Native Vote 2024. Former president donald trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was struck by a bullet that struck his ear at an outdoor rally in rural Butler, Pennsylvania, at 6 p.m. Saturday. The FBI is classifying the incident as an assassination attempt that left one rally attendee dead and two others seriously injured.
The former president was about five minutes into his speech when gunshots were heard and he was seen reaching for his right ear. US Secret Service agents immediately surrounded Trump and pushed him to the ground and shielded him with their bodies until it was determined it was safe to remove him from the stage. He was then rushed to a local hospital to determine his well-being.
Television video showed blood running from Trump’s right ear and down the right side of his face,
Within an hour, the Secret Service issued a statement that said: “An incident occurred on the evening of July 13th at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and more information will be released when available.”
The FBI is now involved in the investigation of the attempted murder.
“Tonight we had what we call an assassination attempt on our former president, Donald Trump,” Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Kevin Rojek said later during a news conference at the Butler Township Police Department.
The shooter, who was discovered on top of a nearby warehouse, was killed by Secret Service snipers just minutes after the shooting. The FBI identified him as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a small town about 35 miles from the rally site. Crooks was registered as a Republican. His motive for killing the former president is not yet known.
President Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent in the upcoming presidential election, was informed of the assassination attempt while at his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware. The president called the incident sickening and called for unity in the country.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said.
Biden spoke with Trump later in the evening.
On Saturday night, the Trump campaign released a video of the former president exiting his plane in Newark, NJ. President Biden left his vacation home a day early and arrived at the White House after midnight so he could assess the situation with top federal officials on Sunday morning.
The assassination attempt occurred less than 48 hours after the start of the Republican National Convention, which began at 2pm on Monday afternoon. National Republican Party officials said the convention will continue as planned. The former president is expected to give his acceptance speech on Thursday night.
About the author: “Levi \”Calm Before the Storm\” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, editor and publisher of Native News Online. Rickert received the 2021 Native Media Best Column award in the print/online category for a Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net.
Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
