Society should never resort to violence, says PM Wong after assassination attempt on Trump

SINGAPORE – Society should never resort to violence, said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on July 14, revealing that he was shocked at the news of an assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump at a campaign rally.

In a Facebook post, PM Wong said: “I was shocked to hear about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. I am relieved to hear reports that he is safe and recovering well.

“Our thoughts are also with the family of the deceased and those injured and impacted by the senseless attack. We should never resort to violence regardless of any differences of views.”

Trump was

shot in the right ear during the July 13 campaign rally

in Butler, Pennsylvania, sparking panic in the crowd and spattering the Republican presidential candidate’s blood across his face, before he emerged, reported Reuters.

He was treated at a hospital before leaving the area. The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement on the same day.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified

a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man

as the suspected shooter, a CNN reporter posted on X citing sources.

The shooter’s motive has not been made clear but the authorities recovered an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle at the scene from a deceased man they believe was the shooter, according to two law enforcement officials.

The FBI held a press conference and one official said the bureau was calling it “an assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump”. He added that there is no existing threat after the shooting.

US President Joe Biden,

in a nationally televised statement on July 13,

said: “Look, 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.”

Other world leaders

such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australia’s Mr Anthony Albanese also spoke out against political violence and expressed their support for those affected by the shooting on July 13.