Updated: Trump Calls for Unity After Apparent Assassination Attempt
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) – Donald Trump’s campaign says he is “fine” after what law enforcement officials are treating as an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Officials said the man who opened fire was a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania.
In a social media post, Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president was quickly whisked from the stage by Secret Service agents, his ear covered in blood.
A prosecutor said the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead, and the Secret Service said two spectators were critically injured.
President Joe Biden and political leaders of all stripes condemned the attack. “There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Trump says he’ll still be speaking at the Republican National Convention. The convention kicks off Monday in Milwaukee.
“I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin,” he said in his Sunday morning social media post.
In new post, Donald Trump calls for unity after his apparent assassination attempt.
In the post on his social media network, former President Donald Trump also thanked “everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness,” he said.
Trump also said, “Our love goes out to the other victims and their families” and he said he’s praying “for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”
“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 adds.
Pennsylvania governor identifies fatal victim at Trump rally shooting as Corey Comperatore.
The man who was killed at a rally for former President Donald Trump was Corey Comperatore, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Comperatore was a former fire chief from the area who loved his family, Shapiro said.
“Corey died a hero. Corey dove on his family to protect them last night,” the governor said.
Shapiro declined to discuss the conditions of the two others hurt in the shooting.
The governor also ordered flags to be flown at half staff in Comperatore’s honor.
FBI names suspect in assassination attempt.
The FBI early Sunday named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
The political leanings of Crooks were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in to office.
FBI says it’s ‘surprising’ the shooter was able to fire so many rounds. Asked if law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing, Kevin Rojek, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Pittsburgh field office, responded, “that is our assessment at this time.”
“It is surprising” that the shooter was able to get off as many rounds as were fired, Rojek said. He added that “all the details of that will come out later investigation.”
Meanwhile State Police said the Secret Service was responsible for surveying the venue where the rally was held. Asked whether there was anything about the venue that made it particularly difficult to secure, Lt. Col. Bivens deferred to the Secret Service, which was not present at the news conference.
Bivens said he wouldn’t speculate when asked “how close a call” it was for Trump.
Investigators believe gun used in Trump’s apparent assassination attempt bought by suspect’s father
Two law enforcement officials tell The Associated Press investigators believe the weapon was bought the father of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who’s been identified as the shooter, at least six months ago.
The officials said federal agents were still working to understand when and how Crooks obtained the gun and gather additional information about him as they worked to try to identify a possible motive. The investigation is focused on Crooks. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Law enforcement: Bomb making materials found in vehicle, at home of man suspected in Trump rally shooting
Law enforcement officials tell The Associated Press bomb-making materials were found inside the vehicle of the man suspected in the Trump rally shooting. There were also bomb-making materials found at his home.
The two officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Rico Elmore, vice chairman of the Beaver County Republican Party, was sitting in a section for special guests, facing President Trump, when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.
“So, everyone hesitated — and it was like, no, these are actual shots. So I yelled, ‘Get down!’”
Elmore saw Secret Service agents helping Trump off the stage and then heard someone from his left calling for a medic.
Elmore knows first aid and CPR from his time in the military, and he knew a medic wouldn’t be able to reach the cries for help fast enough.
He took off his tie and jumped a barricade, but when he reached the person, Elmore saw he had been shot in the head. Elmore said he held the victim’s head but it was too late. The man was unresponsive.
“I mean, it was a horror,” Elmore said. “I pray to the family that had to deal with this that is going through this now. Because it is hard. It is so hard.”
He said that the shots came from behind the bleachers but did not see the shooter.
‘Tone it down!’
That’s the message from Rep. Mike Kelly, the Republican congressman who represents the Butler Farm area and who was sitting behind Trump when the shooting unfolded at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Kelly says he’d brought his wife and grandchildren to the Trump rally at the fairgrounds, the same place where generations of children have shown off their farm animals and baking skills – a beloved spot he himself visited as a child.
“I am in a state of bewilderment of how and what has happened to the United States of America,” Kelly told The Associated Press.
This being Sunday, he encouraged Americans to take a day, go to a house of worship, and think of how each person can make a difference in bringing more civility to political discourse.
To his colleagues and others quickly assigning blame or calling for a congressional investigation, Kelly urged everyone to let law enforcement do its work and not turn the probe into a political one.
“I just wish people — tone it down,” he said. “Quit trying to find, to blame somebody. The blame lies somewhere in the psyche of America.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson makes appeal for civility
In an appearance Sunday on the “Today” show, the Republican said it’s time to “turn the temperature down in this country.”
But Johnson also singled out for blame the “media,” President Joe Biden and “Hollywood elites, as culpable for the charged atmosphere and suggested that “no figure in American history” since Abraham Lincoln has been as vilified as Donald Trump.
“When the message goes out constantly, that the election of Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy, and that the Republic would end, it heats up the environment,” Johnson said. “We cannot do that. It’s simply not true. Everyone needs to turn the rhetoric down.”
Johnson specifically pointed to recent comments by Biden during a recent call with political donors in which the president said “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
Johnson said he knows Biden didn’t literally mean Trump should be targeted, but added “that kind of language on either side should be called out.”
“We can have vigorous debate, but it needs to end there,” Johnson said.
Former President Donald Trump’s private jet landed shortly after midnight Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Video posted by an aide showed him deplaning flanked by U.S. Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter assault team, an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.
Trump planned to spend the night at his private golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey.
Meanwhile President Joe Biden arrived at the White House early Sunday after cutting short a weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The White House said he would receive a briefing from Homeland Security and law enforcement officials on the attempted assassination of Trump later in the morning.
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