Donald Trump was shot in the right ear at a campaign rally on Saturday, sparking panic among the crowd and spraying the Republican presidential nominee’s blood across his face, before emerging and raising his fist in the air, appearing to utter the words “Fight! Fight!” Fight!”
The shooter was killed, a protester was killed and two other spectators were injured, the secret service said in a statement.
“I was hit by a bullet that pierced the top of my right ear,” Trump said on his Truth social media platform. “There was a lot of blood.”
When the shots rang out, Trump touched his right ear with his right hand, then lowered his hand to look at her before kneeling behind the lectern as Secret Service agents surrounded him. He emerged about a minute later without his red “Make America Great Again” hat on his head and could be heard saying “wait, wait,” before agents led him to a waiting vehicle.
The Secret Service and the former president’s campaign have said Trump was safe after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
The identity and motive of the attacker were not immediately clear. Republican and Democratic leaders quickly condemned the violence.
The shots appeared to come from outside the area protected by the secret service, the agency said.
One member of the public also died and another person was in critical condition, a Washington Post reporter said on social media, citing the Butler County district attorney.
The shootings come less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
A Trump campaign spokesman said the Republican nominee was doing well and was being evaluated at a local medical center.
“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their swift action during this heinous act. He is safe and being evaluated at a local medical center. More details to follow,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The former president had just begun his speech when gunshots rang out and Trump and other rallygoers fell to the ground. Secret Service agents surrounded him and Trump disappeared behind the lectern for about a minute before being rushed to his waiting vehicle.
BIDEN REACTION
The US president said he had been informed of the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. In a statement, Biden said he was “grateful to know he is safe and well. I pray for him, his family and everyone at the rally as we await more information.”
Biden added: “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. This kind of violence has no place in the United States. We must come together as a nation to condemn it.”
Trump and Biden are in a tight race, with most opinion polls, including Reuters/Ipsos, showing the two tied.
Even the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, harshly criticized what happened.
“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful election rally has no place in this country and must be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” Johnson said on social media.
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter who was in the crowd, described the chaos: “I heard four shots and I saw the crowd duck and then Trump ducked quickly. Then the Secret Service came in and got him to safety as quickly as they could. We’re talking about a second later, everyone was protecting him.”
Moose said he then saw a man running and being chased by officers in military uniforms. He said he heard more gunshots but was not sure who fired them. He noted that snipers had taken up positions on the roof of a warehouse behind the podium at the time.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle climbing onto a roof near the event. The person, whom the BBC did not identify, said he and people with him began pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘Why is Trump still talking? Why didn’t they take him down from the podium?'” said the man wearing a red Trump hat. “The next thing I knew, there were five gunshots.”
After the shooting, the venue was abandoned, with chairs overturned and yellow police tape around the stage. According to video footage, a helicopter was flying over the area and police officers were walking through the area.
Trump is expected to formally receive the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention starting Monday in Milwaukee.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, easily outpaced his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign and largely unified around himself a party that had briefly wavered in its support after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on March 6, 2021, as he sought to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election.
Source: Terra
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