Government employees including a Democrat congressional staffer and a purported FBI employee took to social media to express dismay that Saturday’s assassination attempt against former President Trump was unsuccessful.
After a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania political rally on Saturday, social media posts expressed sentiments like “don’t miss next time” and “so close.”
FBI Staffer: ‘So Close’
Jenna Howell, who is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee, according to a former FBI analyst who spoke with The Federalist, took to Facebook to express apparent regret that the gunman failed to assassinate Trump.
“The memes…the memes are gold,” Howell wrote in a Facebook comment. She shared an image depicting the grim reaper attempting to pick Trump out of a claw machine captioned “AWWW SO CLOSE.”
Howell appeared to criticize social media users expressing grief and outrage over the political violence, writing, “Y’all gun-toting, 2nd Amendment-loving hillbillies better just sit down and stay quiet unless you’re gonna change your mind on gun control.”
Law enforcement has provided no official information on how Crooks obtained the firearm.
Former FBI analyst Chris Toompas told The Federalist that Howell is a former NICS Firearms Background Check Unit employee, the unit that decides whether Americans are permitted to obtain firearms. She is now assigned to the FBI’s Identity Research Department, according to Toompas.
Toompas, who said he worked with Howell before the Covid-19 pandemic, spoke with The Federalist about her history.
