Trump is very lucky survives assassination attempt after major security lapse
Trump is very lucky survives assassination attempt
Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt days before accepting the Republican Party's nomination, an attack that will deepen US political divisions and raise questions about insecurity. The 78-year-old Trump was leaving Butler, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, on Saturday when a bullet rang out, hitting the former president in the right ear and face.
Trump personally addresses supporters as Secret Service agents run away from him. According to his campaign, he is doing well and appears to have no major injuries except for his upper right ear.
The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in attempted murder. He is a registered Republican, according to state election records, and gave $15 to the Democratic National Committee when he was 17.
The shooting comes less than four months before the Nov. 5, when Trump faces a re-election bid against Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Several polls, including Reuters/Ipsos, show the two in a close race.
The crime fueled much of the presidential campaign's debate over the past two weeks, with questions from Democrats about whether Biden, 81, could drop out after the June debate.
The Biden campaign tried to walk back its message, calling Trump a threat to democracy over his false allegations of election fraud, but he said on Saturday that he would suspend his political campaign for now. A Secret Service agent
shot the suspect, the agency said, after opening fire on a rooftop about 140 meters from the stage where Trump was speaking. The AR-15 rifle used in the shooting was found near his body, reports said. According to intelligence officials,
People who participated in the protest died and two others were seriously injured.
"Now more than ever, it is important that we stand together and show our true American character by staying strong and determined and not letting evil win," Trump said on Sunday.
Trump left Butler County under Secret Service protection
Trump left Butler County under Secret Service protection before arriving at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The Secret Service issued a statement denying allegations by some Trump supporters that they denied campaign requests for additional security.
"The allegation that a member of the President's National Guard requested that other members of the United States Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security be rejected is completely false," said Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service. . "In fact, the US Secret Service recently added surveillance equipment and capabilities to the former president's security detail."
Giffords later founded a gun control agency, and Scalise is a gun rights advocate.
The attack fueled long-standing concerns that political violence could erupt during the presidential campaign and after the election.
The concern is part of a reflection of how voters are drifting apart, with the country seemingly bitterly divided into two factions with different political and social views. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that .
Americans fear an increase in political violence, and two-thirds of respondents to a May survey said they do. worry about post-election violence.
Trump supporters attacked the US House in January. 6, 2021, to try to erase his election victory, which was falsely accused that his death was caused by widespread fraud. About 140 police officers were injured in the riot, four of the rioters committed suicide that day, one responding officer the next day, and four responding officers were later killed. themselves.
Trump will receive his party's nomination at the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday in Milwaukee.
The bullets appeared to have come from outside the Secret Service's security compound, the agency said.
hours after the attack, the House Republican Committee in the United States called the head of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle to testify in a hearing scheduled for July 22.
REPUBLIC, DEMOCRATING RUSSIA
Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as foreign leaders, were quick to condemn the violence.
"This type of violence has no place in the United States. We must come together as a nation to condemn it," Biden said in a statement.
Some Trump Republican allies said they believed the attack was politically motivated.
"For weeks, Democratic leaders have been raising fears that the election victory of Donald Trump will mean the end of American democracy," said Scalise, who did not. 2 House Republicans.
"Clearly, we have seen left-wing leaders engage in violence in the past. This blasphemy must stop."
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, quickly defeated his Republican opponents early in the campaign. He rallied his party after their support collapsed shortly after supporters stormed the US Capitol in January.
The businessman and former reality TV star entered the year with a number of legal problems, including four separate lawsuits.
He was convicted at the end of May for trying to hide the swing star's earnings. But three other cases he faces - including two failed impeachment attempts - have been put on hold for various reasons, including a Supreme Court decision earlier this month that could protect lawyers.
Trump argued without evidence that Biden orchestrated the four cases to prevent him from returning to office.
Who is suspected Trump Protest Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks
BETHEL PARK, Pennsylvania, July 14 (Reuters) - The FBI said 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, is suspected of trying to kill the former U.S. President Donald Trump during his campaign rally.
A suspect was shot and killed by an undercover police officer who allegedly fired into the stadium where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
The FBI announced that it was working to determine the cause of the attack. One protester was killed and two spectators were seriously injured. Trump was shot in the ear.
State election records show Crooks is a registered Republican. The Nov. 5 election, which pits Trump against President Joe Biden, marks the first time Crooks is old enough to vote in a presidential race.
The groups did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Crooks' father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to find out what happened and would wait until he spoke to police before speaking about his son.
At Bethel Park, the streets around Crooks' home were blocked off by law enforcement about an hour after the shooting occurred.
Mary and Stanley Priselac stood on the porch of their brick house, trying to take in the events of the past day and the available light in their home.
“There was never a gun problem. "The police were never called," says Mary Priselac, 67. Do you wonder what you can't get in life? What makes the situation worse? “The investigation is ongoing based on this case and therefore we are limited in what we can publicly disclose,” the statement said. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
Crooks received a $500 "star award" from the National Institute of Mathematics and Science.
The New York Times' 2022 graduation video shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma to a standing ovation. Video of the ceremony posted online shows a bespectacled Crooks wearing a black dress and posing for a photo with the school's principal. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.
Trump injured but 'okay' after assassination attempt on him during rally, gunman and bystander dead
The organizer said the congress will continue as planned
After visiting a hospital in Pennsylvania, Trump flew to New Jersey and landed at Newark Liberty International Airport just after midnight. A video released by an aide shows the former president protesting on his private jet surrounded by U.S.
Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency's counterterrorism unit, demonstrating the extraordinary power of the security system. The White House said Trump's rival, President Joe Biden, was briefed on the incident and spoke with Trump several hours after the attack.
Secret Service Counterterrorism Task Force killed the gunman, officials said. An armored tactical team is used to travel across the country with the chairman and elected officials of the major party and is intended to deal with any threats while the rest of the staff focuses on protecting the individual and getting them to security headquarters.
In images posted on social media by Geology and the AP, the body of a man dressed in black lies on the roof of a building owned by AGR International Inc., a factory north of the Butler Farm Show site where Trump's meeting took place.
The man lay was less than 164 meters from where Trump was speaking
Trump showed a map of the numbers crossing the border when the shooting began just after 6 p.m. When the first explosion was heard, Trump said "Oh" and put his hand to his right ear before leaning back behind his book.
A shout rose from the crowd and the people behind him bowed. I heard someone near the microphone yelling, "Get down, get down, get down, get down!" he could be heard saying. When the team takes the stage. Per training protocols, they crawled over to the former president and protected him with their bodies, while other staff members took positions on stage to scan for threats.
Trump reached for his feet
Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Pennsylvania, said: "Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and rushed to ." Everyone was on their knees or wherever they wanted because we all knew, everyone knew it was a gunshot.
McCormick, who was sitting to Trump's right on stage, said he looked over his shoulder when he saw Trump raise his fist and saw the victim sitting in the stands behind the stage. Five or six gunshots rang out when McCormick
Reporters covering the protest had to seek medical attention and many ran for cover. After the first two or three shots, people in the crowd looked shocked but not worried. An AP reporter at the scene reported that it sounded as if someone was on fire first, or perhaps a car was backing up.
When it became clear that things were under control and Trump would not speak, the crowd began to leave. A man in a wheelchair fell into the field when his chair's battery died. Others tried to help him move.
