At least 20 Trump supporters may have been attacked covertly by chemicals or a high-power laser at a Trump rally in Tucson on September 12. Some victims suffered severe burns. Many were temporarily blinded, with symptoms lasting until today. Others may have been affected but have yet to be identified. The fact that all those known to have been affected were sitting on the stage immediately adjacent to President Trump is important in understanding the significance of what happened.
The victims were all part of a “Latinos for Trump” group on the stage. President Trump shook hands with them as he walked to the podium. But what they believed was their good fortune soon turned into a nightmare when severe symptoms began to strike 30 minutes after the rally.
Pastor Eli Moreno opened the rally with a prayer. He and his wife, Francesca Moreno, were among the first victims. After an exciting time of being up close and personal with President Trump, they began to develop symptoms on their drive home. Francesca was hit hardest. Her face began to swell, her vision blurred, and her sinuses started to run uncontrollably. When they stopped at a local drugstore for relief, they found other rally-goers with the same symptoms. Doctors at a local emergency room flushed her eyes and sent her to an ophthalmologist. Five days later, her vision was still significantly blurred.
Another victim, Mayra Rodriguez, also fell ill 30 minutes after the rally. Her symptoms included burning eyes and a severe headache. By the time she was rushed to the emergency room, she couldn’t open her eyes.
Other attendees had similar symptoms, reporting significantly blurred vision, severe eye pain, and facial swelling are common symptoms. In every case, the symptoms began about half an hour after the Trump rally. One rally-goer covered his face with milk, trying to reduce the pain. Drinking milk can effectively reduce the pain of overly spicy food, but it had no effect. Another man reported his face turned “fire red,” and the skin peeled a few days after the rally.
Another attendee on stage with the former president became so light-sensitive that she covered her eyes and remained in a darkened room for days after the rally.
Experts believe the symptoms resulted either from a chemical agent or, more likely, from a high-powered infrared laser attack. Thus, while chemicals were initially blamed, physicians and retired military experts experienced in chemical-biological-nuclear-directed energy warfare now believe it was an attack by an unseen infrared laser.
The symptoms are consistent with a very severe sunburn. The reddened skin and peelings are typical symptoms of a dangerous level of overexposure to the sun’s infrared light. The fact that the symptoms did not start until about 30 minutes after exposure also indicates an infrared burn. It’s like getting too much sun at the beach. People often discover only later how badly sunburned they are.
Eye damage is the same as that seen by emergency room medics when people look at the solar eclipse without eye protection. One unnamed victim reported that his eye damage was so severe that he was blinded for four days.
Another clue pointing toward a laser attack is that those affected occupied a finite area, namely, two rows of 10 people adjacent to Donald Trump. Unless someone unleashed an aerosol spray that no one detected, a chemical attack would have a wider affected area. Also, the only areas on their bodies affected were those that were exposed, i.e., not protected by clothing.
A laser capable of inflicting this level of damage is commercially available on Amazon. Because light in the infrared spectrum is not visible to the human eye, no one would have seen an attack of this type while it was happening. Some types of bulletproof glass would have afforded protection, but since this was an inside rally, no protective glass shield was used.
Still, while a laser attack seems like the most likely cause for the injuries people experienced, experts are not discounting a possible chemical attack. Currently, knowing exactly how the attack occurred is not the most important thing. The critical issue is that it happened, and it can happen again.
The closely gathered group of victims points to a conclusion that the specific 20 people ending up in the hospital—all of whom immediately adjacent to Trump—was no accident. Instead, it sent a very strong message. If you get close to Trump, you will suffer.
Political and law enforcement insiders believe what happened was a warning. One warning could be, “This is what happens to people who support Donald Trump.” Another frightening warning could be “We purposely aimed at just one stage area, 8 feet away from the former president. We could just as easily attack Trump.”
This is still a developing story. Currently, there is no specific determination as to what caused the attack. There is only informed opinion. But in the aftermath of two assassination attempts by rifle, and the Iranian promise to kill Trump, this may become one of the major stories of the campaign. The worst part is that law enforcement does not know precisely who or what caused this, and no one is sure how to prevent its recurrence. This time, President Trump could be the victim.
Ed Sherdlu is the pen name of a retired American television network news reporter. He uses a pen name because he would be embarrassed if his grandchildren learned he had failed his 12-Step Journalism Recovery Program.
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