The Attempted Assassination of President Donald Trump Part III

The Attempted Murder of a President

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, the former president of the United States and at that time the Republican Party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election, was shot and wounded while addressing a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.^[5] Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania,^[6][7] fired eight rounds with an AR-15–style rifle from the roof of a nearby building outside the rally venue. He killed an audience member, critically injured two other audience members, and injured Trump in his upper right ear.^[6] Crooks was then shot and killed by the United States Secret Service Counter Sniper Team.^[8] The incident is being investigated as an attempted assassination and as a potential act of domestic terrorism.^[9][10]

Footage of the incident showed Trump clasping his right ear before taking cover on the floor behind the podium, where he was surrounded by Secret Service personnel. After agents helped him to his feet, photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured images of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air, with an American flag in the background, that went viral on social media and have been widely praised as iconic and historically important. Trump mouthed,^[11][12] or shouted,^[13] the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as he was escorted off-stage to his motorcade.^[6][14] Taken to a nearby hospital, he was released a few hours later in stable condition. He made his first public appearance after the shooting two days later at the 2024 Republican National Convention.^[15]

Following the shooting, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about security arrangements at the event, including the failure to secure access to the roof from which Crooks had fired the shots. Public figures called for increased security for the major candidates in the election.^[16] Crooks, who had borrowed the legally purchased rifle from his father, had no criminal record and his motive for the shooting is unknown. No ideology is indicated in his social media posts or other writings,^[17] and authorities have stated that it is unknown whether the assassination attempt was related to his political views.^[18] Experts considered the shooting a sign of political polarization in the United States, and political figures called for a reduction in tensions.^[19][20] Soon after the shooting, misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories quickly spread on social media.^[21]

Background

At the time of the incident, Donald Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.^[22] The shooting occurred two days before the July 15 start of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[23] This was the second attempt at violence toward Trump during one of his rallies; the first was in 2016, when a man attempted to grab a security officer's gun at a rally outside of Las Vegas.^[24]

On July 3, 2024,^[25] it was announced that Trump would hold a rally on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in Connoquenessing Township and Meridian, near Butler, Pennsylvania.^{[26][27][28][29]} On July 10, an advance team began setting up for the rally, including the installation of generators in a large open field.^[30] The rally was part of the Trump campaign's attempts to garner votes in Pennsylvania, which polling indicates is a swing state;^[31] the state has 19 votes in the Electoral College.^[23] David McCormick, the Republican nominee in the state's concurrent U.S. Senate election, was invited to appear onstage during the rally to increase support for his campaign.^[32] U.S. Representative Mike Kelly said he had contacted the Trump campaign to recommend holding the rally in an area that could handle a larger crowd than the Butler Farm Show Grounds, and that their response was, "We appreciate your input but we've already made up our minds".^[23]

Attendees at Trump's rallies are screened for prohibited items, including weapons.^[33] The Secret Service routinely screens and monitors nearby buildings and businesses, including structures outside security perimeters.^[34] Four separate counter-sniper teams were assigned to the event, two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement.^[35] The Pennsylvania State Police, which serves as the law enforcement agency for Connoquenessing Township, were also involved in security matters. Butler Township police were given traffic duties.^[29] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had no information about any particular threats before the event.^[36] The Secret Service had increased Trump's security detail in prior weeks due to intelligence indicating that Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump.^[37][38]

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