Republican candidate Donald Trump, bleeding from the face, is photographed being escorted off stage surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. A suspect who injured Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally has died, along with a bystander, US media reported on Saturday. (Photo by Rebecca Droke/AFP)
BUTLER, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump called for Americans to come together on Sunday after he was wounded in an assassination attempt, a shocking incident that opened a dark new chapter in an already polarized US presidential election.
The 78-year-old former president was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing the gunman and a bystander and seriously wounding two spectators in the worst act of political violence in the United States in decades.
“At this moment, it is more important than ever that we come together,” Trump said in a statement on his Truth social network, adding that Americans should not allow “evil to win.”
“Only God could prevent the unthinkable from happening,” the Republican said, adding, “There is nothing to fear.”
In a statement early Sunday, the FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour’s drive from the rally.
His motives remain unclear.
US President Joe Biden was given new briefings at the White House late on Sunday about an assassination plot against his rival in November’s closely fought election.
The 81-year-old Democrat called the attack “horrible” and met with President Trump after it, before cutting short a planned weekend at his vacation home and flying back to Washington to address the crisis.
World leaders have condemned the attack, and the Kremlin said on Sunday morning that violence has no place in politics.
As shots rang out at Saturday’s rally, Trump fell to the ground and clutched his ears, a haunting scene for an America already traumatized by violence and political turmoil.
Secret Service agents surrounded him and shoved the protesting former president off the stage, his fists raised and his face bloodied.
After the incident, Trump said he was “shot above the top of my right ear” and heard a “whoosh.”
The shooter is reported to be a Republican and is believed to have acted alone.
Video released by US media outlet TMZ shows the suspect lying on a sloping roof and pointing a rifle, followed by a series of gunshots and the screams of off-camera Trump supporters at the rally.
Her father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” and would not comment until he had spoken to police.
The shocking incident inevitably raised questions about security and how a presidential candidate could have been targeted by a gunman from about 150 meters away, despite the presence of a large Secret Service contingent.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied “completely false” claims that the service had refused to provide extra security for Trump ahead of the rally and said the service had in fact recently added personnel to Trump’s staff.
At a press conference early Sunday, the FBI said it was “astonishing” that the gunman was able to fire so many shots before being detected and “neutralized” by counter-sniper forces.
Butler police said they “responded to numerous reports of suspicious activity” after multiple witnesses said they saw the gunman before the shooting and called authorities.
Trump’s narrow escape sparked conspiracy theories and finger-pointing from Republicans, further heating up an already tense election situation.
