The shots were high-pitched bangs that were barely audible in the open air and sounded hollow.
Donald Trump, the former president who will accept the Republican nomination in five days, had not even started ten minutes of his speech to tens of thousands of people. A mile-long line of cars fought for hours through metal detectors and bag searches, just like at every Trump event, until the green fairgrounds became a sea of red hats.
Trump arrived nearly an hour late, and his supporters waited impatiently under the scorching sun and blaring music. In the middle of the crowd, opposite the stage, a platform with television cameras aimed at the podium was set up, with reporters huddled in the shade.
Finally, Trump took the stage, to his usual chants of “USA,” and marveled: “This is a great crowd. This is a great, great, beautiful crowd.” A bright red MAGA cap shaded his eyes, and his white shirt was open-collared in the heat as he leaned his arms on the lectern.
He began his campaign speech, but quickly grew tired of the prepared script. He offered to invite Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick to speak, but McCormick was unwilling.
“You don’t mind if I go off the teleprompter, do you?” Trump teased. “Because these teleprompters are so damn boring.” He asked to show “that map that I love so much” showing border crossings during his and Joe Biden’s presidencies, and feigned amazement when his producers obliged, projecting it on the giant screens on either side. “Wow, you guys are getting better as time goes on.”
He pointed to one of the screens and reported on the increase in immigration since he left office in 2021. “Look what has happened to our country!”
The pops came in pairs, five or six in all. Trump smacked his ear as if he had heard a mosquito. Then he hunched his shoulders and ducked.
“Down, down, down!” Secret Service agents shouted as they stormed the stage and surrounded him. The crowd screamed. Another explosion of bangs. More screaming. People in the stands behind Trump shuffled back and forth, unsure of where to go. People in chairs or standing ducked or jumped to the ground. A thick cloud of smoke hung to the right of the stage, then quickly dissipated.
Another lonely shot.
More secret service agents dressed in protective suits stormed the stage, then men dressed in black, wearing protective vests and helmets and carrying assault rifles. The crowd screamed in confusion.
“Is everything OK?” asked one of the officers, audible through the microphone on the lectern.
“The shooter is down,” another replied.
“We can get started.”
“Do we agree?”
“We are at peace!”
“Let me put my shoes on,” Trump said as the agents lifted him up.
“I understand you, sir.”
“Wait, your head is bleeding.”
“Let me put my shoes on,” he said again as the agents formed a ring around him.
When the crowd saw him standing, they began to cheer.
“Wait,” Trump said, raising a fist. “Fight!” he said. “Fight!”
Then the people shouted and chanted again: “USA!”
“We have to go,” an agent said. Leaning on guards for support, Trump held his fist raised as he limped off the stage, down the stairs and into his black SUV. One black dress shoe was left on the red-carpeted stage.
Officials – Secret Service, county sheriff, state troopers, U.S. Department of Homeland Security – ordered the crowd to evacuate and designated the location an active crime scene. Protesters left the gathering, calling and texting family and friends, and recording videos. People were shocked but calm.
As people passed by the press boxes where the cameras were installed, some took out their anger at the media.
“You’re not safe. It’s your fault.”
“You wanted political violence, now you have it. I hope you’re all damn happy.”
“The shot went around the world.”
“The responsibility lies with the liberal media!”
“Every single one of you!”
Others turned to the cameras to provide eyewitness accounts, but amid the panic, these were muddled and sometimes contradictory.
The crowd trudged dejectedly to the parking lot, some stopping at the last minute to grab a hot dog or ice cream.
A man with a cane crouched behind the bathrooms and vomited.
They walked to their cars, past Trump flags waving in the wind and a long line of vendors selling MAGA hats, mugshot T-shirts, Trump keychains, vulgar bumper stickers and Trump visors with bright orange fake hair.
A man with a megaphone and a homemade “JAN 6 SURVIVOR” shirt called on people to march “peacefully and patriotically” down Main Street, echoing Trump’s speech on the Ellipse on January 6, 2021. Almost everyone ignored him. A young man accused him of being an undercover federal agent and told him to shut up.
They left behind a field littered with empty plastic water bottles. A giant American flag, hoisted by two cranes, fluttered high above the empty white stands bordered by red, white and blue flags.
© 2024, The Washington Post