Shooting was ‘assassination attempt’ on Donald Trump, says FBI; suspect, 20, killed by Secret Service
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BUTLER, Pennsylvania - Donald Trump narrowly escaped an attempt on his life with a bullet through an ear during a campaign rally on July 13, an attack that will likely reshape 2024’s United States presidential race.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20,
There is no existing threat after the shooting, an FBI official said.
The Secret Service said the shooter is dead, one rally attendee was killed, and two other spectators injured.
Trump was shot in the right ear during the campaign rally in Butler, about 50km north of Pittsburgh, sparking panic in the crowd.
As Secret Service agents tried to usher him offstage later, the Republican presidential candidate, face spattered with blood, pumped his fist in the air as he appeared to mouth the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump, 78, later said on his Truth Social platform.
“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 realised then what was happening.”
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls show the two locked in a close contest.
Trump’s campaign said he will still attend the Republican National Convention, where he is due to receive his party’s formal nomination. The convention begins on July 15.
While the shooter’s motive was not immediately clear, the authorities recovered an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle at the scene from a dead man who they believe was the shooter, according to two law enforcement officials.
Reuters said state voter records indicated that Crooks was a registered Republican but had also made a US$15 (S$20) donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, when he was 17, citing a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.
The FBI on July 14 identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
In the immediate aftermath, Trump’s spokesman, Mr Steven Cheung, said he “is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility”.
Hours after the incident, Trump is seen walking off his plane unaided in a video posted on social media by Ms Margo Martin, his deputy communications director. Wearing a navy blue suit and a white shirt without a tie, he can be seen descending a staircase from the plane as an armed agent stands guard.
His right ear, which was injured in the attempt, cannot be seen in the footage.
The New York Times reported that he was in New Jersey, where he will spend the night.
Separately, CBS News said the New York Police Department had increased security at Trump Tower and other New York City landmarks.
Multiple shots fired towards stage
The Secret Service released a statement on X saying: “During former president Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the evening of July 13 at approximately 6.15pm, a suspected shooter fired multiple shots towards the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue.
“US Secret Service personnel quickly neutralised the shooter, who is now deceased.”
Unconfirmed images show what appears to be the assailant’s body lying on the sloping roof of a low building he had fired from.
In his Truth Social post, Trump thanked the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies 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,” he added.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country.
“Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead.”
Trump was visiting swing-state Pennsylvania for his last rally as he is preparing to announce his vice-presidential pick.
He had just started his speech and had been showing a chart of numbers about border crossings, which his audiovisual staff placed on screens above the stage, when shots rang out.
He winced and 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.
The sounds reportedly came in two groups from the stands to the left of where he was standing at a lectern, with smoke rising from that section of the stands.
As members of the crowd began screaming, Trump was tackled by Secret Service agents. Officials shouted for the crowd to duck and cover, whisking members of the news media off the press riser where they had been watching the speech.
Trump emerged about a minute later, his red Make America Great Again hat knocked off. Live video showed blood spattered on his right cheek and ear, and he could be heard saying “wait, wait”, before agents ushered him into a waiting vehicle.
He pumped his fist to the crowd and was then ushered off the stage into his motorcade, which quickly left the venue, the Butler Farm Show grounds.
After he departed, a group of officials wearing camouflage escorted someone off a set of stands to the left of the podium where Trump was speaking. Police officials began cordoning off the area with crime scene tape as the rally’s attendees began clearing out, and blood was visible on the stands.
The Secret Service asked members of the news media to leave roughly 20 minutes after Trump left the stage, declaring the rally site a crime scene.
A helicopter flew above and law enforcement officers walked through the area, according to the video feed.
Republican Senate candidate David McCormick, who was seated in the front row at the rally, said he had started to go up on stage when Trump said he would have him come up later.
“Within a minute or two, I heard the shots... It was clear it was gunfire,” he told Reuters in an interview. “It felt like it was an assassination attempt... It was terrifying.”
Federal officials said the Secret Service is leading the investigation, assisted by the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A witness to the shooting told how a man next to him was shot dead.
“I heard several gunshots. The man beside me suffered a gunshot to the head, was instantly killed (and) fell to the bottom of the bleachers. Another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or hand,” the man, whose name was given only as Joseph, told NBC News.
He said it seemed the victim was “in the way of the shots between whoever was shooting the gun and the (former) president”.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The person, whom the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
“I am thinking to myself: Why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him offstage?” said the man, who was wearing a red Trump hat. “Next thing you know, five shots rang out.”
Mr Craig Cyrus, 54, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, was sitting about 25m from the grandstand when he noticed movement among law enforcement snipers, who were perched on surrounding rooftops. They were looking intently at something to the left, in the direction of a water tower.
“I saw them with their binoculars,” Mr Cyrus said, “then they got their guns.” Shots rang out, but he said he did not know which were from the apparent shooter or from the snipers.
President Biden condemned the shooting,
Mr Biden has been facing his pushback within his own party following a disastrous debate performance
Those who attend Trump’s campaign rallies are subject to security screenings. They are required to enter through metal detectors, and their bags and possessions are searched for weapons and a large number of banned items.
There are also typically law enforcement officials stationed on nearby rooftops when possible.
Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021, easily bested his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign. He has largely unified the party around him after support wavered following his supporters’ act of attacking the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, when they attempted to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The businessman and former reality TV star entered the year facing a raft of legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions.
In late May, he was found guilty of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star,
