* Donald Trump
By Pathfinder Reporter
Sunday July 14, 2024
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Former President Donald Trump has released a statement following the shooting incident at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Law enforcement officials said the shooting at the rally is being investigated as an attempted assassination of the former president.
In the statement sighted by newsmen, Trump said a bullet pierced the upper part of his ear during the incident, which took place while he was giving a speech on stage.
“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 realised then what was happening,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of law enforcement, for their rapid response.
“Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said he spoke to his father on the phone and “he is in great spirits.”
“He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him,” Trump Jr. said in a statement.
Trump”’s daughter thanks public for ‘love and prayers’ after shooting
Ivanka Trump has thanked the public for the “love and prayers for my father and for the other victims of today’s senseless violence”.
“I am grateful to the Secret Service and all the other law enforcement officers for their quick and decisive actions today. I continue to pray for our country,” she said on X.
FBI Identifies Donald Trump’s Shooter
Law enforcement authorities have revealed the identity of the man who made an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The FBI confirmed that the shooter, who is now deceased, was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
The gunman was swiftly “neutralized” by the Secret Service, according to chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi. This prompt response likely prevented further chaos and potential harm to the rally attendees.
Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively affluent city located in the southern part of greater Pittsburgh. The rally itself took place in Butler, which is approximately an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania voter records indicate that a Thomas Matthew Crooks, matching the same address and birth date, was registered as a Republican. However, it is uncertain when this registration took place and if it had any relevance to the incident.
During a news conference on Saturday night, law enforcement officials stated that the investigation was nearing a positive identification of the shooter.
The shooter did not carry any identification on him, making the process more complex, according to state police Lt. Col. George Bivens.
“The shooter has been tentatively identified,” he said. “It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations.”
Investigators are prioritizing uncovering the motive behind the attack and determining if the shooter had any accomplices.
Authorities emphasized the importance of understanding the circumstances and background of the assailant to prevent similar incidents in the future.
US authorities say investigators have not yet identified a motive in assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Dozens of law enforcement vehicles posted at home of killed suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, with agents and a bomb squad on the scene, according to US media.
Leaders from across the world have condemned the shooting that killed one spectator and injured two others.
Politicians from across the spectrum have offered support to Trump, with President Joe Biden saying “there’s no place for this kind of violence” in the US.
The assassination attempt on Trump is prompting officials to reevaluate security protocol at the upcoming Republican National Convention, reports ABC news, citing a senior federal official.
Trump still plans to appear at the four-day convention starting Monday in Milwaukee, where he will formally be crowned as the party’s nominee for the presidency.
Trump is also expected to unveil his vice-presidential running mate at the event.
Preparations are underway for the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Americans are still trying to come to terms with the extremely shocking news.
Some of them have never experienced anything like this – the last time was the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in 1981.
But it’s clear that these types of incidents are happening with increasing frequency, and this is making Americans very nervous – the fact that the country is so divided.
Meanwhile, security has been heightened here but there have also been questions about how this even happened in the first place.
We know that when it comes to the Secret Service, they have what’s called a “No fail” mission, but we know that in this case it did fail. We also know that the FBI has taken the lead on this investigation.
The big story prior to this was the call for President Biden himself to potentially step down from the top of the ticket. What I can tell you is that all of that has been blunted in terms of the presidential race.
More international condemnation
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has added his voice to a chorus of world leaders denouncing the attempted assassination of Trump.
“We condemn this act of terror and reaffirm the positions of the State of Palestine, which has always rejected violence, terrorism, and extremism, regardless of its source,” Abbas said in a statement cited by the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also issued a similar statement condemning the attack and wishing the former US president a speedy recovery.
No plans for Putin to call Trump: Kremlin
A spokesman for the Kremlin has commented on the shooting at the Trump rally.
“We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organised by the current authorities,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“But the atmosphere around candidate Trump … provoked what America is confronting today,” he argued.
“After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena – using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate – it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger.”
Peskov also said there were no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to call Trump in light of the incident.
What we know about suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks
As we’ve been reporting, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks has been named as the suspect in Trump’s assassination attempt.
Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot dead by the Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired at Trump, hitting him in the ear.
Read more about the suspect here.
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania [Gene Puskar/AP]
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Secret Service ‘didn’t do a very good job’ before Trump’s really
Bob Ayers, a former CIA officer and international security analyst, has told Al Jazeera from Taunton in the UK that the US Secret Service unit, dubbed the advance party, responsible for securing the area before Trump’s arrival to the Pennsylvania rally, “didn’t do a very good job”.
“If you listen to people the FBI and the Security Service talking, you will hear them praising the people on scene … but you won’t hear many comments about the advance party,” he said.
Ayers said, “There should not have been any possibility for a person armed with a rifle to climb right up a building and shoot at the [former] president.”
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
A gunman on a rooftop outside the rally venue fired multiple shots towards the stage as Trump was speaking, hitting him in the ear.
The former president, who was shielded and rushed off stage by the Secret Service before being taken to a nearby hospital, is “doing well” and has suffered no major inkury, according to his campaign team.
One person who attended the rally was killed and two other spectators were critically wounded.
The suspected attacker has been named as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, from the Pennsylvania town of Bethel Park. He was shot dead by the Secret Service.
Federal law enforcement agents, including bomb squad members, have swarmed his home, according to local media reports.
Lawmakers have expressed alarm at potential security lapses leading up to the shooting. The US House of Representatives plans to investigate the incident, Speaker Mike Johnson says.
Biden, who was in Delaware, gave remarks condemning the shooting, which he called “sick”. He will head back to Washington, DC ahead of schedule.
Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents after the shooting [Brendan McDermid/Reuters]
German leader Scholz condemns ‘despicable’ attack on Trump
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also described the assassination attempt that killed one spectator as a threat to democracy.
“The attack on US presidential candidate Donald Trump is despicable. I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with the people who were affected by the attack. Such acts of violence threaten democracy,” he said on X.
Trump supporters find solace by gathering around Trump Tower in NYC: Report
Even hours after the attack on the former president during a Pennsylvania rally, two dozen Trump supporters remained outside the Manhattan building, “seeking solace among the shaken”, according to The New York Times (NYT) newspaper.
Christine Randall, 59, who had been watching the rally at home in Manhattan when the shots rang out, headed to the Trump Tower right away.
“I really thought maybe he was dead. I started crying,” she told the NYT. “When he stood up, I was so happy.”
The publication described those gathered at the building with a wall of police officers guarding the tower’s entrance trading stories about where they were at the moment of the incident and snapped pictures of each other’s Trump-red gear and trimmings.
“I’m going to be here all night,” Lynda Andrews, 51, told the NYT, wearing a Trump hat and a sparkling red top and holding a US flag.
Video shows suspected attacker lying on roof: Report
A video posted by US tabloid TMZ appears to show the suspected attacker at Trump’s rally laying on a rooftop with a rifle before shots ring out.
The man, who appears to have long brown hair, is not shown firing in the published footage. But a quick succession of gunshots is heard, followed by screams from people off-camera.
“He’s turning this way, be careful guys,” a man is heard saying.
“Somebody got shot,” another voice says. “He’s right there, laying down.”
Earlier, the US Secret Service confirmed that its personnel had shot dead the suspected attacker, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur endorses Trump after attack
Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur and Tron founder Justin Sun has endorsed Trump in the US presidential race.
He said on X after the assassination attempt on the former president that Trump “is a better choice for the crypto industry and can ensure fairer treatment”.
Federal agents swarm home of suspected shooter
More information is emerging about the suspect in Trump’s assassination attempt, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks, a registered Republican who once made a small donation to a left-wing group, lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
USA Today reported that dozens of law enforcement vehicles were posted at a residence listed as Crooks’s address on his voter registration record, with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad on the scene.
Crooks’s father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to make sense of what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before commenting on his son.
The FBI has said it was working to determine a motive for the attack.
NATO chief condemns attack on Trump
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said he is “shocked” by the assassination attempt, stressing that “NATO Allies stand together to defend our freedom & values”.
“I am shocked by the attempted assassination on former President Trump. I wish him a speedy recovery and my thoughts are with those affected,” Stoltenberg said on X.
“I condemn this attack. Political violence has no place in our democracies,” he added.
Timeline: Assassination attempts against US presidents, candidates
Four US presidents and one candidate have been assassinated since the founding of the US.
FBI agents ‘shocked’ rooftop ‘with clear line of sight’ not secured: Report
Two former FBI agents have spoken to CNN about security conditions at Trump’s rally, where a man on a nearby rooftop fired shots at the former president.
They expressed alarm that a vantage point so close to Trump – about 120-150 metres away – had not been secured.
“That building … is the closest building with a clear line of sight to where the stage was. I’m shocked that they didn’t have somebody on that roof,” former FBI field agent Bobby Chacon told CNN.
Steve Moore, a retired FBI agent and countersniper, said botched “planning or execution” may have left the roof unmonitored.
“They could have planned for that roof and maybe something happened in the planning or in the execution of the plan where it was left unguarded,” Moore told the US network, adding that there would likely be “drastic changes” to security protocol going forward.
“The Secret Service has to be right every single time, every single rally of every single candidate of every single month, every single year, they’ve got to be perfect,” Moore said.
China’s Xi expresses ‘compassion and sympathy’ to Trump
Chinese Foreign Ministry has said in a statement that Beijing is concerned about the attack and President Xi Jinping extended his regards to Trump.
“China is closely following the situation surrounding the shooting of former President Donald Trump,” the statement added.
Assassination attempt to play into Trump’s ‘hero narrative’
The image of Trump bloodied and raising a fist after escaping an assassination attempt will become iconic for the American right, boosting his hero status to them, said Stephan Zunes, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.
It will also play into the “victim narrative that has been very strong for [Trump] and his movement”, Zunes told Al Jazeera.
Trump, as a “professional showman”, is sure to capitalise on the imagery “in whatever way he can”, Zunes added.
Attack on Trump to supercharge ‘conspiracy theories’
Stephan Zunes, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, has cautioned people from assigning a motive to the attack on Trump too quickly, which he said is sure to “add to the craziness of the political scene”.
“Unlike in other countries, much of our attempted assassinations [in the US] are by people who are mentally ill and do not have a political motivation,” Zunes told Al Jazeera.
“We should not assume this is necessarily part of so-called polarising situation,” he added.
Nevertheless, Zunes said, the attack reflects a society in which “threats of political violence are growing” and are likely to further fuel “conspiracy theories from both the left and the right”.
What is security like at a Trump rally?
Many Trump rallies draw thousands of attendees, take place in the open air and last for hours. Here’s how security is handled:
The Secret Service, the federal agency responsible for protecting US political leaders, takes the lead in securing the venue. Local police assist in the process and agents from other agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration, occasionally support.
Agents scan the venue for bombs or other threats before any event.
Law enforcement officials typically erect barriers as a perimeter and require all attendees to go through a metal detector.
Armed protective agents search all attendees’ bags and wallets. Many rally-goers are patted down by hand.
Trump invariably arrives in a fortified motorcade.
During Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania, agents would have scanned all rooftops with a line of sight to the venue beforehand, according to retired Secret Service agent Paul Eckloff.
Shooting may raise Trump’s odds of winning US presidential race: Investors
Trump’s assassination attempt raises his odds of winning back the White House, and trades betting on his victory will increase this coming week, according to investors.
Before the shooting, markets had reacted to the prospect of a Trump presidency by pushing the US dollar higher and positioning for a steeper US Treasury yield curve, and those trades could strengthen in the coming week, said Rong Ren Goh, a portfolio manager in the fixed income team at Eastspring Investments in Singapore.
“From memory, Republican President Ronald Reagan went up 22 points in the polls after his assassination attempt [in 1981]. The election is likely to be a landslide. This probably reduces uncertainty,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management.
Russia blames US for ‘policies of incitement to hatred’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said the US should “take stock” of its policies of “incitement to hatred” after the shooting at Trump’s rally.
She claimed US funding to Ukraine was being used to stoke attacks against the Russian president, and suggested the US instead invest more in domestic security.
“Perhaps it would be better to use this money to fund the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure law and order in the United States?”
Republican lawmakers demand hearing over Trump shooting
Republicans in Congress have demanded a speedy inquiry into possible security lapses at Trump’s rally.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, said panels in the chamber will soon bring in officials from the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for hearings.
The House oversight panel called Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on July 22.
Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential detail, earlier said there is sure to be an “intensive review” of the incident.
“There’s going to be a massive realignment,” LaSorsa said. “This cannot happen.”
The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage after the shooting in Butler city
Police snipers returned fire after shots were fired while Trump was speaking.
State police remove a person from the stands after shots were fired at Trump.
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