Donald Trump on Sunday vowed to formally become the presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention after surviving an assassination attempt further inflamed already bitter US political divisions.
Police officers on the floor of the Fiserv Forum ahead of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Sunday, July 14, 2024. Former President Donald Trump confirmed he will attend next week’s Republican National Convention, hours after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Photographer: Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
Democratic President Joe Biden said he had ordered an investigation into how a 20-year-old man carrying an AR-15-style rifle got close enough to open fire from a rooftop on Saturday on Trump, who as a former president receives lifetime protection from the U.S. Secret Service, an arm of the federal Department of Homeland Security.
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Trump, 78, was holding a campaign rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, one of the states expected to be the most battleground in the Nov. 5 election when a shot rang out, hitting Trump in the right ear and leaving a streak of blood on his face. The Trump campaign said Trump was doing well and had no major injuries other than a wound to his upper right ear.
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The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in the assassination attempt. State voter records show Crooks was a registered Republican and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17.
Police officials told reporters that a motive for the attack has yet to be determined, and both Republicans and Democrats will likely be looking for evidence of Crooks’ political affiliations to show that the rival party represents an extremist wing.
“There is no room in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said at the White House. “I urge everyone to please not speculate about his motives or affiliations.”
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Most polls, including Reuters/Ipsos, have Trump and Biden locked in a close election race.
Trump is set to accept his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Republican National Convention Chairman Michael Whatley told Fox News on Sunday that authorities were working with the party to secure the venue, where security has been in the works for months.
“At this moment, it is more important than ever that we come together, show our true character as Americans, remain strong and resolute, and do not let evil win,” Trump wrote on his social media website, Truth Social, on Sunday.
“I love our country with all my heart, and I love you all, and I look forward to speaking to our great citizens from the state of Wisconsin this week.”
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The shooting has transformed the debate around the presidential election, which has recently focused on whether Biden, 81, should withdraw after his disastrous performance in a June debate.
The Biden campaign, which has been trying to reset its messaging to portray Trump as a danger to democracy as he continues to make false claims about election fraud, announced Saturday that it would halt political advertising for the time being.
The suspect, who was shot dead by a Secret Service agent, opened fire from the roof of a building about 150 yards (140 meters) from the stage where President Trump was speaking, according to a Secret Service statement. A source said the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting was found near the suspect’s body.
ABC and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that the gun was legally purchased by the suspect’s father, while the Associated Press, citing sources, reported that bomb-making materials were found in the suspect’s car.
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The victim was protecting her family.
Authorities identified the gunman who was shot and killed as 50-year-old Corey Comperatore of Thurber, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters that Comperatore died when he dove to shield his family from the hail of bullets.
“Corey is a huge supporter of the former president and was thrilled to be out with him in the community last night,” Shapiro said, adding that “political differences should never be resolved with violence.”
Two other people at the rally were also seriously injured, the Secret Service said.
In a statement, the Secret Service denied accusations by some Trump supporters that it had refused requests from the campaign for increased security.
“The assertion that members of the former president’s security team requested additional protection resources and that the U.S. Secret Service or Department of Homeland Security denied them is completely false,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “In fact, the U.S. Secret Service recently added additional protection resources and capabilities to the former president’s security forces.”
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Neighbors are astonished
Residents of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where the suspect lived, said they were shocked by the news Sunday.
“It’s kind of crazy to think that someone would have been that close to try to assassinate us, but it speaks to the political dynamic we’re in right now with the insanity on both sides,” said Wes Morgan, 42, who added that he bikes with his kids down the street where the alleged shooter lived. “Bethel Park is a working-class neighborhood. It’s kind of crazy to think that he was that close.”
While mass shootings in schools, nightclubs and other public places are a regular part of American life, this was the first time a US president or a major party presidential candidate has been shot since the 1981 assassination attempt on Republican President Ronald Reagan.
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In 2011, then-Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was seriously injured in an attack at a voter gathering in Arizona, and Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was also seriously injured in a politically motivated attack on a group of Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game in 2017.
Giffords later founded a leading gun control group, but Scalise remains a staunch defender of gun rights.
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Political violence
Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls show Americans fear an increase in political violence, with two in three respondents in a May survey saying they were concerned about the possibility of violence breaking out after the election.
Fueled by Trump’s false claims that his election loss was the result of widespread fraud, Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn his election defeat. Approximately 140 police officers were injured in the riot, four rioters died that day, one responding officer died the next day, and four responding officers later committed suicide.
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Police officials said the shots appeared to have come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service.
Hours after the attack, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee subpoenaed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.
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Some Republican supporters of President Trump believe the attack was politically motivated.
“You have the left trying to demonize Donald Trump as a person,” said Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the House. “The left seems to be targeting Donald Trump as an individual.”
President Trump started the year facing multiple legal concerns, including four criminal indictments.
He was convicted in late May of conspiring to conceal hush money payments to porn actresses, but the three other charges he faces — including two in which he sought to overturn his losses — have been stayed for a variety of reasons, including a Supreme Court ruling this month granting him partial immunity from prosecution.
Trump has alleged, without evidence, that all four charges were orchestrated to stop Biden from returning to power.
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