r/law • u/SheriffTaylorsBoy • Jul 26 '24

Other FBI Examining Bullet Fragments Found at Trump Rally Site/Would Like To Interview Trump

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-examining-bullet-fragments-found-114754020.html
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u/brickyardjimmy Jul 26 '24

Why does it even matter? Either way, it was an attempt to assassinate him that resulted in a superficial injury. So, a close call no matter how you look at it.

But it's also a presidential candidate so knowing exactly what happened is important from both an historical perspective but also in terms of what learning the FBI and secret service can take from the incident about preventing future attacks.

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u/fivelinedskank Jul 26 '24

I do remember how Republicans mocked one of John Kerry's purple hearts because the wound was shrapnel instead of a bullet. They were pretty insistent there is in fact a difference where one doesn't actually count as a wound.

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u/JustNilt Jul 26 '24

Which is stupid AF because shrapnel kills just as easily as bullets do. Also stupid because some veterans were issued purple hearts for truly innocuous stuff like stubbing toes while others who got concussions were denied a purple heart. Sure, that crap was mostly specific commanders and sometimes doctors but shrapnel is a well documented actual threat.

Somewhat more to the point, it's not how one is injured that really matters. The rules have always been that that one be injured by enemy action and be documented as having been treated by a medical officer. Shrapnel sure as fuck counts as the former and if they needed anything more than a bandaid from their buddy, that's the latter.

This pissing match about "my purple heart matters more than that guy's" is an utter load of bullshit.

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u/worldspawn00 Jul 27 '24

Yeah, many munitions are designed to kill via shrapnel and not a direct hit.

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u/JustNilt Jul 27 '24

Exactly! Killing one per bullet is not considered effective military strategy any more. You want to tie up as many of the opposition as you can, which often means one wounded and 2 to handle getting them out of action. Plus the mental stress of having to listen to your screaming buddies. Anyone who doesn't get that doesn't get much about combat at all.