Donald Trump shot at during election rally, police kills sniper
Former US President Donald Trump, who is trying to win back the presidency from Joe Biden, was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 50 kilometres north of Pittsburgh, on Saturday.
The attack left the Republican presidential candidate’s face streaked with blood and prompted his security agents to swarm him, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air, mouthing the words ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’
While the police shot and killed the shooter, one rally attendee was killed, and two other spectators were injured. The incident is being treated as an assassination attempt. However, no motive have been found yet.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the ‘subject involved’ in the attempted assassination, it said in a statement.
Crooks, who was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was a registered Republican, according to the state’s voter records.
Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him.
He emerged about a minute later, his red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat knocked off, and could be heard saying ‘wait, wait,’ before the fist bump, then agents rushed him to a black SUV.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. Much bleeding took place,” Trump said later on his Truth Social platform
The shooting occurred less than four months before the election on November 5, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls show the two are locked in a close contest.
Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” Biden said in a statement.
I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 13, 2024
I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.
Jill and I are grateful to the Secret…
The shooting raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents, including Trump, with lifetime protection.
It was the first shooting of a US President or major party candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Trump left the Butler area under the protection of the US Secret Service with the assistance of the Pennsylvania state police.
Trump is due to receive his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.
“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media.
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