Without getting all too tinfoil-hattish it certainly stinks a bit. There was an eye witness account on BBC website who also said he pointed the shooter out to police several minutes before the firing yet the police did nothing, would have thought they'd be on it in a flash.

this is a man who shares posts on his platform of other republicans saying the only good democrat is a dead democrat and photos of his supporters riding around with pictures of a hogtied joe biden. that guy is now suppose to benefit from the toxic environment he created coming down on him? nah this will be viewed as nearly karmic retribution soon enough. cult members turn on the leaders all the time. shooter was a classic MAGAt, fit the profile to a T: rural young white male, uneducated, AR-15 owner and radicalized by his dear leader donald trump. the chickens came home to roost.

an example of something that is going to really hurt vance: he's advocated and tried to pass a law allowing police to obtain abortion records so people who have an abortion can be tracked. when things like that get picked up by the mainstream press, it could impact more middle of the road voters who prioritize repro rights. and repro rights is the only issue where like 90% of democrats are in agreement across the US.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Donald Trump’s pick for vice presidential nominee, pressured federal regulators last June to kill a privacy rule that prevents police from accessing the medical records of people seeking reproductive services, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. The rule was designed to prevent state and local police in anti-abortion states from using private records to hunt down and prosecute people who cross state lines in search of abortion services.

If the Trump-Vance ticket wins this year’s presidential election, the new administration could rescind the rule protecting abortion records from police investigation.

Project 2025, the right-wing manifesto to reshape the federal government if Trump is reelected, proposes sweeping new surveillance of people seeking abortions.

“Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method,” notes the plan.

The Biden administration proposed the expanded privacy rule in April 2023 in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal abortion protections. The proposed rule expanded upon the long-established Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy Rule, which requires appropriate safeguards to protect individuals’ health information.

While these privacy laws do not usually apply in the case of a criminal investigation, the proposed rule prohibited health officials from divulging records related to reproductive health care — including for fertility issues, contraception, and miscarriages — even if requested by law enforcement.

The following month, Vance and 28 other conservative lawmakers sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding the department withdraw the draft rule. They argued that the Biden administration had overstepped its constitutional bounds and unlawfully infringed on congressional power.

“Abortion is not health care,” they wrote. “It is a brutal act that destroys the life of an unborn child and hurts women.”

A Vance spokesperson did not respond when asked whether Trump would rescind the rule if he’s reelected.