Trump lightly injured after attack at rally: ‘I felt the bullet ripping through the skin’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump suffered an attack on Saturday while at a rally in Butler (Pennsylvania). He had been speaking for a few minutes when shots rang out. He put his right hand to his face, as if he had been hit, fell to the ground and was covered by Secret Service agents. He was slightly wounded by a bullet that hit his ear. He left the stage with a trail of blood on his face and his fist raised to the cheers of his supporters. The shooter, whose identity and motives are unknown, was shot dead by security services. One rally attendee was also killed and two others were seriously injured, authorities said. The attack is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

As shots were heard and Trump fell to the ground, heavily armed police officers rushed onto the stage amid screams from the frightened audience, who were also trying to protect themselves. “Shooter down,” the officers shouted, after one of their own returned fire from a rooftop. The former president stood up, surrounded by bodyguards, and asked to retrieve his shoes. He was evacuated from the scene with some blood on his face coming out of the area around his ear, with Secret Service agents around him, but in apparent good condition. With shouts of “U-S-A”, his supporters celebrated his departure on his own feet and without apparent serious injuries. He raised his fist several times.

Trump’s motorcade left the venue in a hurry. A spokesman for the former president said later that Trump was fine and that he was undergoing an examination at a medical center near the rally site. And about four hours after the attack, Trump gave his version through Truth, his social network: “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. 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 realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote.

The former president thanked the Secret Service and the other law enforcement agencies “for their rapid response on the shooting”. “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. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead.” he added.

The shooter fired from a rooftop of a nearby building, about 120 meters away from the president, outside the rally venue. A witness told the BBC that police had been warned of the shooter’s presence but did not intervene. Videos taken by attendees show members of the Secret Service stationed on top of a tent firing. They immediately respond to the shooter’s fire, at whom they were aiming. The exchange of gunfire broke out while Trump was speaking. Photographs of the shooter on the roof after being hit by the agents, who later recovered a semi-automatic rifle, with which the attack was apparently carried out, were also circulated on social media.

The attendees, thousands of people, were evacuated from the venue where the rally was taking place after the shooting. Security forces cordoned off the area, which they called a “crime scene”, and also cleared out the journalists who were present.

“US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and the former president is safe,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement also posted on the X social network.

Biden condemns attack

U.S. President Joe Biden appeared some three hours later to condemn the attack: “Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” he said from Rehoboth Beach, where he spends the weekend.

The Secret Service is responsible for the security of former presidents. Trump is assigned a large escort that accompanies him everywhere. His rallies are held amid heavy security measures, with exhaustive searches at the entrance. The gunfire came from outside the open-air venue where the event was being held.

The Attorney General, Merrick Garland, said in a statement that “the Justice Department will bring every available resource to bear to this investigation.” “My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack. We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy” he wrote.

The rally was the final one given by the former president before the Republican convention that is meeting from Monday in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) to certify his candidacy for the presidency by the Republican Party. Trump is still to announce who will be his vice-presidential candidate, as he has pressed the deadline to the limit. In some fundraising messages to his supporters he suggested he might announce it at this Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania, but he sent similar messages a few days ago giving before another rally in Doral (Florida) and finally did not do so. None of the front-runners for the nomination (Senators J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio and Governor Doug Burgum) were at the rally Saturday.

What impact the attack on Trump may have on the presidential campaign is uncertain. The former president is a divisive figure who has contributed like few others to the polarization of American politics. He calls those convicted of the violent assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 “hostages” and was the first to resist the peaceful and orderly transfer of power after losing the election. Now it is he who has become the latest victim of political violence in a country where four presidents have been assassinated in its nearly 250-year history.

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