Former President Donald Trump He was the target of an assassination attempt on Saturday. Pennsylvania Assembly, Trump was days away from accepting the Republican nomination for a third time when the gunfight spread panic and a bloody Trump, said to have been shot in his ear, sprinted to his SUV with his fists raised in defiance and surrounded by Secret Service agents.
The Trump campaign said the Republican front-runner was in “good spirits” after the shooting, which left him stabbed above his right ear.
Donald Trump stormed out of the rally surrounded by Secret Service agents, bleeding from his head.
“I knew straight away something was wrong as I heard a whoosh, a gunshot and felt the bullet penetrate my skin. I was losing a lot of blood,” he wrote on social media.
The FBI arrested the shooter early Sunday morning. Thomas Matthew Crookesand a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pa. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.
According to a Secret Service statement, Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent after he attacked him from an elevated position outside an agricultural show in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Authorities said one participant was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, all identified as men.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate. Ronald Reagan The incident, filmed in 1981, has drawn new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized United States with less than four months to go until the presidential election and could also change the tone and security situation at the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday.
Footage goes around the world as Secret Service snipers shoot gunman and rescue Donald Trump
Organizers said the tournament would go ahead as scheduled.
After visiting a local hospital in Pennsylvania, Trump flew to New Jersey, arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport just after midnight. Video posted by an aide showed the former president disembarking from a private jet surrounded by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter-assault team, an unusual show of force for his security detail.
President Joe Biden, Trump’s rival, was briefed on the incident and spoke with Trump in the hours after the shooting, according to the White House.
“There is no room for this kind of violence in America,” the president said publicly. “This is sick behavior. This is sick behavior.”
Biden was scheduled to cut short a weekend at his seaside home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and return to Washington early.
Many Republicans were quick to blame the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that his continued attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy had created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to comments made by Biden to donors on July 8, when he told them, “It’s time to target Trump.”
Officials said the gunman was confronted by members of the Secret Service’s heavily armed confrontation team, the tactical team that travels with the president and major party candidates everywhere and is supposed to counter any threats while other agents focus on protecting and evacuating those at the center of security.
Police recovered an AR-type rifle at the scene, according to a third person familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the scene of Trump’s rally, as well as satellite imagery of the location, showed that the shooter was able to get surprisingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking.
Video footage located by The Associated Press and posted to social media showed the body of a man dressed in gray camouflage clothing lying motionless on the roof of an AGR International building, a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show where Trump held his rally.
The rooftop where the person was lying was within 150 meters (164 yards) of where Trump was speaking, a distance at which a skilled marksman could successfully hit a human-sized target and, by comparison, the distance at which U.S. Army recruits must shoot a human-sized silhouette to be qualified with an M-16 rifle. The AR-15 used by the Trump rally gunman is a semi-automatic civilian version of the military M-16.
Asked at a news conference whether police knew the gunman was on the roof before he opened fire, Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office said, “That’s our assessment at this point.”
He added that it was “amazing” that the gunman was able to fire a shot on stage before the Secret Service shot him dead.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, said officials were working with both the Biden and Trump campaigns “to take every possible step to ensure the safety and security of both parties.”
Rally interrupted by gunfire
When the shooting began after 6:10 p.m., President Trump was showing a graph of the number of people crossing the border.
As the first note rang out, Trump said “Ahh,” put his hand to his right ear, looked at it, then quickly dropped to the ground behind the podium, and people in the stands behind him also dropped to the ground as screams rang out from the crowd.
As agents ran onto the stage, someone could be heard near a microphone saying, “Down, down, down, down, down!” As they were trained, agents crowded over the former president, shielding him with their bodies, while other agents took up positions on the stage to search for threats.
Screams could be heard from the crowd of several thousand people. One woman’s scream was louder than the others. Then, several voices could be heard saying “The shooter is down,” and someone asked, “Can we move?” and “Is it safe?” before someone gave the order, “Let’s move.”
In the video, Trump can be heard saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes,” while another voice can be heard saying, “It’s okay, sir.”
Trump was seen standing up a few minutes later and reaching his right hand over his bloodied face, before pumping his fist in the air and appearing to say the word “fight” twice to his supporters, prompting loud cheers and chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
He stood and pumped his fist, and the crowd cheered.
Minutes later, Trump’s motorcade left the venue, and video shows him turning to face the crowd and raising his fist just before being loaded into his car.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover.
“Everybody was on their knees or face down because everybody knew it was a shooting,” said Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate, who was sitting to Trump’s right.
McCormick said he saw Trump raise his fist, turned around and realized someone sitting in the audience behind the stage had been hit.
McCormick said emergency responders were eventually able to remove the injured from the large crowd and get them medical treatment.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six gunshots ring out, causing many to duck and take cover under tables. After the first few explosions, the crowd seemed startled but not panicked. An Associated Press reporter at the scene reported that it initially sounded like firecrackers or a car backfiring.
As the situation settled and it became clear that Trump would not be returning to speak, attendees began to file out of the venue. One man in a motorized wheelchair became trapped on the field after his wheelchair’s battery died, and others tried to help him.
Police quickly instructed those remaining to leave the venue, and Secret Service agents told reporters, “Leave now. This is a crime scene.”
Two firefighters from near Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally, told The Associated Press that they helped people who appeared to be wounded and who heard bullets hitting a public address speaker.
“Bullets rang out around the auditorium, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos ensued. We fell to the ground and then the police gathered in the auditorium. Chris Takacs.
“The first thing I heard was a couple of cracks,” Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan said one of the speakers was hit, shots rang out and “we fell to the ground.”
As Secret Service and other authorities converged on Trump, he said he and Takacs helped two people who may have been shot in the stands and cleared a path for them to escape.
“It’s a sad day for America,” Sullivan said.
“We heard gunshots, then we saw hydraulic lines flying all over the place, leaking hydraulic oil, and then the speaker towers started to fall,” Sullivan said. “Then we heard another gunshot. We heard something, and it was gunfire. It wasn’t firecrackers.”
Political violence again rocks America
The dangers of campaigning took on new urgency after the assassination. Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968 and again in 1972 Arthur Bremer He was shot and seriously injured George WallaceHe ran as an independent on a platform that drew comparisons with Trump’s, providing added protection for candidates following threats against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and George H.W. Bush in 1990. Barack Obama In 2008.
Presidents, especially after the assassination John F. Kennedy Trump, who took office in 1963, has even more security in place — making him a rarity for both a former president and a current candidate.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Ohio Senator J.D. VanckAll three finalists for Trump’s running mate quickly issued statements expressing their concern for the former president, with Rubio posting a photo of Trump being escorted off stage with his fist raised and a bloody face, along with the words “God protected President Trump.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh ShapiroThe Democrat said in a statement on X that he had been briefed on the situation and that Pennsylvania State Police were on scene at the rally.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is completely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,” he said.
