by the press
17:31 on July 13, 2024 CDT – Updated at 4:36 a. m. m. of July 14, 2024 CDT
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, days before settling for the Republican nomination for a third time.
A flurry of gunfire sparked panic and the bloodied Trump, who said he had been shot in the ear, was surrounded by the Secret Service and ran to his truck while brandishing his fist in defiance.
The FBI identified the shooter early Sunday as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The firm said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
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Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks, who had attacked from a high position outside the demonstration site at a farmers show in Butler, Pennsylvania, the firm said.
Trump’s crusader said the presumptive Republican nominee was “fine” after the shooting, which it said pierced the top of his right ear.
“I immediately knew something was wrong, I heard a whistle, gunshots and I immediately felt the bullet tear my skin. There were a lot of hemorrhages,” he wrote on his social network.
The players at the rally screamed in panic. Shouts of “Drop!” resonated through the crowd. At least one player was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, the government said. The Secret Service said it had killed the suspected shooter, who it said had attacked from an elevated position outside the rally site, an agricultural show in Butler, Pennsylvania. and that Trump emerges unscathed.
The FBI said at a news conference Saturday night that it was not in a position to reveal the identity of the shooter and did not yet know the motive for the assassination attempt.
It is the most serious assassination attempt against a president or presidential candidate since the assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. It occurred in a deeply polarized political atmosphere, just four months before the election. presidential election and a few days before Trump officially named the Republican candidate. at his party conference, which according to his crusade would go ahead as planned.
Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a local hospital in Pennsylvania and landed shortly thereafter at Newark Liberty International Airport. A video released through an aide showed the former president disembarking from his personal plane flanked by United States Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counterattack team, an unusually visual display of strength by his coverage team.
“There is no position in the United States for this violence,” President Joe Biden, who opposes Trump as the presumptive Democratic candidate, said in a speech. “He’s crazy. He’s crazy. “
Two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. They said the gunman did not attend the rally and was killed by U. S. Secret Service agents.
Authorities said the shooter was hired through members of the United States Secret Service’s counterattack team. The heavily armed tactical team moves with the president and the main party applicants and is intended to deal with any active risks while other agents concentrate on protecting and evacuating the user to the coverage center.
In a on Guglielmi said Secret Service body of workers shot the shooter, who is now deceased.
Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a third user familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
An Associated Press investigation of more than a dozen videos and images of the Trump rally site, as well as satellite photographs of the venue, shows the shooter managed to get weirdly close to the site where the former president was speaking. On social media and geotagged via the AP, it shows a frame of a user dressed in gray camouflage, motionless on the roof of an AGR International Inc. building, a production plant just north of the Butler Farm Show site where Trump’s rally took place.
The roof where the user stood was less than 150 meters from where Trump was speaking, a distance at which a smart sniper could succeed on a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is the distance at which US Army recruits have to hit a human-sized figure to qualify with the M-16 rifle. The AR-15, like Trump’s gunner, is the semi-automatic civilian edition of the military’s M16.
Many Republicans blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump, seen as a risk to democracy, have created a poisonous environment. In particular, they pointed to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to hit the nail on the head. “
Trump showed a graph of the border crossing numbers when the obvious shooting began shortly after 6:10 p. m. It took two minutes from the time of the first shot for Trump to be placed in a reserve van.
As Trump spoke, a pop was heard and the former president put his right hand in front of his right ear, while other people in the stands seemed surprised.
When the first pop played, Trump said “Oh” and grabbed his ear as two more pops were heard and crouched down. Then more shots were heard.
You might hear someone say near the microphone at Trump’s lectern: “Duck, duck, duck, duck!”while the agents attacked the former president. They piled on top of him to protect him with their bodies, as is their educational protocol, while other agents took positions on the level to look for the threat.
Screams could be heard from the crowd of several thousand people. One woman screamed louder than the others. Afterward, voices were heard saying “the shooter has fallen” repeatedly, before someone asked “are we fit to move?”and “Are we clear?” Then someone ordered: “Let’s go. “
Trump may be heard on the video saying at least twice, “Let me take my shoes, let me take my shoes,” with a voice saying, “I gave them to you, sir. “
Trump stood up moments later and you can tell he puts his right hand to his face. He gave the impression of blood on his face. He then raised his fist in the air and gave the impression of saying the word “Fight” twice in front of his crowd of supporters, prompting loud applause and then chants of “United States. “UNITED STATES. UNITED STATES. “
The crowd cheered him on as he stood up and shook his fist.
His caravan left the scene a few moments later. In the video, Trump turns to the crowd and raises his fist just before being loaded into a vehicle.
“Everyone was put on their knees or in a prone position, because we all knew, everyone learned that it shoots,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Pennsylvania, who was seated to Trump’s right.
Seeing Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder and saw that someone had been hit while sitting in the stage stands.
Eventually, first responders pulled the injured user out of a giant crowd so he could get medical attention, McCormick said.
Journalists covering the demonstration heard five or six shots and many ducked to hide under tables. After the first two or three explosions, other people in the crowd were shocked, but they didn’t panic. An AP reporter at the scene reported that the noise at first sounded like firecrackers or likely the cracking of a car.
When it became clear that the situation had failed and that Trump would not speak again, the participants began to leave the room. A man in an electric wheelchair became trapped in the box when his wheelchair’s battery failed. Others tried to help him move.
Police temporarily asked others to leave the scene and Secret Service agents told reporters to “leave now. “It is a real crime scene.
Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally, told the AP they helped other people who appeared injured and heard bullets hit loudspeakers.
“Bullets hit around the stage, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke out. “We dropped to the ground and then the police converged on the stands,” Chris Takach said.
“The first thing I heard was some crackling,” Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan saw one of the loudspeakers hit and the bullets hit and “hit the bridge. “
He said that once the Secret Service and other governments converged on Trump, he and Takach helped two other people who had been shot in the gallery and cleared a path to get them out of the way.
“It’s just an unhappy day for America,” Sullivan said.
“After you heard the gunshots, the hydraulic line gushing everywhere, you might see the hydraulic fluid coming out. And then the perimeter tower started collapsing,” Sullivan said. “Then we heard another shot that you might hear, I knew there was something, they were bullets. They weren’t firecrackers.
The dangers of the crusade have taken on a new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and back in 1972, when Arthur Bremer shot and seriously wounded George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a questionable crusading platform. This led to increased coverage of the candidates, even as threats persisted, notably the endorsement of Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have even higher degrees of security. Trump is a rarity as a former president and current candidate.
Mayorkas, whose branch oversees the Secret Service, said the officials were involved in the Biden and Trump campaigns and were “taking every action imaginable to ensure their safety and security. “
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. , posted a photo of Trump with his fist raised and his face bloodied in front of an American flag, with the words: “He will never stop fighting to save United States. “
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the three men on Trump’s short list for vice president, temporarily sent statements expressing their fear for the former president, and Rubio shared a symbol taken while Trump was being escorted. level with his fist in the air and a touch of blood on his face accompanied by the words “God, President Trump. “
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement in X that he had been notified of the situation and that Pennsylvania State Police were present at the scene of the demonstration.
“Violence against a political party or a political leader is certainly unacceptable. This has no standing in Pennsylvania or the United States,” he said.
Associated Press, news service
A user who disappeared on Donald Trump’s arm in Pennsylvania has died, as has an audience member who attended, the Butler County District Attorney says. Even the two deceased think that some other user is in a state. . . photo. twitter. com/it6xJ1WEo6
Like everyone else tonight, I am shocked by the attempted assassination of President Trump, for him and for our country. Our prayers for the circle of family of the Trump supporter he killed and for all those injured. My text to the president tonight: at the slightest turn of the head in a simple. . . pic. twitter. com/i35dBC2ucM