ONE is dead and two others are seriously injured after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his crusade in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The FBI said at a news conference Saturday that the shooting was an assassination attempt on Trump after at least eight shots rang out at the former president’s rally in Butler, about 30 miles to the east. north of Pittsburgh.
A rally player was killed in the shooting, while two others were wounded and remain in critical condition, authorities said. The FBI proved that all three victims were adult males.
Bullets whistled toward Trump, who fell to the ground before rising with blood dripping from an ear wound. He then raised his fist before being escorted to his caravan.
Trump was rushed to the hospital, but has since proven that he is fine and will attend the Republican National Convention (RNC) next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The shooter, known to the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, killed through the Secret Service on a rooftop adjacent to the event, authorities said.
The FBI said there is no risk to the public now that the shooter is dead, but is requesting information to call the tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Follow our blog about Donald Trump’s rally filming and updates. . .
Footage of the final seconds before Trump’s shooting revealed the moment he likely saved his own life.
In the clip, Trump turns his head before the bullet hits his right ear, which he then touches before falling to the ground.
Most likely, this small movement saved him from a fatal injury.
Former White House Global Engagement Director Brett Bruen told the U. S. Sun that there is a “real danger” of attacks after Saturday’s shooting.
“We have already noted in the last hour how those associated with the campaign, including Don Jr, have accused the ‘radical left’ of being the attack,” he said Saturday night.
“I think there’s a genuine danger here that we’re seeing acts of retaliatory violence and that the Trump campaign, the members of the MAGA movement, deserve to think about it and reevaluate their rhetoric so as not to incite further attacks or violence.
“This deserves to be a pivotal moment in which Americans recognize that our policy is headed toward a truly harmful situation.
“The inflammable taste for communication that we employ on both the left and the right is what drives Americans to act, in some cases, violently. “
The feds have indicated that security plans for the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin this week will be reconsidered in light of Saturday’s events.
The conference is expected to go ahead as planned Monday in Milwaukee, an official told ABC News.
However, security plans can be changed by adding the number of agents and snipers in place of other people through the secret service.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, denied allegations that a Trump insider asked for more security before the rally.
Rumors circulated that Secret had rejected such a request.
“There is a false claim that a member of the former president’s team asked for more security resources and that they were rejected,” Guglielmi said on X.
“This is false.
“In fact, we have added protection resources, technologies and features as part of the increased speed of the campaign. “
Last month, NBC News showed that the Secret Service had greater security for the former president.
Additional agents and special groups have been assigned “to ensure the highest level of security not only for venues but also for travel between events,” the spokesperson told the news outlet.
“This is an assassination attempt on the former president of the United States and the long-term candidate of the Republican Party, so it’s a very serious matter,” Tim McCarthy, an associate with WLS-TV, told ABC News.
“The electoral crusade is becoming complicated and feelings are exalted, but this cannot happen in our country. “
McCarthy was shot and killed in the line of duty while protecting Reagan in an assassination attempt in 1981.
Meanwhile, a retired Secret Service agent, leader of the Robert Morris University police, said the shooter had some “gun sense” to shoot.
“If that bullet is 3 inches from the president’s left side, it’s going to hit him in the nose,” James said.
“The difference between your nose and your ear is a gust of wind. “
He stated that such a precision point from the roof, only about 150 meters from the scene, showed that “he had a kind of sense of handling a high-powered rifle. “
A local Butler resident who lives just a quarter mile from the level where Trump spoke expressed surprise that the Secret Service had searched properties nearby.
“I thought it would be anything they would do since I’m so close,” Carol Kerr told ABC News on Sunday morning.
“I figured they would look for houses like mine,” the 82-year-old said.
“At least check them and see if there are harmful items in your house, which I don’t do. “
The two protesters injured in the shooting are believed to be in critical condition.
The two men, who have been identified, were taken to hospital on Saturday night.
The two men are being treated at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Dan Laurent, vice president of communications for Allegheny Health Network, told NBC News.
Bethel Park High School student Thomas Matthew Cooks confirmed the school district.
He graduated with the elegance of 2022.
“The school district would like to express its sincere wishes for a speedy and complete recovery for Mr. Trump and for those attending Saturday’s event who may have been physically injured or emotionally affected during those tragic events,” the school district said. from Bethel Park. Sunday.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the families of at least one player who killed.
“Our minds and prayers are with you in these difficult times. “
Thomas Matthew Crooks’ Bethel Park home is surrounded by police.
Neighbors were reportedly evacuated from their homes following an investigation into Crooks and the shooting continues, according to CBS News.
Cops closed Milford Drive and woke up neighbors that night to get them off their properties.
Kelly Little, who lives just a few spaces away from the three-bedroom space where Crooks is believed to have lived with his parents, revealed the main points of what happened.
“They asked us to leave our house, they told us it was a state of emergency, without warning, just a knock on the door in the middle of the night,” he told the media.
“They told us we could return in a few hours. “
Bethel Park police showed an investigation into an ongoing bomb on the Crooks’ property.
The former president spoke with Truth Social to confirm that he will attend the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin this week.
“Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, because it was only God who stopped the unthinkable from happening,” he wrote in a message.
“WE WILL NOT BE AFRAID, but we will be resilient in our religion and defiant in the face of evil.
“Our love goes out to the other sick people and their families. We pray for the recovery of the injured and keep in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was murdered in such a horrible way.
“Right now, it is more vital than ever that we stand together and show our true character as Americans, staying strong and determined and not allowing evil to win.
“I love our country and I love all of you, and I look forward to speaking with our wonderful country this week from Wisconsin. DJT. “
Thieves on a rooftop less than 150 meters from their target when he tried to assassinate Trump.
While they were eyewitnesses to a “security breach,” two former FBI agents also expressed surprise at the situation.
Retired FBI agent Bobby Chacón told CNN that the shooter was given “the best position” to prepare and shoot the former president.
“This construction. . . it is the closest construction with a transparent line of sight to where the scene was,” he said.
“I’m surprised there’s no one on this roof. “
Steve Moore, another retired FBI agent who was a sniper for two years, added that the roof had not been left unattended.
“The fact that we left that roof unattended or unattended” may simply be a planning error, he said.
“They may have just planned this ceiling and maybe something happened in the drawing up or execution of the plans and it went unattended,” he added.
He noted that officials at the scene would likely have a “very obstructed view” of the suspect.
“You can’t just say, ‘Oh, there’s someone on the roof’ and shoot him,” Moore said, adding that officials were expecting to see a gun and maybe the sloping roof or maybe a wall snapping in. from his point of view.
However, he said it is more than likely that “drastic changes” will occur, such as the expansion of the secret service’s security zone around such events.
“There are too many tactics in this situation,” the former FBI agent said.
The moment Trump’s would-be assassin was eliminated via Secret Service agents glued to the camera.
Footage showed snipers on a rooftop shooting Crooks after the former president cut off his ear with a bullet.
Trump can be heard addressing his supporters, beginning his impassioned speech as gunshots are heard and the crowd takes cover.
The shooter’s father, Thomas Matthew Crooks, said he was reading “what’s going on” when he spoke briefly to CNN Saturday night.
Matthew Crooks declined to comment further, noting that he would “wait to speak to police. “
The 2024 election would have been the first time her son had been able to vote.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour’s drive from the rally site.
He was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers and his attack is being investigated as an attempted murder, but a reason is still being sought.
The criminals were reportedly armed with an AR-type rifle, possibly an AR-15, with which they fired several shots from the roof of a nearby structure.
He did not carry identity documents and his DNA was later known.
The scammers had no criminal history, according to Pennsylvania public court records.
Pennsylvania voter records list Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same non-public information, adding address and date of birth, as a registered Republican.
Records also show that he made a one-time donation of $15 to ActBlue’s Democratic Political Action Committee on Jan. 20, 2021.
It’s President Joe Biden’s inauguration day.
Little is known about Crooks other than that he graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 with a $500 “star award” from the National Mathematics and Science Initiative.
Richard Painter, the former White House ethics leader who directs George W. Bush has called for an investigation into the reaction of the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies.
He told the BBC there were “serious questions to be asked” about what happened in terms of security at the demonstration.
Speaking of his time in the White House, the lawyer said he would have imposed a Secret Service perimeter “as far as the eye can see. “
“They definitely put police officers on that roof, cleaned up the domain and made sure there wasn’t a shooter there,” Painter said.
“Frankly, there are steel detectors at those meetings, other people don’t bring guns near the venue.
“There will be a lot of discussion about what the secret facilities did or didn’t do and what they have done. “
Meanwhile, at a press conference, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi highlighted the reaction of the agents present at the demonstration.
“The United States Secret Service temporarily responded with protective measures and former President Trump is safe,” he said.
The FBI agent in the Pittsburgh office said it was “amazing” that Crooks could shoot.
It was sixty or ninety meters away, on the roof of a hangar, outside the Secret Service perimeter.
“It’s incredibly difficult to have a position open to the public and protect it from any imaginable threat, from a very determined attacker,” added Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police.
His comments come as witness Greg Smith called the murder a “security breach” when speaking to the BBC about what happened.
After seeing the shooter and alerting police, Smith recalls thinking, “Why is Trump still talking?Why didn’t they remove him from the scene?” before five shots were fired from the ceiling.
“Why aren’t there Secret Service on all those rooftops here?” He asked her.
“It’s not a big place. It’s a security breach, a 100 percent security breach. “
Trump created a GoFundMe page to raise money for shooting victims and their families.
In six hours, the fundraiser has already earned more than $207,000 of its $1 million goal, with only about 3,000 donors so far.
The page was created by Meredith O’Rourke, the Trump campaign’s national finance director.
“President Donald Trump has this account as a place for donations to his supporters and families injured or killed in today’s brutal and horrific assassination attempt,” the page states.
“All donations will go to those proud Americans as they grieve and recover. May God bless and unite our nation. “
An emergency doctor who attended the demonstration denounced his intention to save the life of a shooting victim.
The guy covered in blood told a CBS News reporter that he first thought the shots were “firecrackers. “
“Someone was yelling ‘he’s been shot, he’s been shot,’ so I walked over,” he recalled.
After identifying himself to shocked bystanders as an emergency department doctor, the doctor said, “Let me help you” after noticing the victim had “rolled over” and “stuck between the benches. “
“He was shot in the head. . . there’s a lot of blood and brain matter there. “
As the doctor spoke, he announced that a helicopter was arriving to pick up the victim.
He said bystanders helped him carry the man to the bench, where they then performed CPR and chest compressions.
In the incident, one player died and two others were injured.
Their identities have yet been revealed.
Dozens of politicians and celebrities came forward to help the former president after he was reportedly hit by gunfire during his rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.
President Biden held a brief press conference shortly after 8 p. m. ET. He said he looked forward to communicating with Trump. ” Look, there is no position in the United States for this type of violence. It’s sickening,” the president continued. We cannot tolerate this. “
Vice President Harris said she was “relieved” that Trump was not seriously injured. “Such violence has no place in our country,” he continued.
Former President Obama: “Surely there is no position for political violence in our democracy. While we still don’t know exactly what happened, we are all relieved that former President Trump was not seriously injured and we use this moment to reaffirm our commitment. to courtesy and respect in our politics Michelle and I wish him a speedy recovery.
Donald Trump Jr shared a photo of his father raising his fist moments after being shot, with the caption: “He will never stop fighting to save America. “
Ohio Sen. J. D. Vance: “Everyone joins me in praying for our President Trump and at this rally. I hope he’s fine. “
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “I pray for President Trump and for attending the rally in Pennsylvania today. “
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott: “Please sign up to pray for President Donald J. Trump and the protection of those who attended the Trump rally. ”
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. : “Now is the time for all Americans who love our country to leave division behind, renounce all violence, and join together in prayer for President Trump and his family. “
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said: “I completely agree with President Trump and look forward to his speedy recovery. “
Trump supporters Warren and Debbie spoke about the heartbreaking moment when a rally-goer feared for her life.
The two men told the BBC how they heard at least 4 shots and lay on the ground.
“We couldn’t imagine this was happening,” Warren told the outlet.
Debbie remembers when a little woman in the crowd feared for her life saying she didn’t need to die and screaming, “How is this happening to us?”
“It broke my heart,” Debbie said.
Meanwhile, Greg Smith, who heard the pickup from outside and saw the shooter, spoke of other terrified children.
“There were many up there with us who were terrified, and still are terrified,” he said.
The father added that his son “cried and begged me to take him home” after the incident.
A player named Greg Smith recalled the moments before the murder as he listened to the demonstration from outside.
He saw a user dressed in “tight tan clothing” and “a bear crawling” on the roof of a high-rise building just five minutes before Trump took the stage, he told the BBC.
“He had a gun, obviously we may see him with a gun,” Smith said, adding that he informed police.
“We pointed it out, the police were there running around on the ground; we thought, ‘Hey, there’s a guy on the roof with a gun,’ and the police didn’t know what was going on. “
“We say to ourselves, ‘We can see it here. ‘
“Next thing we know, why is Trump still talking? Why hasn’t he been taken off stage?”
Greg claimed he pointed at the shooter for “two or three minutes” while the Secret Service monitored him and other participants.
“Then shots were heard,” he said.
In response, “the Secret Service blew his mind,” Smith added.
“They crawled up to the roof, pointed their guns at him to make sure he died. And that’s it. It’s over. “
The attacker was removed by snipers, the government confirmed.
Donald Trump was reportedly shot and killed Saturday afternoon during his rally in Pennsylvania.
1:00 p. m. : Gates open at the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was scheduled to speak at 5:00 p. m.
4:11 pm: Sean Parnell the keynote address.
4:35 pm: David McCormick rallied the crowd.
5:30 p. m. : The crowd was waiting for Trump.
6:03pm: Trump takes the stage.
6:11 p. m. : Shots fired as Trump gave his speech.
6:12 p. m. : Trump has been removed from the level by Secret Service agents.
6:42 p. m. : The Secret Service has proven that Trump is safe.
7:24 p. m. : Police show shooter and a player dead at rally.
8:42 p. m. : Trump confirms he was shot in the ear and shares a message on Truth Social.
8:49 p. m. : The Secret Service confirms that the shooter and a rally player are dead. Two other people are still seriously injured.
The shooter’s identity has been proven to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Bethel Park is a few miles south of the rally site.
The criminals were “neutralized” through Secret Service agents at the scene, FBI communications leader Anthony Guglielmi confirmed.
The shooter was reportedly armed with an AR-style rifle that he fired from the roof of a high-rise building less than 150 meters from the former president.
The criminals did not carry identity documents and their DNA was later revealed, Special Agent Kevin Rojek said.
The FBI is investigating a motive.
Pennsylvania voter registrations list Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same non-public information, adding address and date of birth, as a registered Republican.
However, according to NBC News, it’s unclear how up-to-date those records are.
Crooks did not have a criminal history, per Pennsylvania’s public court records.
The former president visited Truth Social just hours after firing to thank the Secret Service for its reaction and pay tribute to the fallen rally attendee.
“I want to thank the United States Secret Service and all law enforcement for their quick reaction to the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” he said.
“The most important thing is that I must express my deepest condolences to the relatives of the user who was killed in the demonstration, as well as to the relatives of some other user who was seriously injured.
“Such an act could take place in our country.
“At the moment nothing is known about the shooter, who is now dead.
“I got a bullet that pierced the part of my right ear,” he continued.
“I immediately knew that something was wrong, I heard a whistle, gunshots and I immediately felt that the bullet was tearing my skin.
“There was a lot of bleeding, so I found out what was going on.
“GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Donald Trump was shot and killed during his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 13.
There were 8 to 10 steel detectors on the grounds at Butler Farm, to former USUN ambassador Kip Tom.
The place has capacity for dozens of people.
Tom told CNN that anyone within a certain distance of the president enters through those steel detectors.
Although it was located in an open fairground, the demonstration was fenced, that is, a perimeter was established.
In addition to steel detectors for the public and local and national police, the Secret Service serves to protect the president.
Secret Service agents immediately swooped in to cover Trump after he appeared to have been shot.
“We’ve trained for it thousands of times,” Jonathan Wackrow, a former agent, told CNN.
CNN reported that the Secret Service shot and killed the alleged gunman.
The secret is lately culminating the investigation.
The FBI will handle the broader investigation, working with the Secret Service.
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