File image.
Former United States President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt while attending a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania on July 14.
While addressing his supporters in the city of Butler, Trump was shot in the ear. The shooting set off panic. Bloodied Trump was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his vehicle as he pumped his fist in a show of defiance shouting the words “fight! fight! fight!”
Trump’s campaign said the presumptive Republican Party nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his 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,” he wrote on his social media site.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The agency said that the investigation into the assassination remains active and ongoing.
Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, the agency added. Law enforcement reportedly recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene.
One civilian attendee was killed and two spectators were critically wounded as a result of the shooting, according to local authorities.
After visiting a local Pennsylvania hospital, Trump flew to New Jersey, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport.
In his first comment on the assassination attempt, President Joe Biden, who is running against Trump, said that “there’s no place in America for this type of violence,” describing the shooting as “sick.” The President planned to return to Washington early, cutting short a weekend at his beach home in the state of Delaware.
Republicans were quick to criticize Biden and his allies after the assassination attempt, highlighting a comment the President made to donors earlier this month saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
It’s worth noting that the attempt came just weeks after the first presidential debate, which was dominated by Trump and led to calls from the Democratic Party to outcast Biden.
The shooting was the most serious attempt to assassinate a U.S. president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It highlights the threat of political violence in a deeply polarized U.S. less than four months before the presidential election.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
