World Leaders Condemn ‘Assassination Attempt’ On Former U.S. President Trump

U.S. authorities raced to identify a motive behind the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, as officials blamed a 20-year-old man for the shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The alleged gunman, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service officers, and one other spectator also died, the agency said. Two other people were critically wounded.

Trump said later he had been shot in the ear, and video from the July 13 rally showed blood visible on the right side of his head as Secret Service agents rushed him from the stage.

The 78-year-old presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election had just begun to deliver a speech in the city of Butler when several gunshots were heard, prompting screams from the crowd.

Trump then reached for his right ear before he quickly crouched down behind the podium where he was delivering the speech.

Secret Service officers, who are assigned to protect Trump as well as other top political leaders, rushed the stage and surrounded him.

As he got up and was led off of the stage, blood was visible on Trump’s right ear and cheek. He was whisked by the Secret Service agents into a waiting car and left the venue.

As he was being led off of the stage, Trump turned toward the crowd, pumped his fist in the air and appeared to yell, “Fight, fight, fight!”

“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting.

In a second statement issued about 12 hours after the shooting, Trump said he was looking forward to speaking at the Republican National Convention, which gets under way later this week.

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined,” Trump said on Truth Social

At a briefing for reporters late July 13, Kevin Rojek, the FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s local office, said the shooting was being investigated as an “assassination attempt.”

In a statement published on X shortly after the incident, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the shooter had fired “multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.” He also said the shooter had been “neutralized.”

In a statement provided to RFE/RL, the FBI identified Crooks, 20, as the suspected gunman, and said he was from a town located about an hour south of Butler.

Several U.S. news outlets reported that state voting records showed Crooks was a registered Republican, but that he had also made small donations to Democratic campaigns.

Overnight on July 13, law enforcement officials blockaded the roads leading to the house identified as belonging to Crooks’ family.

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was wounded in an incident at a campaign rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, in what is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

AP reported that police had recovered an AR-style rifle — a lightweight, semi-automatic rifle similar to the U.S. military’s M16 — at the scene. The weapon is popular in the United States, and widely available for sale throughout the country.

Trump was treated locally, before flying to his golf club in neighboring New Jersey. Video of his arrival released by a campaign official showed him being escorted to the club by heavily armed Secret Service agents.

The shooting comes two days before the opening of the Republican National Convention at which the businessman and former reality TV star is expected to secure the party’s nomination and less than four months before the November 5 election.

Pennsylvania is considered one of the key swing states that will determine the election outcome. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the state campaigning on the same day as Trump’s rally.

President Joe Biden, whom Trump is challenging in the November election, said he was grateful to hear that Trump is safe and well.

“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden said in the statement.

“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

Trump’s election campaign website did not show any other events listed for the former president before the convention.

Trump “looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention,” it said.

Leading U.S. politicians rushed to condemn the shooting of Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021.

“Political violence has no place in our country,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a tweet, adding he was “horrified” by the news and “relieved” that Trump was safe.

“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” Mike Johnson, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, said in a post on X.

He also said Congress would schedule hearings to know the circumstances behind the shooting, and how someone was able to bring a weapon into the rally.

The Secret Service, which provides protection to leading political candidates such as Trump, also conducts security checks for political rallies.

While political violence is rare in the United States, several presidents or candidates have been shot over the country’s history.

Most recently, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded as he left an event at a Washington hotel in 1981.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford was unscathed in two separate assassination attempts.

Four U.S. presidents — John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley — have been assassinated.

With reporting by AP and Reuters