Reflections after the assassination attempt on Trump

I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday. It was definitely shocking to hear about; no one expects to hear that kind of news. I imagine it could be one of those events that one remembers where they were when they heard about it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t necessarily surprising because there are a lot of unhinged people out there nowadays willing to do awful things. My prayers are with the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the shooter, as well as with David Dutch and James Copenhaver,whowereinjuredintheshooting, and their families. Undoubtedly none of their lives will ever be the same.

In a Facebook post, Comperatore’s daughter said her dad died “a real-life super hero,” as he threw himself on top of his family to protect them. He was a veteran, volunteer firefighter, active member of his church and “man of God who loved Jesus with every fiber of his being,” according to his obituary. He will not soon be forgotten and his legacy will live on in his family and the people whose lives he impacted.

This brush with death has to have given Trump a new perspective on life. If he hadn’t had his head turned, it would have ended a whole lot differently. A few millimeters is all it would have taken. One small shift could cause a ripple effect of events that change the course of history.

“I’mnotsupposedtobehere,I’msupposed to be dead,” Trump told the New York Post in an interview Sunday.

An incident like this truly puts into perspective how every day is a gift from God and tomorrow is not a guarantee. I can’t imagine Comperatore attended the rally thinking it was going to be his last day on Earth. You just never know.

A lot of questions have been raised about the security – or lack thereof – for this rally, particularly why the gunman was able to access and climb onto a rooftop 140 yards from Trump in the first place. I saw a video of an eyewitness who claimed he told law enforcement about the shooter and was pointing at the shooter while he crawled onto the roof, but officers did nothing. At the very least, it indicates gross incompetence. I hope we will get answers to at least some of our questions, although I’m not holding my breath.

Political violence like this is unacceptable and has no place in America. It’s up to the major news outlets and talking heads of our day to tone down the rhetoric and not devolve into hatred. Political pundits should be concerned with analyzing the issues of the day and discussing which candidates can most effectively solve those issues. It should be about policy, not personal attacks or calling the other side the devil.

We need to respect the basic humanity and dignity of every person, regardless of what their political views are. I hope this can serve as an opportunity to unite as a country. Sad to say, this it not the first time a political figure has been targeted in America, as several sitting or former presidents or major presidential party candidates have been targeted over the years. Four sitting presidentshavebeenkilled:AbrahamLincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. As reported by the Associated Press: Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865. He was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth, taken to a house across the street and died the next day. Booth was shot and killed on April 26, 1865, after he was found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.

Garfield was assassinated just six months after being sworn in as president. He was walkingthroughatrainstationinWashington on July 2, 1881, to catch a train to New EnglandwhenhewasshotbyCharlesGuiteau. Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone inventor, tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet lodged in Garfield’s chest using a device similar to a metal detector he designed specifically for the president. It’s believed he might have been successful, had it not been for the metal springs in the mattress Garfield was lying upon. Garfield died that September. Guiteau was found guilty and executed in June 1882.

McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 6, 1901. He was shaking hands with people passing through a receiving line when a man fired two shots into his chest at point-blank range. Doctors had expected McKinley to recover, but gangrene then set in around the bullet wounds. He died eight days later. Leon F. Czolgosz, an unemployed, 28-year-old Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. Czolgosz was found guilty at trial and put to death in the electric chair on Oct. 29, 1901.

John F. Kennedy was fatally shot by a hidden assassin armed with a high-powered rifle as he visited Dallas in November 1963 with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Shots rang out as the president’s motorcade rolled through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died soon after. Hours after the assassination, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald. Two days later, Oswald was being transported from police headquarterswhenJackRubyrushedforward and fatally shot Oswald.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed at a Los Angeles hotel — moments after giving his victory speech for winning the 1968 California primary. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. That was commuted to life in prison, where Sirhan remains today.

Others who survived attempted assassinations include presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and presidential candidates George C. Wallace and Theodore Roosevelt (seeking reelection). All of them were subject to shootings, except for Bush, who had a hand grenade thrown toward him but it never went off and he was also behind a bulletproof barrier at the time.

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