By Mumia Abu-Jamal

Note:  This is a lightly edited commentary that first appeared on PrisonRadio.org.

What happens in our minds when something quite unusual happens, like when an assassination attempt occurs? I don’t know, but invariably my mind turns to a movie such as the Danny Trejo film “Machete,” where the muscular Mexican actor portrays a man hired to shoot an openly anti-immigrant politician. When he gets into position, he finds himself the target of shooting designed to make him the fall guy. In the movie he escapes to later get vengeance against the plotters. But that’s just a movie, right?

In the face of the recent shooting of former President Donald Trump, one certainly has reason to wonder. The bizarre spectacle of eyewitnesses calling cops and secret service agents to look into sightings of an armed man climbing walls or occupying a roof area over the speakers’ platform gives rise to, at the very least, questions. How does such a thing happen? But ultimately this is not a movie.

But guess what? It is a continuing episode of The Trump Show. And it ain’t over. Recent events have only galvanized the Trump campaign. It gave a boost like rocket fuel. Now that ain’t a conspiracy theory. It’s a fact. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche once said, “That which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” 48 hours ago, the Trump campaign began anew.

With love, not fear, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.