Bleeding Trump Narrowly Escapes Assassination Bid, Shooter Killed

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, July 14: The former United States President Donald Trump, who is running for the top job again this year, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a political rally on a bloody Saturday evening leaving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wondering how a gunman could reach so near to attack a former US president.

The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage with blood streaking across his face after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania when he was addressing an election rally. The shooter and a bystander were killed and two spectators were critically injured.

The Republican candidate raised a defiant fist to the crowd as he was bundled away to safety, and said afterward: “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

Trump, dressed in a white shirt, dark blazer and bright red MAGA cap, was speaking against illegal immigration when shots rang out at 6.08pm. “Take a look at what happened…” he said, his words cut off by four shots in quick succession. Trump grabbed his right ear as repeated shouts of “get down!” were heard, before a fifth and sixth shot.

The former president crouched down behind the lectern as Secret Service agents moved in around him. Screams were heard in the crowd. Within four seconds further shots were fired, prompting more supporters to get down while additional agents rush to the stage. Seventeen seconds after the first shots, a final pop was heard and a woman screamed.

Three heavily-armed members of the security forces moved onto the stage 22 seconds after the shooting started. Secret Service agents swiftly shared instructions — such as “we’re clear” and “let’s move” — before they lifted up a dishevelled Trump.

Visible once more around one minute after the gunfire started, Trump said “let me get my shoes” as the agents formed a ring around him. It’s another 13 seconds until Trump raised his fist to the crowd, who responded with cheers. At the former leader was ushered off the stage his MAGA cap in hand, onlookers chanted “USA!”

Trump paused briefly to pump his fist in the air, before stepping off the stage. Immediately before disappearing into an SUV and just two minutes after the assassination attempt started, Trump raised his fist once more and turned briefly towards the crowd. As the car pulled away, heavily-armed security forces dressed in khaki fatigues moved onto the scene.

Trump gave his first account of the shooting at 8.42pm, posting on his Truth Social site. “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump wrote. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”

The White House said President Joe Biden was given an initial briefing on the incident by 6.50pm. “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Shortly before 10.30pm, Biden’s office said he had spoken to Trump and would cut short his beach weekend to return to Washington.

The FBI later identified the killed shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania’s Bethel Park. Crooks was named by the FBI “as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.” The Secret Service said the shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally” before being “neutralized” by agents.

Multiple witnesses said they saw the gunman before the shooting and alerted authorities. Trump supporter Ryan Knight said he saw the attacker on a nearby building. “When I was sitting there, a guy said: ‘oh God, he had a gun’,” Knight told journalists. Local police said they had “responded to a number of reports of suspicious activity” but gave no further details. The attacker was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, US media reported.

Two witnesses told US media they saw a man fatally shot in the head. “The man beside me suffered a gunshot on the head, was instantly killed (and)… Another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or hand,” a man, an eye-witness said.

A second witness, who said he was an emergency doctor, said he went to help after someone shouted that a person had been shot. “The guy had spun around, was jammed between the benches. He had a headshot here,” he said, indicating a spot on his head, in comments shared widely in US media. “There’s lots of blood and he had brain matter,” said the man, who was wearing a white USA T-shirt stained with blood.

New footage from behind the stage revealed the moments before and after gunfire erupted at the rally. The video captured the chaos and rapid response as shots were fired. In the moments after the shooting, Trump was swarmed and covered up by his security agents. He quickly emerged, his face streaked with blood and pumped his fist in the air.

The assassin, the FBI said, was a registered Republican, according to state voter records. Earlier the Secret Service said in a statement that the shooter was dead, one attendee at the rally was killed and two other spectators were injured.

Law enforcement officials told reporters they had not yet identified a motive for the attack. Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out.

He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red “Make America Great Again” hat knocked off, and could be heard saying “wait, wait,” before pumping his fist in the air. Agents then rushed him to a black SUV.

The shooting occurred less than four months before the November 5 election, when Trump, the Republican candidate, faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls show the two locked in a close contest.

Crooks, 20, was killed by security officials when he allegedly opened fire at the 78-year-old Republican presidential candidate.

Law enforcement officials earlier told reporters they had tentatively identified the suspected shooter but were not ready to do so publicly. They also said they had not yet identified the motive. The FBI, which is the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation, had said the shooting was being treated as “an assassination attempt” against the former president. The gunshots were heard when Trump had just started speaking at his final rally before the Republican National Convention.

Thousands of his supporters were in attendance when the shooting, which was captured live on news channels, happened. Donald Trump, in his first account of being attacked during a rally, said, “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country,” he said. Thomas Matthew Crooks was the resident of Bethel Park in Pennsylvania. He appears to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School. He even received a $500 “star award” that year from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to The Tribune-Review in western Pennsylvania.

He was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Multiple witnesses said they saw him before the shooting and alerted authorities. Crooks was positioned on the roof of a building about 130 yards away from the stage where Donald Trump was addressing the rally.

Crooks lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that it closed the airspace over Bethel Park for “special security reasons.”

When Crooks was 17 he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote. The groups did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, 53, said he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before speaking about his son.

Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to the newspaper.

A 2022 graduation ceremony video cited by the New York Times shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma to some applause. Video from that ceremony posted online shows Crooks with glasses in a black graduation gown and posing with a school official. Law enforcement officials said Crooks carried no identification to the site of the shooting and had to be identified using other methods.

“We’re looking at photographs right now and we’re trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge, said during a press briefing. Media reports said dozens of law enforcement vehicles were stationed outside a residence listed at the address on Crooks’ voter registration record. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene and a bomb squad was at the residence. The perimeter of the residence of the suspect was guarded on Sunday by yellow police caution tape. An Alleghany County Police vehicle was parked outside.

The agency has said the campaign venue at Butler continues to be an “active crime scene.” “We are working closely with other federal agencies, our state partners and our local police partners as well.”

Colonel Chris Paris, commissioner of Pennsylvania state police, told the media that they are working closely with the FBI in this investigation. “We are prepared to support this investigation in any way, shape or form. And we stand ready to participate in a full, fair, competent and thorough investigation,” he said.

The FBI has also called upon the public for any information on the shooting. “We need the public’s help, anyone who was on scene, who saw anything… please report that to the FBI,” Special Agent Rojek said.

The assassination attempt on Trump, US President Joe Biden’s biggest opponent in the US election later this year, has set alarm bells ringing through the country’s security establishment.

The US President Joe Biden has strongly condemned the incident and also spoken to his arch rival after the shooting. “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country… We cannot be like this, we cannot condone this,”

Biden told reporters in an emergency briefing after the attack on Trump. “The idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this, is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate. Everybody, everybody must condemn it. Everybody,” Biden said.