On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting
His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well.
Photo: AFP
“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,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a subsequent post yesterday, Trump said “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he said.
The FBI early yesterday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, the agency said.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue at a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania, the agency said.
One male attendee was killed and two male spectators were critically injured, authorities said.
Investigators believe the weapon had been purchased by Crooks’ father at least six months ago, two law enforcement officials said.
Federal agents were still working to understand when and how his son obtained the gun and gather additional information about Crooks as they worked to try to identify a motive, the officials said.
The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized US less than four months before the presidential election, and it could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which is to begin today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.
Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a local Pennsylvania hospital, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport.
US President Joe Biden, who is running against Trump, was briefed on the incident and spoke to Trump several hours after the shooting, the White House said.
“There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” the president said in public remarks. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment.
They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on Monday last week, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
Law enforcement recovered an AR-15-style rifle at the scene, a third person familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the scene of the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking, about 150m away.
Asked at a news conference whether law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said “that is our assessment at this time.”
“It is surprising” that the shooter was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him, he added.
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,” he said. “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.”
The BBC interviewed a man who said he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event.
The self-described eyewitness, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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