Update: Shortly after the publication of this article, an eyewitness reported two shooters. See that witness’s account here.
(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) An apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump cut short a rally in Butler, Pa., and shocked the nation, throwing another curveball into a tumultuous race just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump was escorted off the stage pumping his fist to signal to the crowd that he was OK but with blood visibly over his right ear, which he had grabbed before dropping to the ground as a series of percussive noises like shots sounded and smoke was reported as well.
Many in the crowd looked toward the direction that would have been Trump’s right as he faced the audience.
Trump stayed down for a few harrowing seconds as Secret Service rushed the stage but got up and said “Let me get my shoes on,” then walked off fully conscious.
There was no immediate confirmation that the incident was a shooting, and initial statements from the White House and Secret Service both pointedly referred to it as an “incident.”
The Trump campaign issued a statement saying “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick response. He is fine.”
It went on to say Trump was being checked out at a local facility.
The situation is now an active Secret Service investigation, although there was no initial report of a suspect or suspects. In one video, however, the Secret Service appeared to say “Shooter’s down.”
Shooter is dead. pic.twitter.com/kZaYjX4tjL
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) July 13, 2024
Looks like this could be the shooter:
from @deadabovethelip pic.twitter.com/Rgn1izQfjD
— Lomez (@L0m3z) July 13, 2024
Killed that POS pic.twitter.com/lZIVm8k2s1
— Lilly (@thelillygaddis) July 13, 2024
Pennsylvania senatorial candidate David McCormick told Fox News that there was “definitely someone injured” behind him in the bleachers who was carried out. He said it looked like a larger man. He had shirts wrapped around him to stem the bleeding.
“Some police officers came in and carried him out of the stands,” he said. “… Whether there were other people wounded or not, I couldn’t tell. Of course it was an enormous crowd.”
McCormick said it sounded like a small-caliber weapon of some sort, although he couldn’t tell if it was one or two.
He said he thought Trump was lucky to be alive based on the circumstances.
Many people, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, have sounded the alarm that with the rhetoric coming from the Left an attack on Trump seemed all but imminent.
Headline USA suggested in April that an assassination could be one of several “game-changing” events that would disrupt the trajectory of the campaign cycle.
President Joe Biden and other Democrats who have tacitly endorsed political violence against conservatives are likely to come under intense focus, including Biden’s recent remarks that it was “time to put Trump in a bullseye”
Joe Biden on 7.8.2024: "We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye." pic.twitter.com/K5FeeijDuC
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 13, 2024
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
