas Jefferson was nothing if not a massive hypocrite. He waxed eloquent about the nobility of violence done by other men to other men, but when the British showed up at Monticello he fled like a coward. Unsurprising for a man who styled himself a yeoman farmer but had slaves and children do all of his work for him.
therealdrag0 2y ago
Multiple Attacks and attempted attacks have happened in last 10 years even. A far right winger sent 16 mail bombs to democrats (including Biden and Obama) in 2018, and a dozen men tried to nap Michigan governed.

gnicholas 2y ago

It's not very common in the modern era, though I would add in RFK Sr., who was assassinated while running for president several decades ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Ken...

LarsDu88 2y ago

6/45 presidents have been shot today. Today that number is 7/45 So it went from 13% to 15%. Not only that, but firearms technology has advanced considerably. If anything, statistically speaking we've been incredibly lucky in the past 30 years

spaceship__sun 2y ago
Curious how the shooter missed though. And just, how they seem to miss quite often in general.
- christophilus 2y ago
  It’s probably not easy to take careful aim while in a large crowd without someone noticing— especially since there are skilled professionals whose only job is to watch for people taking careful aim…
  - qup 2y ago
    Dude was on a roof. 400ft away
    - defrost 2y ago
      Less than 140 yards and missed? Firstly needs to learn how to engage in politics w/out a gun. Also needs to practice. Meanwhile, next door in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEY00iJv4CQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEY00iJv4CQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6KJM-MODME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6KJM-MODME but we're just farmers.
      - Jensson 2y ago
        > Less than 140 yards and missed? Person aimed for the head, seems like he wasn't trained how to kill people. Anyway, the person knew they would die seconds later, heavy breathing makes it is massively harder to aim when you are nervous, then it is easy to miss a moving head at 140 yards.
        chgs 2y ago
        Presumably Trump would have a vest on
        Jensson 2y ago
        Rifle rounds go straight through medium vests, you need a really heavy and bulky vest to stop them, Trump wouldn't wear one of those. The typical vests you see just stop low caliber bullets like pistols, and then you hope secret service can stop anyone with a rifle from getting a shot.
        chgs 2y ago
        The times I’ve worn vests I’ve had to have ceramic plates in for ak-47 style bullets, but I’d assume that the secret service would have something more fancy available.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  shooting is quite difficult in real life.
- ultimafan 2y ago
  Anecdotally, it seems like many people seem to underestimate how difficult accurate shooting actually is. I genuinely can't count the number of times I've taken someone interested in shooting out to the range for their first time and they get dismayed when they can't place accurate shots even at a fairly close range (<25 meters), from a sitting position, with a rifle rest and being able to aim as long as they want with no stress or pressure before firing. The general pop culture opinion cultivated by movies, shows, video games, etc. seem to mislead a lot of people towards the idea that guns are just a "point and shoot" type of deal at any range in any situation. When the reality is like any other hobby it takes many many hours of practice and lots of $$$ worth of ammo to get to the point where you can consistently place shots on target at decent ranges and even then that's in a controlled environment with a paper target that doesn't move, no pressure on you, you're probably not firing standing up without a support etc.
  - sanswork 2y ago
    They also forget all those times they've gotten excited in a confrontation and started to shake. Trying to be accurate is hard. Trying to do it while pumping with adrenaline changes it to basically impossible.
  - frankzinger 2y ago
    A former sniper said on CNN that it should've been so easy to hit from such a short distance that it could only have been "divine intervention" that saved Trump.
    - griffzhowl 2y ago
      Apparently Crooks was rejected from his school rifle team for being such a bad shot they thought it would just be too dangerous if he participated...
    - ultimafan 2y ago
      A former sniper would also have a few hundred to a few thousand hours more range time than a random member of the public. I wouldn't doubt that "easy" for someone like that would have a much different meaning than for everyone else.
- type0 2y ago
  [flagged]
- comfysocks 2y ago
  One report I heard said that someone (security?) went up to the roof to confront the shooter before he made his shots. The shooter pointed his rifle at this person who then backed down for cover. This might explain why the snipers got a fix on him so quickly. One ex-USMC commentator on Bloomberg said that the shot wouldn’t have been very difficult at that range. As to why he missed, maybe the shooter had to rush his shots since he was spotted. Maybe he was just a bad shot. It was explained that he wasn’t accepted into his high school shooting team. This is what I remember hearing while doom-browsing YouTube, so take with a grain of salt.
sam_goody 2y ago
Being President is statistically the most dangerous job in the United States Compared to other places (like ancient Greece that switched rulers twice a year).. I guess it's a risky job, but someone's gotta do it.
- Log_out_ 2y ago
  Have you considered exile? The populatuon majority declares you a dividing figure and banishes you for ten years from the (city)state(s). Very Preferable to civil war.

taimurkhaliq786 2y ago

[flagged]

comfysocks 2y ago

Maybe, but hopefully we can move towards a future with more voting and less violence.

redeeman 2y ago
and maybe if we are really lucky, we could also move towards a future where candidates are allowed to be on the ballot, and shouldnt be kept off to "save democracy" - we must save democracy by disallowing people voting for who they want!
- bitnasty 2y ago
  Or a future where the loser doesn’t desperately cling to power and incite violence to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
- comfysocks 2y ago
  I actually agreed that Trump should be on the ballot back when that was a thing. I guess my point is: if anyone thinks their grievances justifies violence, remember that the other side has grievances too. We have free speech in the United States, so we are free to say things like “Biden is senile” or “Trump is anti-democratic.” But if we can’t exercise free speech and disagree without descending into violence, then it will be our downfall. Xi and Putin will be delighted. Maybe they’ll take over and we’ll have a system where saying the wrong thing gets you disappeared, strapped to a tiger chair, or thrown out of a window.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

dredmorbius 2y ago

Excepting Eisenhower and Johnson, every US president (or president-elect) has been subject to an assassination attempt dating back nearly a century to Herbert Hoover (1929--1933). Shots have been fired at FDR, Truman, Kennedy(†), Ford, Reagan, Clinton, and yesterday. Bombs or explosives have been placed or deployed against Hoover, Truman, Kennedy, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presiden...>

dredmorbius 2y ago
Clarifying: attempt or plot, though some physical action was taken against all but Eisenhower & Johnson, per Wikipedia.

LocalH 2y ago

"And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure." - Thomas Jefferson, 1787

cafard 2y ago
And what was TJ's attitude when New England cut up rough about the embargo?
- krapp 2y ago
  Thomas Jefferson was nothing if not a massive hypocrite. He waxed eloquent about the nobility of violence done by other men to other men, but when the British showed up at Monticello he fled like a coward. Unsurprising for a man who styled himself a yeoman farmer but had slaves and children do all of his work for him.

therealdrag0 2y ago

Multiple Attacks and attempted attacks have happened in last 10 years even. A far right winger sent 16 mail bombs to democrats (including Biden and Obama) in 2018, and a dozen men tried to nap Michigan governed.