Former President Donald Trump was shot on Saturday in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to US media.
Donald Trump, 81, was delivering his speech at the rally, turning to his right and placing his hands on the podium, when suddenly the sounds of multiple gunshots erupted. It was his last rally before the Republican Party convention, which kicks off on 15 July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Trump grabbed his right ear and fell to the ground as Secret Service agents ordered him to get down and rushed the stage protecting the former president, more shots later rang out.
Roughly 45 seconds after Trump came under attack, agents’ voices echoed over the rally’s microphone: “Shooter’s down.” The agents prepared to lead the former president off the stage to his nearby vehicle, but Trump asked them to wait and raised his fist in the air, eliciting loud shouts of approval from the crowd. The crowd then chanted “USA!” as several agents lowered the former president down the stairs and put him in his car, NBC said.
About two and a half hours later, Trump wrote in a post on the website Truth Social that the bullet had pierced the top of his right ear. He said:
I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA! (…) I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of law enforcement, for their rapid response. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country.
Details of the assassination attempt
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is leading the shooting probe, according to a statement from the bureau. Agents are working with the US Secret Service and state and local law enforcement agencies, and they consider the rally site to be an active crime scene, officials said at the news conference late Saturday night.
The Secret Service claimed the shooter fired “multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue,” but the gunman was eventually killed by Secret Service agents. As a result of the assassination attempt, one rally attendee lost his life in the shooting and two (male) rally attendees suffered serious injuries.
“There was identification of suspicious packages around where the shooter was and so we deployed – in an abundance of caution – bomb assets to make sure they were cleared for investigators to move safely in the area,” according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek.
The FBI early Sunday morning named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt. Rojek said investigators are close to confirming the shooter’s identity but are not yet releasing his name. They added they have not yet established the motive. Despite, authorities have assured that they believe there is no other threat, but the Pennsylvania State Police’s George Bivens said they are urgently looking into whether anyone else was involved. The investigation is remaining active and ongoing, according to the agency.
Eyewitness statements
Representative Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican, sat in the front row of Trump’s rally with Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Representative Mike Kelly. “Everybody started, certainly, screaming, asking for a medic, and honestly, it was a bloody scene,” Meuser said.
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter at the rally, said he heard about four shots. “I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked also real quick. Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him,” according to him.
Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on stage, said the following: “Everybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew, everybody becoming aware of the fact this was a gunfire.”
Two firefighters from neighbouring Steubenville, Ohio, who attended the rally said they were helping people who appeared to be injured and heard bullets hitting loudspeakers. Chris Takacs, one of the firefighters, said: “The bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke. We hit the ground and then the police converged into the grandstands.”
Dave Sullivan, another firefighter, described seeing one of the speakers wounded as bullets rumbled: “The first thing I heard is a couple of cracks. After we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it. And then the speaker tower started to fall down. Then we heard another shot that, you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasn’t firecrackers.”
Political world reacts
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly weighed in after Saturday’s shooting, expressing their horror, condemning the political violence.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said he has been briefed by law enforcement. He sunderlined the House would launch a full investigation into the case. He said: “Kelly and I are praying for President Trump and all the attendees of the campaign rally today in Pennsylvania, and we send our gratitude to the law enforcement who responded at the scene. (…) This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned.”
- The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident and spoke with Trump hours after the shooting. “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence – it’s sick, it’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” Biden said before returning to the White House late Saturday evening.
- Vice President Kamala Harris said: “Violence such as this has no place in our nation,” adding that memebers of her family “are relieved that he is not seriously injured. We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting.”
- Former president Barack Obama wrote on X: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”
- Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged Americans to pray for Trump. He stressed: “Now is the time for every American who loves our country to step back from the division, renounce all violence, and unite in prayer for President Trump and his family.”
- Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, condemned the attack on X: “Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,” according to him.
Leaders of other countries also expressed concern over the assassination attempt and sent their good wishes to the former president.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said he was “sickened” by the shooting. “It cannot be overstated — political violence is never acceptable. My thoughts are with former President Trump, those at the event, and all Americans,” according to him.
- The UK has also condemned the attack on the former president. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on X: “I am appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally and we send him and his family our best wishes. Political violence in any form has no place in our societies, and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”
- Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said he was “shocked” by the news of the attack. He said: “Once again, we are witnessing unacceptable acts of violence against political representatives.”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply concerned by the attack on my friend.” He said: “Strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies. Wish him speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased, those injured and the American people.”
- Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close friend of Donald Trump, said his “thoughts and prayers” were with Trump “in these dark hours.”
Representatives of other countries such as Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Israel also condemned the attack on former President Trump, saying violence has no place.
Who benefits?
Some Republican allies of Trump have said they believe the attack was politically motivated, according to Reuters. US Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, who survived a politically motivated shooting in 2017, said of the assassination attempt the following:
For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America. Clearly we’ve seen far left lunatics act on violent rhetoric in the past. This incendiary rhetoric must stop.
Of particular significance is that Donald Trump easily surpassed his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign and has largely united the party around him. 2024 was a particularly tough year for Trump, as he faced a whole host of legal troubles, including four separate criminal prosecutions that resulted in him being found guilty of trying to conceal payments to a porn star for keeping quiet. Despite, the three other prosecutions he faces, including two for trying to overturn his defeat, have been halted by various factors, including a Supreme Court decision earlier this month that found him partially immune to prosecution, Reuters said.
Donald Trump has repeatedly made claims that all four prosecutions were orchestrated by President Joe Biden to try to prevent him from returning to power.
Political violence is at play again in US politics
The attempted assassination of Trump immediately raised questions about security lapses by the Secret Service, which grants former presidents lifetime protection. It was the first shooting of a US president or a major party candidate since an attempt on the life of Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Campaigning poses some threat and gained new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968 and again in 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot and seriously wounded George Wallace, who was running as an independent candidate on a campaign platform, AP News reported. This led to increased protection for candidates even as threats persisted, most notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the November 5 election, when Trump faces a pre-election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden, and about two weeks after the infamous debate for the current US president. Most opinion polls show the two are in a tense rivalry.
