BUTLER, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for unity and patience after an assassination attempt added new uncertainty to an already turbulent presidential election and raised tough questions about how a gunman was able to open fire from a rooftop near a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
The day after the shooting, The perpetrator’s motive remains a mysteryInvestigators said they believe the gunman acted alone. President Joe Biden ordered an independent national security investigation into the attack, which left one bystander dead and two seriously injured. The FBI was investigating the shooting as a possible act of domestic terrorism.
The attack has shaken America’s political establishment and prompted at least a temporary reassessment and de-escalation in the increasingly heated 2024 presidential race.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he had a bullet lodged above his right ear. Aides said he was in “very good spirits” and in good health. Trump arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday evening. The Republican National Convention begins on Monday.
“I knew straight away something was wrong as I heard a whoosh, a gunshot and felt the bullets penetrate my skin,” he wrote on social media. “I was bleeding profusely.”
In a subsequent social post on Sunday, Trump said: “At this moment, it is more important than ever that we come together, show our true character as Americans, stay strong and resolute and do not let evil win.”
The rally participants who died Identified as Corey ComperatorePennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Comperatore, a former fire chief in the area, “died a hero.”
“His wife told me he jumped in to protect his family,” Shapiro said, who declined to discuss the condition of the other two injured.
Biden, meanwhile, spoke briefly with Trump and was scheduled to address the nation on Sunday evening, where he said people would continue to debate and disagree, but stressed that “we must come together as one country to show who we are.”
The FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible domestic terrorist attack
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the shooting scene.
The gunman was carrying his father’s AR-style rifle and was sitting on a nearby roof when several rally attendees pointed him out to local police, said two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.
Local police officers climbed onto the roof and found Crooks, who pointed a rifle at the officers. The officers then climbed down the ladder and the gunman quickly opened fire on Trump, authorities said. That’s when a U.S. Secret Service gunman shot and killed Crooks, authorities said.
The questions are endless Why was the perpetrator so close in the first place?Kevin Rojek, an agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said it was “amazing” that the gunman was able to fire shots on stage before the Secret Service shot him dead.
Bomb-making materials were found in Crooks’ car and at his home, and the FBI described the bomb-making equipment as “primitive.”
The motive remains unclear. Crooks is not on FBI surveillance and is believed to have acted alone. Investigators are combing through the suspect’s social media posts and his home, but have not yet found any threatening messages or posts. The suspect’s family is cooperating with the investigation.
Crooks’ political leanings are also unclear: Records show he was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but his federal campaign finance report also shows he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
The lack of a clear ideological motivation has deepened questions about the shooting and prevented the public from reaching quick and clear conclusions about this shocking crime.
Biden called on Americans to be patient. “I ask everyone to please not speculate about his motives or his relationships,” he said.
The most serious assassination attempt since 1981
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate. Since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981It has drawn fresh attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply divided United States, with less than four months to go until the presidential election.
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said investigators have seen an increase in violent rhetoric online since the rally, and that people have appeared online pretending to be the dead shooter.
“We are also focused on continuing our efforts with the conventions in Chicago and Milwaukee, which are already significant efforts given that these are special national security events,” he said.
President Biden ordered a security review on Sunday. The Republican National Convention is proceeding as scheduled, and the Secret Service said it is “confident” in its security plans for the convention and that no additional changes are planned.
After visiting a local hospital in Pennsylvania, Trump flew to New Jersey, arriving in Newark just after midnight. Video posted by an aide showed the former president disembarking from a private jet surrounded by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s strike team, a rare show of force by his security detail.
Biden, Trump’s rival, said the two had a “brief but meaningful” conversation on Saturday night. Biden returned to Washington from his Delaware Beach home and met with leaders in the Situation Room about the attack. “This kind of violence has no place in America,” he said in a speech on Sunday afternoon.
“We cannot allow this to happen,” Biden said.
But many Republicans were quick to blame the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that his continued attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy had created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to comments made by Biden to donors on July 8, in which he said “it’s time to target Trump.”
The president was trying to emphasize that while Trump has had a lighter public schedule since last month’s debate, he himself faces intense scrutiny even from within his own party, according to a person familiar with the comments, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more freely about private conversations.
“I have one job to do – defeat Donald Trump. And I believe I’m the best person to do that,” Biden said on a conference call with donors.
Biden continued, “So, enough about the debate. It’s time to put Trump at the center of the target. He’s had nothing to do for the last 10 days except ride around in a golf cart and brag about scores he didn’t get. Anyway, I’m not involved in his golf game.”
But it is not yet clear whether Biden will be forced to revise a campaign that has largely portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy – something the US has not seen since Teddy Roosevelt, who was shot while campaigning to retake the White House as a third-party candidate a month before the 1912 election.
Rally interrupted by gunfire
When the shooting began after 6:10 p.m., President Trump was showing a graph of the number of people crossing the border.
As the first note rang out, Trump said “Oh,” put his hand to his right ear and looked at it before quickly crouching on the ground behind the podium, as screams rang out from the crowd and people in the stands behind him crouched as well.
As agents rushed onto the stage, someone could be heard near a microphone saying, “Down, down, down, down, down!” Agents swarmed over the former president, shielding him with their bodies, while others took up positions onstage to search for threats.
Then, someone can be heard saying “The shooter is down” several times, followed by someone asking “Can we move?” and “Is it safe?” and then someone giving the order “Let’s move.”
Trump was seen standing up a few minutes later and reaching his right hand over his blood-stained face before pumping his fist in the air and appearing to say the word “fight” twice to his supporters, prompting loud cheers and chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
Minutes later, Trump’s motorcade left the venue, and video shows him turning to face the crowd and raising his fist just before being loaded into his car.
Former first lady Melania Trump said in a statement Sunday that when she saw her husband’s injuries, “it became clear to me that mine and Barron’s lives were on the brink of devastating change” about her son. She thanked Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials and offered her “deepest condolences” to the families of the other victims.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover.
When the shooting started, “everyone got on their knees or got face down, because everybody knew. Everybody realized it was gunfire,” said Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Senate, who was sitting to Trump’s right.
McCormick said he saw Trump raise his fist, turned around and realized someone sitting in the audience behind the stage had been hit.
McCormick said emergency personnel were eventually able to remove the injured from the large crowd and get them medical treatment.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six gunshots ring out, causing many to duck and take cover under tables. After the first few explosions, the crowd seemed startled but not panicked. An Associated Press reporter at the scene reported that it initially sounded like firecrackers or a car backfiring.
Once the situation settled and it became clear that Trump would not be returning to speak, attendees began filing out of the venue.
Police quickly instructed those remaining to leave the venue, and Secret Service agents told reporters, “Leave now. This is a crime scene.”
Political violence again rocks America
The dangers of campaigning took on new urgency after the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California, and in 1972, Arthur Bremer shot and seriously injured George Wallace, an independent running on a platform that drew comparisons to Trump. This led to increased protection for candidates, following threats against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
president, Especially after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.The presidential guard has even more security, and Trump is unusual in being both a former and sitting president — the sniper team that opened fire on the gunman doesn’t typically accompany former presidents, for example.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the area where the shooting occurred and was at the rally with his wife and grandchildren and just behind the injured Trump, said he was “bewildered by what has happened to the United States of America and how it has happened.”
“I just wish people would be more calm,” he said. “Stop blaming somebody or trying to find somebody. Blaming is somewhere in the American psyche.”
Colvin, Balsamo and Price reported from New York. Long reported from Washington. Tucker reported from Westport, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Michael Biesecker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Lisa Mascaro and Tara Kopp in Washington and Mark Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
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