The attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania’s Butler County on 13 July 2024 was one of the most jarring events in modern American politics. At the time, Mr Trump was a former president seeking a return to office. Today, he is President again ~ a fact that gives last year’s events an even more unsettling weight. Twelve months later, Americans are being asked to accept a conclusion that many find unsatisfying: that the shooter, a young man named Thomas Crooks, acted entirely alone and without political or ideological motive. The FBI, after exhaustive investigations, found no credible links to any domestic or foreign conspiracy, including early suspicions that Iran may have been involved.

According to the official narrative, this was not an act of terrorism, nor even a partisan hit ~ just a personal act of violence by a troubled individual. But the public’s reaction tells a........

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