14/07/2024 Updated 20 hours ago|Source: ČT24, ČTK, Reuters, CNN
Events: Attempted assassination of Donald Trump (source: ČT24)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump reported that the bullet hit the top of his right ear and he was bleeding profusely. He has already been released from the hospital. The United States Secret Service (USSS) said one spectator was killed and two others were injured in the shooting. The shooter is dead. The FBI official who is leading the investigation said that the attacker acted alone, but his political views are not yet known. The bomber was identified as a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania.
Ex-President Trump is safe following the incident. “The Secret Service has put protective measures in place and the former president is safe,” USSS Chief Anthony Guglielmi confirmed. The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt on the former president, the AP reported, citing police and law enforcement officials.
The shooting came shortly following Trump began a speech on stage at the packed theme park. “I thought it was an airsoft gun or fireworks. But when the sound of the gunshot was repeated, I and the people around quickly jumped to the ground,” said witness Saurabh Sharma.
A view of the position of the attacker, Donald Trump and the police snipers
The initial investigation shows the time trace and course of the assassination. Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m. local time. At 18:11, the attacker’s shots rang out from the roof roughly 130 meters away. The first shot wounded the ex-president on the right ear. In the following seconds, the secret service surrounded the ex-president, and its sniper eliminated the assassin from the adjacent roof.
The Republican politician immediately recovered his balance and ended the dramatic incident with a clenched fist gesture of defiance. A gesture that was enough to become a powerful symbol. At 6:14 p.m., Trump’s motorcade hurriedly left the site.
Overturned chairs were left on the spot, and the police surrounded the area with yellow tape. A helicopter was flying over the scene of the incident, while law enforcement agencies were operating on the ground. CT USA reporter Bohumil Vostal later described following arriving at the scene that the entire road leading to the farm where the meeting was held was closed.
GALERIE
Shooting at a Donald Trump rally
Trump: I was shot in the right ear
Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, said the former president was fine. “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their swift action during this heinous act. He is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility,” the spokesperson added.
Trump himself later confirmed that he had been shot. The bullet went through the top of his right ear and he was bleeding profusely before he realized what had happened, he wrote on his social media. “I knew right away that something was wrong because I heard a whooshing sound, gunshots, and immediately I felt a bullet go through my skin,” he told Truth Social. “It is unbelievable that such an act can happen in our country,” added the politician.
Trump also took to his social network to thank the Secret Service and security forces for their quick response to the shooting. At the same time, he offered his condolences to the family of the participant of the meeting who was shot and another person who was seriously injured. Trump’s daughter Ivanka also thanked the Secret Service on the X network.
Trump, who was shot, was released from the hospital where he was treated late Saturday evening, according to Bloomberg. He then headed to New Jersey. Footage on social media shows him getting off the plane there.
One dead, two injured
The local district attorney told the AP that two people were killed in the shooting – the shooter and one visitor to the event. “Someone yelled, ‘They shot him, they shot him.’ So I went there. I work in healthcare so I wanted to offer some help. The man the shooter hit had a bullet wound to the head. There was a lot of blood everywhere,” the witness said.
The Secret Service later confirmed that the shooter had been neutralized and was dead. He fired several shots towards the podium from an elevated position outside the meeting venue itself. Authorities later identified the 50-year-old father and former firefighter as the bystander who lost his life. Two other people who were injured in the shooting are in stable condition.
Texas Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson said his nephew was also wounded in the neck in the shooting. “They heard shots and everybody fell to the ground,” a member of the House of Representatives told Fox News. His nephew was reportedly treated at the scene.
Testimony of participants in Donald Trump’s meeting (source: ČT24)
The FBI released the shooter’s identity, saying he acted alone
The FBI said Sunday that the shooter acted alone. According to the statement, the investigators do not yet know the perpetrator’s political views and have not found any threatening messages in this regard. At the same time, FBI agents, who took the lead in the investigation into the shooting, said they were observing an upsurge in violent political rhetoric following the assassination, the AP reported.
The FBI confirmed that the shooter fired an AR-style rifle, a type of weapon repeatedly used by perpetrators of mass shootings in the US. The weapon was apparently bought by his father, who, together with other family members, is cooperating with investigators. This rifle has become a symbol of the gun control debate in the US, writes The Guardian. The semi-automatic AR-15 is not capable of continuous fire, but experienced shooters can still fire a large number of rounds in a short amount of time.
The investigators did not fully confirm earlier information in the American media that explosives or materials for their production were found in the shooter’s car and in his residence. The FBI says pyrotechnicians in the car recovered a suspicious object believed to be a “primitive” explosive device.
Earlier, the FBI announced that the shooter was identified as a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania. According to American media, the attacker was a member of the Republican Party. The media reports this with reference to the register of registered voters.
However, Ondřej Nekola from the foreign editorial office of CT noted that when the shooter was seventeen years old, he donated fifteen dollars to the ActBlue committee. “Which is a committee that raises money for left-leaning Democrats or Democrat supporters,” he explained. The AP agency wrote that the shooter sent the post on the day of Biden’s inauguration.
“Although he was a registered republican, we cannot understand this situation as formal membership in political parties in the Czech Republic. It’s more of a less formal connection,” pointed out Jakub Dopieralla, a political scientist from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. He also mentioned that post. “It would be very premature to really look for any political motivations at this point,” he added.
Briefing of the Pennsylvania police and the FBI on the assassination of Donald Trump (source: ČT24)
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service were working with law enforcement partners to investigate the shooting. “We are in contact with President (Joe) Biden, former President Trump and their campaigns and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security. Preserving the security of presidential candidates and their pre-election events is one of the most important priorities of our ministry,” assured Mayorkas.
Trump’s campaign also said it would increase security measures in response to the incident. Biden has ordered the agency responsible for protecting the presidents and former presidents of the United States to re-examine security measures for the upcoming Republican National Convention.
Biden is said to be interrupting the campaign, the Republican convention will be
“I’m glad he’s OK,” Biden said shortly following the assassination at an emergency press conference and called for an end to political violence. “There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s disgusting,” the president said. “Everyone must condemn it,” he emphasized.
Biden also said that he is praying for Trump, his family and all those attending the rally. He also expressed gratitude to the Secret Service for getting Trump to safety. According to Reuters, a Biden campaign source said the campaign was cutting off communications and working to expedite the withdrawal of the televised shots.
Biden contacted Trump by phone, but the White House has not yet provided any further information. The president also spoke with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy.
Trump’s campaign team has announced that Republicans plan to hold the party’s nominating convention in Milwaukee next week, despite the attack, according to DPA. The event, where the 78-year-old ex-president is expected to receive the nomination for the upcoming November elections, is scheduled to take place from Monday to Thursday.
The events caused consternation among politicians and other personalities, who condemn the attack. For example, US Vice President Kamala Harris, ex-President Barack Obama, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate Chuck Schumer and the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke out. Across the opinion spectrum, everyone agrees that political violence must have no place in society.
The FBI will also be looking into the crackdown
According to the ČT Vostal reporter, this is a shocking event from all angles. There was talk of a security failure, as all participants in the meeting had to go through metal detectors. According to later reports, the attacker was not supposed to be at the meeting. He should have been on the roof. “Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a close supporter of Donald Trump, has already said that he would like to establish a commission of inquiry. Several Republican senators have already called for something like this,” the reporter noted.
ČT correspondent David Miřejovský, who also worked in the USA, described the event as surprising. “I know what the security measures are at various meetings of high-ranking American politicians – the Secret Service leaves nothing to chance. And that’s why I’m very surprised that she allowed the shooter to get to some elevated place from which he had the opportunity to see and hit the president, even though that place was approximately 180 meters away according to the first information,” he commented. According to him, the Secret Service will probably spend a very long time investigating how such a situation might have occurred.
Some witnesses claim that they saw the shooter as he climbed onto the roof from which he fired. It is said that they alerted the police to him – but they did not have time to react. “We saw a man climbing the roof of a building fifty feet away. We point to him. We can clearly see that he has a gun. We call the police officers nearby and tell them regarding it, but they are confused and don’t understand what’s going on at all,” says witness Greg Smith.
The FBI will also deal with police intervention. “We are also investigating how the entire event was secured. Then it’s time to investigate exactly what happened and how the person got there, what type of weapon they had,” said FBI agent in Pittsburgh Kevin Rojek.
