Donald Trump was shot in the ear while campaigning on Saturday, in an attack that left the Republican candidate covered in blood and surrounded by bodyguards, before emerging with his hands in the air, speaking these “Fight. Fight!
The shooter was killed, a participant in the meeting was killed and other bystanders were injured, the secret service said in a statement. The incident is being investigated as attempted murder. Law enforcement officials told reporters that they had slowly identified the suspect but were not ready to make it public. They also said that they have not found the cause. Trump, 78, had just begun his speech when the shots rang out. He held his right ear with his right hand, then lowered his hand to look at her before kneeling behind the podium before the Secret Service moved in to cover him. He emerged about a minute later, his red Make America Great Again hat off, and he could be heard saying wait, wait, before punching and then being taken away by police. in a black SUV.
The shooting happened less than four months before the Nov. 5, when Trump faces Democratic President Joe Biden. Most polls, including those from Reuters/Ipsos, show the two men in a close fight. Republican leaders and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
The Trump campaign said it was doing well. Biden said in a statement: There is no place for this kind of violence in America. We must come together as one nation to judge him. Republican US Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas told Fox News his nephew was injured at the rally.
The shooting immediately raised questions about security failures at the Secret Service, which provides lifetime protection to former presidents, including Trump. It was the first assassination of a US president or a prominent politician since the assassination attempt on Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Trump left Butler County under the protection of the US Secret Service with the help of the Pennsylvania State Police. Republican United States Representative Daniel Meuser told CNN that Trump was visiting Bedminster, New Jersey, where he owns a golf course.
Testimony
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter at the rally, said he heard about four gunshots. I saw the crowd go down and Trump ran away quickly, he said. Then all the secret agents jumped in and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking about the second, they all protect it.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he had seen a man with a gun crawling around a building near the event. The person, who was not identified by the BBC, said that he and his companions started pointing fingers at the man, trying to alert security.
The shots appeared to be coming from outside the secret bunker, the agency said. The FBI said they took the lead in investigating the attack.
CNN, citing sources, said the FBI had identified the suspected shooter, a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania. Republicans and Democrats condemned the violence
Trump is expected to receive his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday in Milwaukee.
This heinous act of political violence at a peaceful press conference has no place in this country and should be dealt with individually and strongly, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said. and social media. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was horrified by the incident but relieved that Trump was not safe. Political unrest has no place in our country, he said. Biden’s campaign team suspended his television broadcasts and cut off other outgoing communications, a campaign official said.
Americans fear an increase in political violence, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with two out of three people surveyed in May saying they are fear of violence may follow the election. Some Republicans allied with Trump have said they believe the attack was politically motivated.
For a few weeks, the Democratic leadership has been stirring up criticism that the election of Donald Trump will mean the end of democracy in America, the US representative Steve Scalise, the House of 2 Republican who survived the political shooting in 2017 said. Clearly, we have seen left-wing lunatics embrace violence in the past. This motivational speech must end. Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, defeated his opponents for the Republican nomination during the campaign and one by one around him a party that briefly relented when his supporters attacked US Capitol on June 6. January 2021. demolish his victory in the 2020 election.
The businessman and former reality TV star began the year facing a number of legal problems, including four separate criminal convictions. He was convicted in late May of trying to hide money from a porn star, but the other three cases he faces – including two for trying to stop his winnings – have been suspended, including in court. the highest. A court decision earlier this month that declared no part of the case was undocumented.
Trump claims without evidence that Biden orchestrated the four cases to try to prevent him from returning to office. Republican U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who sat in the front row at the rally, said he began to take the stage when Trump said he would bring him up later.
After a minute or two I heard the gunshots… It was clear it was gunshots, he told Reuters in an interview. It seems to be said it was a fatal illness … it’s doing the risk.
