Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt over the weekend, just days before he was due to accept the official Republican nomination for president. The attack will further exacerbate the political divide in the United States and raise questions about security gaps.
On Saturday, 78-year-old Trump had just begun a campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 50 kilometers north of Pittsburgh, when shots rang out, hitting the former president’s right ear and staining his face with blood.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Trump whispered to his supporters, clenching his fist as Secret Service agents escorted him away as quickly as possible.
His campaign team said he was fine and did not appear to have suffered any major injuries other than a wound to his upper right ear.
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in an alleged attempted murder.
According to state voter records, he was a registered Republican and had made a $15 donation to a Democratic political action committee at age 17.
Police officials told reporters they had not yet found a motive for the attack.
Both Republicans and Democrats will be looking for evidence of Crooks’ political affiliation as they seek to portray the rival party as a representative of extremism.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the November 5 election in which Trump will face a re-election against Democratic President Joe Biden.
Most opinion polls, including those from Reuters/Ipsos, show a neck-and-neck race between the two.
The shooting shook up the debate surrounding the presidential election campaign, which had recently centered on whether 81-year-old Biden should drop out after his disastrous performance at the debate in June.
The Biden team had sought to refocus its message and portray Trump as a threat to democracy because of his persistent false claims of election fraud, but announced Saturday that it would halt its political advertising for the time being.
The suspect was shot by Secret Service agents, the agency said. The suspect opened fire from the roof of a building about 140 meters from the stage where Trump was speaking.
According to sources, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting was found near his body.
The firearm was legally purchased by the suspect’s father, ABC and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
Bomb-making materials were found in the suspect’s car and apartment, the Associated Press reported, citing sources.
One participant in the rally was killed and two other spectators were seriously injured, the Secret Service said.
“At this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united and show our true character as Americans, remain strong and determined, and not allow evil to win,” Trump said at his Truth Social service on Sunday.
In a statement, the Secret Service rejected allegations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected campaign requests for additional security forces.
“The claim that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rejected is absolutely false,” intelligence spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “In fact, the U.S. Secret Service recently added additional protective resources and capabilities to the former president’s security team.”
Residents of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where the suspected shooter lived, expressed shock at the news on Sunday.
“It’s a little crazy to think that someone who attempted murder was that close, but it also shows the political dynamic we’re in right now with all the insanity on both sides,” said Wes Morgan, 42, who added that he rides his bike with his children down the street where the suspected shooter lived.
“Bethel Park is a pretty working-class neighborhood. And to think that someone was that close is a little crazy.”
While mass shootings in schools, nightclubs and other public places are part of everyday life in America, the attack was the first shooting of a U.S. president or candidate of a major party since the attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
As a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, Americans fear an increase in political violence. Two-thirds of respondents to a survey conducted in May expressed fears that violence could occur following the elections.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn his election defeat, fueled by Trump’s false claims that his defeat was the result of widespread electoral fraud.
Trump is expected to receive his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday.
A few hours after the attack, the Republican-led U.S. House Oversight Committee summoned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to a hearing scheduled for July 22.
Leading Republicans and Democrats immediately condemned the violence, as did foreign heads of state.
“There is no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as a nation to condemn it,” Biden said in a statement.