More Details About the Trump Assassin's Use of DJI Waypoint Flights to Preplan His Attack

[GadgetGuy]

He probably forgot an SD card. And anyway, what did he need to record it for?

Certainly, recording would allow him to replay it for more precise analysis.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Most, if not all, DJI drones record whether or not the drone was recording video in their .txt flight logs.

Does that include the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, even on earlier FW?
However, I suspect the information in the quote was a supposition based upon no microSD card found in the drone, rather than an analysis of the .txt flight log. Will keep everyone posted if more info becomes public.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Does that include the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro, even on earlier FW?

I don't have firmware info but
the earliest Mavic 3 -------- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2021-11-12
the earliest Mavic 3 pro --- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-06-03
the earliest Mavic 3 classic log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2022-11-28
the earliest Mavic 3 Ent --- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-06-10
the earliest Mavic 3 Therm log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-10-07

 

[rjwmorrell]

Certainly, recording would allow him to replay it for more precise analysis.

When was he going to do that exactly? Before or after the Secret Service cratered his skull with a .300 Win Mag?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Which shot hit Trumpet ?

 

[GadgetGuy]

When was he going to do that exactly? Before or after the Secret Service cratered his skull with a .300 Win Mag?

The drone flights were completed well over 2 hours before the event, outside the NFZ over the rally.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I don't have firmware info but
the earliest Mavic 3 -------- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2021-11-12
the earliest Mavic 3 pro --- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-06-03
the earliest Mavic 3 classic log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2022-11-28
the earliest Mavic 3 Ent --- log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-06-10
the earliest Mavic 3 Therm log that I have that shows video being recorded is dated 2023-10-07

That's good enough for me. If they also had access to the .txt files on his device, in addition to the drone itself, and knew how to read them, they could have made that determination, even if he removed the micro SD card.

Still haven't read anything specifically, stating which DJI drone he used. However, given that high magnification from over 200 yards was specified, it sounds like it was either a Mavic 3 or Mavic 3 Pro.

 

[rjwmorrell]

The drone flights were completed well over 2 hours before the event, outside the NFZ over the rally.

Right but I am not surprised he didn't feel the need to record them. First, I don't think his plan was well thought out. Once he completed his flights, he didn't appear to need any refresher on any details, and it's been suggested he had no plans to survive the day, so a recording of from 2 hours before would've done him no good.

But I suspect he was just a poor planner and failed to insert an SD card in the first place anyway, but was already committed by that point.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Right but I am not surprised he didn't feel the need to record them. First, I don't think his plan was well thought out. Once he completed his flights, he didn't appear to need any refresher on any details, and it's been suggested he had no plans to survive the day, so a recording of from 2 hours before would've done him no good.

But I suspect he was just a poor planner and failed to insert an SD card in the first place anyway, but was already committed by that point.

Not so sure about the uselessness of a recording 2 hours before. It would allow him immediate review after the flight to see what new challenges he faced, that were previously unexpected, that he also didn't catch during the flight. I, myself, miss lots of interesting details while flying that I only discover during a review of the recording after.

However, we still don't know how they came to suspect no recording from the lack of a microSD card in the drone, or know from flight logs that they recovered that he did not record the flights.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

That's good enough for me.

Ahhh just remembered and checked, airdata can yield the firmwares, do you want them ? The mavic 3 v01.00.0300 / Released Nov 5th, 2021 lol

 

[GadgetGuy]

Ahhh just remembered and checked, airdata can yield the firmwares, do you want them ? The mavic 3 v01.00.0300 / Released Nov 5th, 2021 lol

Thank you for offering, but shouldn’t be necessary. Since that was the FW version at release on the Mavic 3, no matter which DJI aircraft he was flying, the .txt log file, if used by the investigators, would definitely have to have contained the video recording status, assuming it was a Mavic 3 series or Air 3, which are the only current DJI drones with at least a 3x telephoto lens.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yet more details: No memory card found in the drone, so they therefore concluded no recording. Whether they accessed a .txt flight log from any device is still unclear, but possible. It would only give the flight path, but not the camera orientation during flight.

"He arrived around 3:45 p.m. and flew his drone around the site for about 10 minutes, officials said. Because there was no memory card in the drone, investigators could not determine what information about the site’s security the gunman gleaned from it, officials said. The gunman was a “highly intelligent” man who attended college and maintained steady employment."

"He conducted internet searches related to power plants, mass shooting events and the attempted assassination this year of Slovakia’s prime minister, FBI officials said Monday, offering new details about what they described as the gunman’s “careful planning” for the attack."

This shooter was definitely not a "poor planner" as some above have speculated.
Quite the contrary!

They also now believe that it may possibly have only been a bullet fragment that grazed Trump's ear, rather than an actual bullet, which might explain the minimal damage, and the lack of any resulting concussion from a bullet passing that close to the brain.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/29/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-updates/

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

but not the camera orientation during flight.

Sorry but the log records gimbal/camer pitch, roll and yaw/heading
GIMBAL.pitch, GIMBAL.roll, GIMBAL.yaw, GIMBAL.yaw [360]
in the PH csv.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Sorry but the log records gimbal/camer pitch, roll and yaw/heading
GIMBAL.pitch, GIMBAL.roll, GIMBAL.yaw, GIMBAL.yaw [360]
in the PH csv.

Thanks for the correction. Clearly, then, they either don't know how to read the flight logs, or don't have them, as the article states they cannot determine what he looked at during the 10 minutes flight because they didn't find a microSD card in the drone.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Drop them an email perhaps and be a good citizen lol.

That said I dare say that DJI would decrypt the drone's DAT and return it, if asked, and as far as I know that can't be messed with so it would be original.

If DJI played ball the Feds could recreate the flight using Lat, long, the drone's heading and using the gimbal angles look at what he looked at. It would take a bit of time but...... ( That assumes gimbal data is in the drone's DAT. )

I can't read the article with out signing up, sorry.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Drop them an email perhaps and be a good citizen lol.

That said I dare say that DJI would decrypt the drone's DAT and return it, if asked, and as far as I know that can't be messed with so it would be original.
I can't read the article with out signing up, sorry.

Sure! LOL! That's all I need. Secret Service and FBI knocking at my door wanting to know how I know all this!

However, I'll keep posting the most relevant quotes from the links for everyone to read here, so they don't have to click on the links to get the highlights.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Just looked at a P3 DAT from the drone and I don't think there is gimbal data in there or it has non recognisable names ...... BUT it looks like a mavic 2 DAT from the drone has an entire section devoted to the gimbal, of course I can't see what's there but the Gimbal files appear to be 500mb+.
I can't remember if FLY app drone DATs can be subdivided in that way.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Sure! LOL! That's all I need. Secret Service and FBI knocking at my door wanting to know how I know all this!

However, I'll keep posting the most relevant quotes from the links for everyone to read here, so they don't have to click on the links to get the highlights.

Perhaps Vic Moss could do it lol.

 

[MS Coast]

Thanks for the correction. Clearly, then, they either don't know how to read the flight logs, or don't have them, as the article states they cannot determine what he looked at during the 10 minutes flight because they didn't find a microSD card in the drone.

Of course they have the logs and of course they know how to read them.

Here's what the article said, "Because there was no memory card in the drone, investigators could not determine what information about the site’s security the gunman gleaned from it, officials said."

The author of the article is not speaking for the Secret Service. The only thing to be concluded from that statement is that there was no memory card in the drone. The article does not say that "they cannot determine what he looked at."

 

[AnzacJack]

Yet more details: No memory card found in the drone, so they therefore concluded no recording. Whether they accessed a .txt flight log from any device is still unclear, but possible. It would only give the flight path, but not the camera orientation during flight.

"He arrived around 3:45 p.m. and flew his drone around the site for about 10 minutes, officials said. Because there was no memory card in the drone, investigators could not determine what information about the site’s security the gunman gleaned from it, officials said. The gunman was a “highly intelligent” man who attended college and maintained steady employment."

"He conducted internet searches related to power plants, mass shooting events and the attempted assassination this year of Slovakia’s prime minister, FBI officials said Monday, offering new details about what they described as the gunman’s “careful planning” for the attack."

This shooter was definitely not a "poor planner" as some above have speculated.
Quite the contrary!

They also now believe that it may possibly have only been a bullet fragment that grazed Trump's ear, rather than an actual bullet, which might explain the minimal damage, and the lack of any resulting concussion from a bullet passing that close to the brain.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/29/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-updates/

I dont know.
Im not sure that going to college and holding down a a basic job makes someone highly intelligent
And if his careful planning includes googling how to shoot someone and other mass shooting events then i doubt this fellow is a genius mastermind.
Im sure he isnt an idiot, but from what i can ascertain, if the security of the event was even a little competent, and multiple failures hadnt occurred, his well laid plans would have been for naught.

Its like the swiss cheese model used for accident investigations. The holes all lined up on that day allowing him to take the shot.