I thought the Donald Trump assassination attempt was fake. In the middle of filming at Fox Studios a co-worker tapped my shoulder and said, “someone tried to shoot the president.” Knowing America’s contemplative ineptitude, I immediately looked to major sources to see if there was any “there,” there. Lo and behold, “Trump Assassination” turned up a result on Forbes’ website. My ears 
perked up. I thought, “WTF is happening?” Forbes had a video available so I pressed play, watched the first few minutes and immediately concluded it was fake. I’m a filmmaker and extremely objectional thinker, who enjoys politics much like average men enjoy sports. The whole event, from the Secret Service’s inept response, to the relatively small amount of blood, to the crowd’s reaction, seemed fake. To center my views, I keep Conservative friends and voice my doubts to them and in the threads they follow. This yields truly objective counterthoughts to what seems true in my head. Within minutes of the event my Conservative friends were spreading news of a Trump attempted assassination unchecked. At this point even the Washington Post was using soft language, like shots “were heard” and that Trump’s face was streaked with “what appeared to be blood,” to describe the event; there was clearly some skepticism in media as well. However, in Conservative circles, even as details were still developing, Republicans were declaring the president had been shot. I knew that even if Trump faked an assassination attempt, the amount of momentum it received would determine how true it would be to the general public.
Exploitation Nation
America is not a land of truth, rather it is a social system where everyone’s goal is to exploit any and every thing that can be used as a resource, even if that resource is truth. Read more about this idea here. Had Trump faked that assassination attempt and it became known, Republicans would have ignored the realization and carried on as if it were true. Democrats on the other hand would have milked the fact he faked it. To make this point, I’ll emphasize that the kid who shot Donald Trump was a Republican. Conservative news outlets are either carrying on as if he were a Democrat or minimizing his significance and blaming Democrats for their “violent rhetoric.” Neither side cares about what happened, rather they only care about how they can use it to push their agenda; they don’t care about reality, rather, they care about what value they can get by exploiting it. Being an ally of the Democrats, I began sewing doubt into the occurrence to break the sympathy momentum gaining force.
The Reasons I thought it was Fake
Initially believing the Trump assassination attempt was fake was not emotional. Several things raised red flags in my head. For instance, the Secret Service left Trump exposed and paraded him in the open to make his now iconic fist pumping gesture before leading him out of the arena; proper
Secret Service would shield him. This was certainly a tactical error if the goal was to keep him safe. I’ve studied Secret Service’s reaction to John Hinkley’s attempt to assassinate President Reagan. Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr pulled President Reagan down, shielded him and pushed him into the car instantly as bullets began flying. He was covered by multiple agents and rushed off in the Presidential Limo within three seconds. Multiple people took bullets to shield the president that day. I’ve studied Secret Service’s reaction to President Kennedy’s assassination, where Secret Service Agent Clint Hill jumped onto the Presidential limo as it was being shot at, to shield the President and First Lady. The attempt on Donald Trump’s life was completely different. The Secret Service members that stormed the stage seemed discombobulated and were in complete disarray; this was not the active shooter response I would expect from them. The blood was minimal, seemed controlled and somehow missed his shirt. Despite hearing several shots, only one of which grazed Trump, no one in the crowd fell or reacted as if they saw someone fall. But most importantly, the crowd didn’t react as if they felt shots were being fired in their direction. This last point was most important to me because it allowed me to triangulate, 1. “Forgotten America’s,” or, poor Whites’ truth, 2. My own truths and, 3. Reality. Doing so proved to me that Black people do in fact have it worse than White people in America.
“Forgotten America” has had a Way Easier Life than Me
I have done well for myself in America and I have worked harder and achieved more than many successful White Americans. I’m not rich, but despite coming from poverty my wealth is higher than the Average White Americans’. The average debt for someone in my age ranges, regardless of race, is around $28,000. Not only do I have no debt, I can pay off the debt of more than 10 of these people right now. I have the pink slips to my multiple luxury European cars, I speak nearly four languages, have travelled to many foreign countries including France, England and Germany and I work directly with the World’s most famous celebrities. I don’t say this to brag (well, maybe a little), rather, I mention this to demonstrate that I have achieved a level of success and lifestyle many of the people at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies have not. Despite my accomplishments, my truth and how I react to them, when compared to lower-class White America’s truths and how they react to them, are different. My reaction to realizing bullets are flying in my direction is nearly instinctive, automatic, immediate and effective. I know this because I’ve been shot at before and have survived countless active shooter situations. Trump’s supporters’ reaction to his assassination attempt demonstrated to me that lower class White America has a far safer American experience than lower class Black America’s. While I thought the Trump rally attendees’ reactions indicated they were not aware of a shooting, in reality, they simply didn’t have enough experience with these types of life-or-death situations to develop a universal and reaction to them. We Black people have what I will call, “Murder Muscle Memory.” Murder Muscle Memory comes from being accustomed to truly deadly situations. It is the result of people living outside of America’s institutional protections and being accustomed to true life-or-death situations. Generally speaking, Black people view gunfire danger as likely to occur while White Americans, regardless of class, enjoy an overarching and ubiquitous cocoon of safety throughout their lives. The Trump rally’s crowd’s reaction to an active shooter shooting in their direction demonstrates a different social experience than the vast majority of Black people.
Black People Would Have Reacted Differently
When I first saw the shooting video I thought, “If there were really a shooter, the sound of gunshots would make people run for cover.” I thought of how I would have rather broken an ankle jumping
off the back of the banister than wear a colostomy bag like several of my friends had to after being shot in the stomach. To that Trump crowd, shootings were on the news and in movies. For me, a person whose been in and around countless active shooter situations, the sound of gunfire prompts my instinct to find safety at all costs. These differing outlooks come from different experiences, which means lower class Whites have had a better social experience in America than me, an upper middle-class Black man.
I Witnessed Suge Knight Getting Shot
The Trump assassination attempt helped me understand a puzzling situation a while ago when I witnessed Suge Knight geting shot at the infamous 1Oak nightclub. I had just walked behind Suge’s table, then Chris Brown’s, which was next to it. Seconds later as I walked to my table on the Stage, I heard
While conservative media might characterize it as courage, the Trump crowd reacted to bullets 
flying in their direction as people without enough experience to react properly would; they were confused and vulnerable. They continued as people accustomed to a government protecting them would; they continued with their agenda. Had the Secret Service, a government system, not protected them by killing the gunman, and he intended to kill as many supporters as possible, it would have been a blood bath. Had it been a coordinated attack from multiple gunmen seeking to mass-shoot the place, it would have been a massacre. It appears the only person who reacted appropriately was shot and killed saving his family. Corey Comperatore was a Fire Chief and, like Black people, accustomed to the true danger. My condolences go out to this hero and his family.
White America’s Exclusive Cocoon of Safety
White America, from the lower to upper class, enjoys the main benefit of America, they enjoy a government systems that preserves them from human dangers and instead diverts those tendencies to the societal system called “civility.” Government systems mitigate possibilities of gunmen being capable of hurting White Americans and government barbarity prevents the ones who do from being very effective. In other words, White America feels America has their backs. Black people, generally speaking, feel they are on their own. In fact, in the four days it took for me to write this a blog body camera footage of police killing Sonya Massey has been publicized. Instead of seeking the prowler, they went into Sonya’s home, imagined aggression and killed her. Sonya called the police to protect her from a prowler yet was killed by those police. We are hesitant to call the police for assistance because they are more trouble than they are worth. My personal experience, especially with LAPD, is that they immediately show up when called on me, but seldom if ever show up when I call them. I fought a four-year battle over parking at a park, where I was parked legally, explained the legality to an officer, who, knowing signs had to be in place, still issued the ticket. His response time, over a Black man legally parking, was less than 10 minutes. On the other hand, when I helped the owner of a coffee shop and his barista escort an aggressive mentally ill man out of his store, in the tense negotiation to get him to leave, he appeared likely to assault a barista helping us surround him. I called LAPD and explained that an assault was likely to occur and that they should arrive quickly to prevent it. Well, they never showed up and the man savagely punched the barista. LAPD appears to be more against me than for me.
Even the Lowest of Low-Class Whites…
The Trump rally crowd standing and chanting right after bullets fired in their direction shows that
even the lowest of low-class White Americans are accustomed to a degree of general safety that Black people feel they are not. We joke about ourselves for running at the sight of others running. White people generally walk towards danger out of curiosity. My friend and I shared a laugh about a conversation with a White colleague who told him a story beginning with, “I heard gun shots so I went to the window to see what it was…” America was designed to benefit White people and the Trump rally crowd proves that the benefit of general safety is far reaching and exclusive, covering the full spectrum of White America, even so called “forgotten” White America, yet neglecting their melanated brethren.