LIVE | Trump survives assassination attempt, says US must 'stand united', thanks God
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social platform, Trump said, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
Former US president Donald Trump survived an attempt on his life on Saturday (July 13 US time) when a young shooter fired multiple shots at him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The bullet grazed his right ear but the shooting left one spectator dead and two others critically injured.
The incident is being investigated as an attempted assassination. The male attacker, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, was also shot and killed by a member of the Secret Service. He was registered to vote as a Republican.
The incident comes days before Trump, 78, was to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidential election in November. He was speaking at the packed outdoor election rally in Butler town when bullets started flying. Video footage showed him grabbing his ear as shots were fired.
What Trump said
Later, Trump said the US must "stand united" and called for people to show "true character as Americans", remaining "strong and determined".
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social platform, Trump said, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” CNN reported.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win,” he said.
“We will FEAR NOT,” said Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee.
He said he would remain “resilient” and added, “Our love goes out to the other victims and their families,” according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Trump Campaign said the former president is “fine” after the “heinous act.” The incident took place two days before the Republican National Convention starts in Milwaukee, where Trump will formally become the party’s nominee for the November 5 presidential election.
He is expected to still attend the convention.
What happened at the rally?
The suspect fired from between 200 ft and 300 ft away on an elevated shed with an AR-style rifle, multiple law enforcement officers told CBS News.
The crowd started screaming behind him and then someone yelled “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as Secret Service agents piled on top of Trump to shield him. The shooting created chaos with people in the back of the venue immediately running to the exits.
As blood gushed from his ear, Trump was then rushed off stage. He boldly pumped his fist into the air and told the crowd to “fight!” He was then whisked away in a car to a Pittsburgh-area hospital. “Let me get my shoes,” Trump said as he was escorted to the safe place.
Trump “fine”
A spokesperson for the Trump Campaign said the former president was “fine” after the “heinous act.”
In a post on his Truth Social social media account, Trump elaborated on what happened and described his injuries: “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
FBI probe
In a news conference, Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, said it was “surprising” the gunman was able to fire multiple shots. “We’re still working through the security apparatus that the Secret Service had in place, what potentially happened,” he added.
“There’s going to be a long investigation into exactly what took place and how the individual was able to get access to the location, what type of weapon he had. All that is really days, weeks, and months of investigation.” Bomb-clearing assets were deployed at the scene of the shooting out of an “abundance of caution,” said the FBI. Rojek said the crime scene was still active.
Biden returns to White House
US President Joe Biden spoke to Trump, his November election opponent, a White House official said. Biden also talked with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy, the White House said. Biden was scheduled to be in Delaware for the weekend but changed his plans to return to the White House.
Biden earlier said that “everybody must condemn” the suspected assassination attempt.
Addressing the nation about two hours after the shooting, he said, “We cannot allow this to be happening.” Vice-President Kamala Harris and former presidents, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, have condemned the attack on Trump.
Harris said she was “relieved” Trump was not seriously injured.
Follow this space for more live updates on the story
Live Updates
- 14 July 2024 8:38 AM GMT
How US media reacted to assassination bid on Trump
Americans received a sobering reminder on Saturday of the threat that political violence poses to our democracy, The New York Times said.
"It is now incumbent on political leaders of both parties and on Americans individually and collectively, to resist a slide into further violence and the type of extremist language that fuels it. Saturday’s attack should not be taken as a provocation or a justification," it said.
"Americans also must be clear-eyed about the challenge that is confronting this nation. Saturday’s events cannot be written off as an aberration. Violence is infecting and inflecting American political life," the newspaper said.
"Acts of violence have long shadowed American democracy, but they have loomed larger and darker of late. Cultural and political polarisation, the ubiquity of guns and the radicalising power of the internet have all been contributing factors, as this board laid out in its editorial series The Danger Within in 2022. This high-stakes presidential election is further straining the nation’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of political differences," it said.
Democracy requires partisans to accept that the process is more important than the results. Even before Saturday’s events, there were worrying signs that many Americans were failing that essential test, it added.
The assassination attempt is a horrific moment for America that could have been much worse. But we can’t say it comes as a complete surprise. Political hostility and hateful rhetoric have been rising to a decibel level that far too often in the American past has led to violence and attempted murder. Some of us still remember 1968 all too well, The Wall Street Journal said.
The shooter alone is responsible for his actions. But leaders on both sides need to stop describing the stakes of the election in apocalyptic terms. Democracy won’t end if one or the other candidate is elected, it added.
"Fascism is not aborning if Mr. Trump wins, unless you have little faith in American institutions," the paper said.
The targeting of a former president, also the Republican presidential candidate for the November election, at a campaign rally just days before he accepted the Republican nomination is, by definition, an attack on democracy and the right of each American to choose their leaders, CNN said in an opinion piece.
The attempted assassination, which opens a dark new chapter in America’s cursed story of political violence, shook a nation already deeply estranged during one of the most tense periods of its modern history, it said.
- 14 July 2024 8:12 AM GMT
Trump's campaign to boost security
Trump's campaign team has announced plans to bolster security protocols to ensure his safety.
His campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said the campaign would be employing additional security measures, CNN reported.
Wiles and LaCivita told staffers in a new memo that they “remain horrified” at the attack. They added that they “hope that this horrendous act will bring our team, and indeed the nation, together in unity and we must renew our commitment to safety and peace for our country”.
“We condemn all forms of violence, and will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media,” the memo said.
The campaign managers said the Republican National Convention will continue as planned in Milwaukee, “where we will nominate our President to be the brave and fearless nominee of our Party”.
- 14 July 2024 7:52 AM GMT
Who was Thomas Crooks, the assailant?
- The FBI has identified the shooter in the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
- In a statement, the US Secret Service said the shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally” before being “neutralised” by agents.
- A voter-registration record showed that he was registered as a Republican.
- A resident of Bethel Park in Pennsylvania, Crooks appears to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School. He even received a $500 “star award” that year from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to The Tribune-Review in western Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Multiple witnesses said they saw him before the shooting and alerted authorities. He was positioned on the roof of a building about 130 yards away from the stage where Trump was addressing the rally.
- He was shot dead by the Secret Service officials after the attack on the 78-year-old former US President. Police, however, said Crooks’ motive behind firing on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is not clear.
- 14 July 2024 6:21 AM GMT
Biden calls Trump, returns to White House
US President Joe Biden on Saturday night spoke with his predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump.
“This evening, President Biden spoke to former President Trump. The President also spoke to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy,” the White House said.
Biden was spending time this weekend at his home in Delaware but returned to the White House past midnight.
“Tomorrow morning at the White House, he will receive an updated briefing from homeland security and law enforcement officials,” the White House said.
Biden went on to thank the Secret Service and all the law enforcement agencies involved in responding to the shooting.
President Biden was in Delaware attending church when the shooting occurred.
- 14 July 2024 6:19 AM GMT
Secret Service probing how gunman got so close to Trump
The US Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump. The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the agency said.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump's rally was held.
The roof was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, like the shooter at the Trump rally had, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.
