In a shocking event, shots were fired at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania around 6.15 PM on Friday.
In the ensuing chaos the former president was seen to grab his ear and he ducked to the ground as four or five shots rang out. He was then surrounded by secret service agents.
Out of view of the cameras while he was on the ground, it was uncertain whether Trump had been hit. After a few minutes of chaos, he was helped up by his security detail and there was blood trickling from his ear. He was visibly shaken. Clearly angry, he repeatedly pumped his fist in the air as he was half carried, and half pushed off the stage and into a waiting van.
In addition to the gunman, “one spectator was killed” and two others were “critically injured” the Secret Service said.
The former president hours later wrote on Truth Social, “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” He added that, “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 incident is being called a historic moment. As the internet blew up with what is probably an unprecedented avalanche of posts, already new conspiracy theories were emerging, many blaming the shooting on “Democrats” or even writing, “Biden did this.”
Reporters are suggesting that lax security measures at an outdoor event were to blame, as they were not as strict as they would have been at an indoor venue.
Immediately after the shooting occurred security was increased around President Biden as well.
Shortly after multiple shots rang out, the Secret Service could apparently be heard saying “shooter down”.
The perpetrator has now been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively affluent city in the southern part of greater Pittsburgh. The site of the rally. Butler is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania voter records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican, though it was not clear from the records whether that is the same person as the shooter, as he had no identification on him at the time of his death.
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.
“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. A major part of the investigation will be to determine a motive.
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination, President Biden expressed outrage, saying, “Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick.”
He added that, “I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone” .
