Dallas filmmaker takes on Trump shooting in shadow of JFK’s assassination
DALLAS — One year after the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, one of the first major films delving into conspiracy theories around the shooting will premiere; not far from the home of one of the nation’s biggest conspiracy theories.
The documentary “Who Shot Trump” is already streaming online and will have its theatrical premiere at the Angelika Film Center Dallas on Sunday, July 27. In the documentary, filmmaker J.D. Wilcox investigates the shooting that took place near Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and tries to find answers about what all took place that day.
Wilcox, who lives in the Dallas area, said he was instantly drawn to investigate the situation, as he watched the incident unfold live on TV that day. After all, given where he calls home these days, he said this isn’t the first presidential shooting he’s taken a closer look at.
“For an investigative reporter, this is sort of like Mecca,” said Wilcox as he stood on the Grassy Knoll at Dallas’ Dealey Plaza. “You have to come here.”
Dealey Plaza is, of course, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. In the 60-plus years since, some of the world’s most prominent and well-known conspiracy theories have sprung up around the incident—hypotheses about additional shooters and government or organized crime involvements, just to name a few.
Wilcox said he’s done his fair share of investigation into that incident as well, but instantly shifted his focus to the Trump shooting last year.
“There’s absolutely been a cover-up,” said Wilcox.
In the year since then-candidate Trump was shot at while on stage at a campaign rally, several investigations into the incident have taken place concluding various issues and errors occurred that day but ultimately that the blame for the shooting lies on 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who was shot and killed by the Secret Service that day.
Many continue to question the incident, including Wilcox.
“My crew and I went to Butler, Pennsylvania,” he said with skilled investigators and experts, “and during that process, we uncovered really, really substantial forensic evidence.”
Wilcox hopes his findings and thoughts on the incident will help lead to more clarity on that day, but as a North Texan, his thoughts go to that infamous conspiracy theory stemming from 1963 as well.
As Wilcox stood at Dealey Plaza, dozens of visitors toured the historic site around him, many of whom openly presented their own theories to one another about “who really shot JFK” and “what really happened that day.” Reflecting on his new documentary and the many other conspiracy theories he’s heard online and in the community about the Trump assassination attempt, Wilcox ponders if that incident will have a similar legacy to the Kennedy one, drawing visitors to theorize in Butler decades later.
“My hope is that 60 years from now, we don’t have the mystery that we have today,” said Wilcox.
Whether viewers agree with his take or dismiss it, he hopes it’ll keep the conversation going and keep encouraging others to ask questions about this new moment in presidential history, just like they still do with the 60-year-old one in Dallas.
