FBI investigating attack on Trump as possible domestic terrorism

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – Senior Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials on July 14 said agents were investigating

the shooting at a rally for former US president Donald Trump

as a possible domestic terrorism attack and assassination attempt.

“We are investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking at it as a potential domestic terrorism act,” Mr Robert Wells, assistant director of the FB’sI counter-terrorism division, told reporters.

The officials said they had found no indication that

the 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks

from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was part of any larger plot and that their top priority was determining his motive. The shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 killed one man at the rally, injured Trump and critically wounded two other people. The shooter was killed by Secret Service snipers.

Trump said on social media that a bullet had pierced his right ear. He was able to walk off his plane unaided when it landed in New Jersey hours later.

The FBI officials said they had not uncovered evidence that the shooter had mental health issues, and said his phone, rifle and a possible “rudimentary” explosive device found among his possessions had been sent to the bureau’s lab in Quantico, Virginia. His family was cooperating with the investigation, the FBI said.

The assassination attempt plunged the 2024 presidential race into shock and uncertainty. Trump was set to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention (RNC), which begins in Milwaukee on July 15. His campaign and RNC officials said in a statement that the convention would proceed as planned, and he has said that he looked forward to speaking to the nation from Wisconsin.

Trump, who said he planned to travel to Milwaukee, vowed to remain “defiant in the face of wickedness”.

In brief remarks to the nation from the White House on July 14, President Joe Biden called the assassination attempt “contrary to everything we stand for us as a nation, everything”. He added: “It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not American. And we cannot allow this to happen.”

He said he had demanded a national security review and promised to share the results with the American people. He also said he had directed the Secret Service to review security arrangements for the Republican convention and pledged that the Secret Service would give Trump “every resource capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety”.

“We must unite as one nation,” Mr Biden said. “We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are.” NYTIMES, AFP