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Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI's Biggest Fear: Terrorism

Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI's Biggest Fear: Terrorism

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 13: Secret Service tend to republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump onstage at a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter is dead after injuring former U.S. President Donald Trump, killing one audience member and injuring another in the shooting. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

EXPERT Q&A – As the FBI investigates the reasons why 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks may have targeted former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, largely uninformed social media speculation is driving a dangerous narrative intended to exploit existing political divides.

“The lethality of the anti-government, anti-authority movement has really increased on both sides, and I think that is showing in this attack,” former FBI Executive Assistant Director Jill Sanborn told The Cipher Brief just hours after the attack. “Unfortunately, while I’m a little bit shocked, this attack also corroborates what we've been seeing.”

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