Trump shot in the ear at Pennsylvania rally; campaign says he’s fine; shooter neutralized
Former US President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt on Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for the third time.
A barrage of gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the ear, was surrounded by Secret Service agents and hurried to his SUV as he pumped his fist in a show of defiance. Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong when I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.
Much bleeding took place,” he wrote on his social media site. The FBI early Sunday named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the individual involved in the assassination attempt. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
One attendee was killed and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. All were identified as men.
The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter, who they said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania, and confirmed that Trump was safe.
The FBI stated during a press conference late Saturday that they were not prepared to release the identity of the shooter and had not yet identified a motive for the assassination attempt.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized U.S., less than four months before the presidential election. It could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which will begin Monday in Milwaukee. Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.
