Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
- Donald Trump was injured in his right ear minutes after beginning a rally in Butler, Pa.
- FBI have identified the suspected shooter, who was killed at the scene, as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks
- Biden, world leaders, express shock, outrage over political violence. Kremlin accuses Biden administration of creating atmosphere that provoked attack
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump was injured on Saturday during a Pennsylvania rally, in a shooting that U.S. authorities are investigating as an assassination attempt.
”It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound.”
Mr. Trump said his right ear had been pierced, and he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place.”
One man attending the rally in Butler, Pa. was killed and two other men critically injured, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. The Secret Service said its agents killed the shooter.
The FBI later identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, a community south of Pittsburgh that is less than 80 kilometres from where the attack took place.
Donald Trump was rushed off stage after what appeared to be gun shots rang out during a speech in Pennsylvania. In footage from the rally, Trump can be seen clutching suddenly at the right side of his face as security responds to the incident.
In photos: Scenes from Trump rally where he was rushed off stage after gunshots
The shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the Secret Service said in a statement. The FBI said at a Saturday night news conference that it used DNA testing to confirm the shooter’s identity.
“We had what we’re calling an assassination attempt against our former president, Donald Trump,” said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh field office.
But, he added, “we do not currently have an identified motive.”
Pennsylvania voter records list a Bethel Park resident with a name identical to the suspect as a registered Republican. The Federal Election Commission shows one US$15 donation made by a Thomas Crooks in Bethel Park to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising organization. The donation was recorded on Jan. 20, 2021, the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police, indicated that the shooter may have acted alone, although much remains unknown.
Attendees duck from gunfire at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
“We have no reason to believe that there is any other existing threat out there,” he said. But, he added, “we are absolutely not taking for granted that this was a lone wolf attack.”
Mr. Trump was rushed off stage after gunshots rang out during his speech at the rally. In footage from the event, Mr. Trump can be seen clutching suddenly at the right side of his face as security responds to the incident.
Mr. Trump had been speaking about immigration when he reached up to touch his ear as the sound of three shots rang out. The former president ducked behind the lectern after the initial volley. Security agents rushed the stage as a second volley broke out and screams emerged from the crowd.
After about 40 seconds, agents repeated the words “shooter’s down,” before Mr. Trump was raised from the ground and taken off stage. Blood streaked from his ear across his lip.
Mr. Trump appeared able to walk with assistance, surrounded by a cluster of security agents and pumping his fist repeatedly as he was escorted away. He appeared to shout the words, “Fight! Fight!” as the crowd chanted, “USA! USA!”
Mr. Trump’s motorcade left soon after, and police began to evacuate the crowd.
In an interview with the BBC, a bystander described watching a man with a rifle “bear-crawling” on the roof of a building outside of the rally. Police were notified but did not halt Mr. Trump’s speech as the man remained in position for two or several minutes before opening fire, the bystander said. Another witness provided a similar account to CBS News, saying he had told a police officer at least twice about a man moving on rooftops before the shooting took place.
Law enforcement officers said they responded quickly to the shooter, who was located outside the security perimeter for the event. But Mr. Rojek, the FBI special agent, said investigations would determine “what if any failures there were.”
Mr. Trump was speaking two days before the beginning of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be confirmed as the party’s nominee for president. He has yet to name a running mate, and the Pennsylvania rally had been closely watched for such an announcement.
Combination image with an annotated version on the right of what appears to be a projectile passing by Donald Trump during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent, said during an interview that this image captured by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, seemed to show a bullet streaking past the former president.Doug Mills/The New York Times
The convention will go ahead next week, Mr. Trump’s campaign said Saturday evening.
“President Trump looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th President of the United States,” Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the Trump campaign’s two top officials, said in a statement.
The convention is scheduled to open Monday and will culminate Thursday night when Mr. Trump is expected to formally accept the nomination.
At Saturday’s rally, Mr. Trump began his speech, as he has many times before, by talking about illegal immigration, contrasting his promises to deport people with the large numbers of people who have entered the country while Mr. Biden has been president.
“We’re going to take back the White House and we’re going to take back our country,” he said, adding: “Our country has been stolen from us.”
A few minutes later, he showed the crowd a chart displaying the numbers of people intercepted crossing into the U.S. from Mexico over the past few years.
“And if you want to really see something that’s sad take a look what happened … " he said, his sentence interrupted by the gunfire.
Donald Trump is rushed off stage by security services at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.REBECCA DROKE/Getty Images
1 of 27
The White House said Mr. Biden was receiving a briefing on the incident from Alejandro Mayorkas, Kimberly Cheatle and Liz Sherwood-Randall, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the Secret Service and the White House homeland security adviser, respectively.
Mr. Biden later said in a televised address that he had tried to reach Mr. Trump, who was “with his doctors.”
“Apparently, he’s doing well,” the President added. He said he would keep trying to get through to him. The two men spoke later on Saturday.
“Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” Mr. Biden said. “Everybody, everybody must condemn it. Everybody.”
Asked if the shooting was an assassination attempt, the President said he was awaiting further information from the investigation. He did not answer questions about his own safety.
Mr. Biden was at mass in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he has a beach house, when the episode happened.
He had been scheduled to spend the weekend there, but instead decided to return to the White House on Saturday night after the shooting of his presidential rival. Mr. Biden was expected to arrive shortly after midnight.
President Joe Biden decried political violence after Donald Trump was rushed off stage after a shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania. Biden said Trump was with his doctors but hadn't spoken with him.
Local authorities were quick to condemn what happened. “Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement on social media.
Supporters of Mr. Trump, including those vying to become his running mate, posted offers of prayers on social media.
Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered a potential running mate, said he was “praying for President Trump and all those attending the rally in Pennsylvania today.” Senator JD Vance, another leading contender to be the Republican candidate’s vice-presidential nominee, said, “Everyone join me in praying for our President Trump and everyone at that rally. I hope everyone is ok.”
But South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who had also once been seen as a potential running mate, sought to place the incident in a broader political narrative about Mr. Trump.
He is “the toughest man I’ve ever met,” she wrote on social media. “Nobody’s been through what he’s been through. May swift justice be brought against his evil attacker.”
Meanwhile Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., posted an image of a bloodied Mr. Trump surrounded by security officers, his right fist raised with an American flag in the background.
“He’ll never stop fighting to Save America,” the younger Mr. Trump wrote.
Roads leading to Butler’s farm show grounds, where the incident happened, were closed off by police cars late Saturday. Billboards along the highway and town streets told residents to “pray for our nation” and “pray for peace.”
With a report from Steven Chase in Ottawa