On July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was shot in the right ear at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He reportedly crawled onto a roof outside the rally venue. He fired eight rounds from an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle before his “head was blown off” by a Secret Service Counter Assault Team sniper, said one nearby witness. A rally attendee unfortunately died too in the process, and two other attendees were critically injured.
Trump was ducked to the ground and surrounded by Secret Service personnel. He then rose to his feet, bleeding from his right ear, and shouted, “fight, fight” amidst shouts of “U-S-A!” from the supporters before being hurried off to a hospital.
TRUMP WAS JUST SHOT ON LIVE TV
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 13, 2024
Please stop what you're doing and pray pic.twitter.com/jlYtCeRe3O
The shooting is being investigated as an attempted assassination, marking the first time a former or current U.S. president was injured in an attempted assassination since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 and the first time for a presidential candidate since the attempted assassination of George Wallace in 1972.
Trump’s campaign rally was held to raise votes in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which has 19 votes in the Electoral College.
Attendees at Trump’s rallies are screened for prohibited items, including weapons. Trump arrived at the rally about an hour late and was shot six minutes into his speech.
It is unclear how Mr Crooks got close to the president despite the substantial security around the candidate, in what is now considered a severe breach of security protocol.
What We Know About The Shooter.
Photos of the suspected shooter on a roof near the Trump rally suggest he was wearing a merchandise from a popular firearms YouTube channel, Demolition Ranch. The photo shows a person bleeding from the head, surrounded by law enforcement officers, wearing a gray T-shirt with an American flag on the sleeve.
World Leaders React
French President Emmanuel Macron called the assassination attempt a “tragedy for our democracies” on Sunday, as he wished Donald Trump a “speedy recovery.”
A spokesman said that China’s President Xi Jinping expressed his “compassion and sympathy” to Donald Trump on Sunday.
“China is following the shooting incident at the campaign rally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. President Xi Jinping has expressed sympathies to former President Trump,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.
Biden Blamed
Republican Congress members are blaming President Joe Biden, Democrats, and the media for the assassination attempt on President Trump, claiming it was a result of incendiary rhetoric and attempts to imprison him. Senator JD Vance, in consideration as Trump’s running mate, directly blamed Biden, saying: “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that… Trump is an authoritarian fascist.” His rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
But the motive of the shooter is unknown and may remain a mystery now he is dead.
Defiant Trump
But Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles confirmed that Trump would attend the Republican convention in Wisconsin later on Sunday even after this assassination scare. They say the former president is looking forward to joining the convention on Monday to nominate him as the 47th President of the United States.
The convention is set to launch on Monday, and Trump is scheduled to formally accept his party’s nomination and deliver remarks at the gathering.
Trump himself posted on his Truth Social few hours after the shooting incident, thanking law enforcement officials who came to his aid and offering condolences for the attendee who was killed. He himself confirmed the shot wounded him in the ear.
The Republican convention will be held two blocks away from the site where President Teddy Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in 1912.
Would you consider to Like 👍, comment and share this article, and Follow us on our social media handles? Thank you.
WhatsApp Channel
Telegram Channel
