Review of Attempted Killing of Don Trump What we Know Now

People leave the rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday after the attack on Mr. Trump.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

 

The New York Times

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The former president was holding a rally when he said he was shot in his ear. Two people, including the suspected gunman, were killed and two were critically injured.

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Some people walk through an area of mostly empty chairs and bleachers decorated with red, white, and blue bunting.

People leave the rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday after the attack on Mr. Trump. Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

Michael Levenson

By Michael Levenson

 A man fired “multiple shots” toward the stage during former President Donald J. Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday evening, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others, according to the Secret Service.

Mr. Trump was rushed off the stage, blood visible around his right ear. He was taken to a hospital, and the Secret Service said he was “safe.” The Secret Service also said its personnel had killed the shooter.

“This evening we had what we are calling an assassination attempt against our former president, Donald Trump,” Kevin Rojek, a special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said during a news conference at the Butler Township Police Department. 

Here’s what we know about the shooting.

The Former President

Mr. Trump ducked quickly after the shots began and as members of the crowd began to scream. Secret Service agents then rushed Mr. Trump off the stage. As he was escorted to his motorcade, Mr. Trump, whose face and right ear were bloodied, pumped his fist in a defiant gesture to the crowd.

Transcript:

 

Former President Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania when shots rang out. Multiple people at the rally were filming at the time. The F.B.I. has said the shots were fired by a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour’s drive from the rally. Trump was on stage speaking for just over six minutes and talking about illegal immigration when the first sound of gunfire is heard. There are two bursts of fire. First three shots and then five shots Three seconds after the first shot is fired, he is surrounded by Secret Service agents who attempt to hurry him from the stage. They’re followed by other law enforcement personnel who are more heavily armed. For a brief moment, Trump tells them to stop until he can get his shoes. Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes. Sir, I got you, sir. Let me get my shoes on. When he gets up, blood is visible on his right ear. He pauses again before being rushed off stage and raises his fist in the air, appearing to mouth the word fight. The former president was standing on stage at this location. Soon after the first gunfire is heard, a video captured what appears to be the suspected shooter dead on the roof of this building. The building is the closest one to the rally that wasn’t within the security perimeter and is roughly 400 feet north of where Trump is standing. The location of the body matches the likely firing position. This is because the injury to the ear of Trump, who is facing northwest, is consistent with gunfire from that location. An audio analysis of the shots by an acoustic expert at Montana State University found the gunfire reached the stage from the same approximate distance as the body’s location. A Secret Service spokesman also said the suspected shooter fired from an elevated position and was killed. A video filmed during the rally showed a law enforcement sharpshooter positioned here on a roof roughly 400 feet from that suspected gunman and aiming in the gunman’s general direction before Trump was shot. Footage recorded after the shooting shows one spectator bleeding from a head wound in the bleachers to the north of where Trump was standing. According to the Secret Service, one person at the rally was killed and two others were critically injured. The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

How the Assassination Attempt on Trump Unfolded

Footage from the scene of the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday shows the suspected gunman had a clear line of sight toward the former president, despite being outside the rally’s secure perimeter.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

He later said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, that he had been “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

In his social media post, Mr. 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. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”

There was no immediate statement from medical personnel on the former president’s injuries or condition. Later that night, an aide to the former president posted a video on social media that showed him walking off his plane unaided after he had landed in New Jersey. His injured ear was out of camera view.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said that the former president would attend the Republican convention in Milwaukee, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. 

The Suspected Shooter

The Secret Service said the shooter had fired “from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.” An analysis by The New York Times suggested that the gunman had fired eight shots.

Law enforcement officials recovered an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle from a deceased white male they believe was the gunman, according to two law enforcement officials. .

In a statement, the F.B.I. identified the man as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa. The authorities said they were still trying to uncover his motive.

The Secret Service has not said how it killed the shooter. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had any accomplices.

The Casualties

Michael T. Slupe, the Butler County sheriff, said the spectator who was killed was an adult male who was probably attending the rally with his family. Sheriff Slupe said the man had been in the bleachers when he was shot and that he believed the man had died at the scene.

 

The two people who were critically injured were taken by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to Dan Laurent, a hospital spokesman. The authorities did not immediately release further information on the spectators’ injuries.

Rep. Ronny L. Jackson, a Republican congressman from Texas and Mr. Trump’s former White House doctor said on social media that his nephew had been injured at the rally.

The young man was treated at the rally’s medical tent and released, Mr. Jackson wrote on X, saying that “his injury was not serious and he is doing well.”

The Scene

The shooting happened as Mr. Trump was holding a large outdoor rally on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Butler, a town of 13,000 people about 34 miles north of Pittsburgh. Mr. Trump had been showing supporters a chart about the number of border crossings just minutes into his speech when the shots rang out. Attendees screamed, “Get down, get down!” and “Shots fired!” The Secret Service quickly cleared the press area, moved the crowd out, and declared the area a crime scene. There was confusion as the crowd dispersed. Some Trump supporters held hands and prayed and then chanted “U.SA.!”

The Reaction

World leaders and elected officials across the United States, Republican and Democrat, forcefully condemned the shooting as an affront to democracy. 

President Biden, in a nationally televised statement, expressed gratitude that Mr. Trump had been swiftly evacuated and said “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence.” He later spoke to Mr. Trump, according to the White House. The Biden campaign said it was pulling down its television ads as a sign that it was putting politics aside in the aftermath of the shooting.

Former President Obama called on Americans to “use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.” Republicans also deplored the violence, with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky saying: “Tonight, all Americans are grateful that President Trump appears to be fine after a despicable attack on a peaceful rally.”

It was unclear on Sunday morning how a would-be assassin had managed to open fire in the vicinity of a presidential candidate, raising questions about security preparations and potential failures.

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said that it would be investigating the attempted assassination and that Rep. James R. Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the panel, had asked Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, to testify at a hearing on July 22.

Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York. More about Michael Levenson