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From /apa, July 14, 2024, 12:12 p.m.
Image: APA/AFP/REBECCA DROKE
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Image: APA/AFP/REBECCA DROKE
WASHINGTON. Shortly before the Republican nominating convention, former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an attempted assassination at a campaign event.
The likely Republican presidential candidate was injured in the ear at the rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI identified the suspected perpetrator as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. What is known regarding the events so far:
Several shots within a minute
The incident occurred as Trump began his speech at the campaign rally in the small town of Butler. Dressed in a dark blue blazer, a white shirt and a bright red MAGA cap (an abbreviation of Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again”), the former president was just beginning to criticize illegal immigration when, at 6:08 p.m. (local time, 12:08 a.m. CEST), shots suddenly rang out. Trump’s words “Look at what happened” were interrupted by four shots fired in quick succession.
- The video shows the dramatic moments of the attack:
Trump then takes cover behind the lectern while security guards rush to him and shield him. Rally participants scream and throw themselves to the ground. Trump stands up once more surrounded by security guards, blood can be seen around his right ear.
Trump puts his hand to his right ear as repeated shouts of “Get down!” ring out before a fifth and sixth shot are fired within four seconds and additional security officers rush to the stage. More Trump supporters are apparently hit by the shots. 17 seconds following the first shots, a final loud bang is heard. A woman can be heard screaming.
Image: APA/AFP/REBECCA DROKE
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Image: APA/AFP/REBECCA DROKE
22 seconds following the first shots were fired, three heavily armed security guards escorted Trump from the stage to his car. The Secret Service officers gave lightning-quick instructions such as “We’re ready” and “Let’s go” before lifting the visibly shaken Trump off the stage.
About a minute into the incident, Trump is once more seen shielded by security, saying, “Let me get my shoes.” Another 13 seconds pass before Trump raises his fist in a combative manner toward the crowd, which responds with cheers. As the ex-president is escorted off the stage once more, MAGA hat in hand, the audience chants “USA!”.
Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/ANNA MONEYMAKER
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Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/ANNA MONEYMAKER
Trump’s first reaction
In an initial reaction on his online platform Truth Social, Trump explained the incident at 8:42 p.m. (local time) with the words: “I was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” He immediately knew “that something was wrong because I heard a hissing sound, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet pierce the skin,” he describes the moment following the shots.
The White House announced that President Joe Biden received an initial briefing on the incident at 6:50 p.m. There is “no place for this kind of violence” in the United States, Biden said. “It’s sick,” the president told reporters in Rehoboth Beach in his home state of Delaware. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., the White House announced that Biden had spoken to Trump on the phone and would return to Washington earlier than planned.
Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/JEFF SWENSEN
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Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/JEFF SWENSEN
Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump was fine. The 78-year-old former president was examined at a medical facility on site. He also said Trump thanked “the security forces and first responders for their quick action during this horrific act.”
- ZIB Special – Wolschek: “Trump treated in hospital”
What is known regarding the shooter
US media reports that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the suspected perpetrator as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park in Pennsylvania. Crooks is described by the FBI as “the person who was involved in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.”
The Secret Service said the attacker fired “several shots from an elevated position” outside the meeting place. The shooter was then “neutralized.”
Several eyewitnesses say they saw the gunman before the attack and alerted the authorities. Trump supporter Ryan Knight says he saw the attacker on a building outside the event site. Local police say they “responded to a number of reports of suspicious activity” but are not providing any further details.
According to US media, the attacker was armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle.
Bethel Park is regarding 70 kilometers south of Butler, where the campaign event took place. According to documents from the election commission, at the age of 17 he donated $15 to the political group ActBlue. The organization raises money for left-wing politicians and representatives of President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party. The donation was intended for the “Progressive Turnout Project,” which was intended to mobilize people to vote for Democratic politicians. The groups did not initially respond to Reuters inquiries. Crooks would have been able to vote in a presidential election for the first time on November 5.
Photo gallery: Assassination attempt on Donald Trump
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Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. He also received a $500 award for mathematical and technical achievements from the National Math and Science Initiative. The alleged assassin’s father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN that he was trying to find out what happened. He did not want to talk regarding his son until he had spoken to investigators. Reuters was initially unable to identify any social media accounts or online posts by Crooks. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not respond to questions regarding whether messages or statements published by Crooks had been deleted because of their content.
In Crooks’ hometown, investigations were in full swing just a few hours following the shooting. Dozens of police vehicles were parked outside the house that is listed in the voter registration as Crooks’ place of residence, the newspaper “USA Today” reported. Specialists in defusing explosive devices were also deployed. The area around the residence was cordoned off with yellow police tape. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) closed the airspace over Bethel Park for “special security reasons.”
The victims
In addition to the suspected shooter, a bystander also died and two others were seriously injured, according to authorities.
Two eyewitnesses reported to US media that they saw a man with a fatal shot to the head. “The man next to me was shot in the head and died instantly. Another woman looked as if she had been hit in the forearm or hand,” a visitor told NBC News.
A second eyewitness, who says he is an emergency doctor, rushed to help another injured person. He said he helped a man who was trapped between the benches and had been shot in the head.
US-Präsident Biden: “This is sick!”
US President Biden called the act “sick”. There is “no place for this kind of violence” in the USA, he said. The president had previously stated that the USA must “stand together as one nation to condemn this”. According to the White House, Biden spoke to Trump on the phone following the shooting and traveled back to Washington early from his home state of Delaware over the weekend.
- Video: Reactions to the attack
The gathering in Butler was Trump’s last campaign event before the Republican Party Convention, which begins on Monday and at which Trump is to be officially chosen as the party’s presidential candidate. Trump plans to attend despite his injury, according to his campaign team.
The shootings are likely to further inflame existing tensions in the divided country ahead of the November 5 presidential election. US Senator JD Vance, who is being considered as Trump’s vice presidential nominee, pointed the finger at Trump’s rival Biden. “The central premise of Biden’s campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote on X, adding: “This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”
