Monday, July 15, 2024

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What we know about the Trump assassination attempt so far:

The shooting at Trump’s rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania is being investigated as an attempted assassination. Trump was shot and hit by a bullet in the “upper part of my right ear,” but is otherwise “fine,” his campaign said. As he was ushered away, Trump raised a fist to the crowd, mouthing: “Fight. Fight. Fight.”

The Secret Service said the shooter – 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks – fired “multiple shots” from an “elevated position” outside of the rally using an AR-style rifle that was legally purchased by his father. Two “suspicious devices” were found in his vehicle, and authorities suspect a third may have been found at his home.

Crooks and at least one audience member were killed, and two other attendees were critically injured.

Officials said Crooks didn’t have a history of interactions with law enforcement or of mental illness, and investigators haven’t found any evidence on social media or elsewhere that might help identify his motive for the attempted assassination. Crooks was registered to vote as a Republican, but had made a small donation to a Democratic-leaning group. Former classmates described him as kind, polite, and smart.

The rooftop where Crooks shot at Trump was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event.

Shortly after the shooting Biden condemned the attack, saying “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick […] We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this.”

And in a pair of interviews on Sunday, Trump recounted the shooting, saying: “A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen. They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.” He added: “I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be dead.”

House Republicans, meanwhile, said they will “conduct a full investigation” into the shooting.

Trump’s campaign said he still plans to attend the Republican National Convention, which begins today in Milwaukee. The Secret Service said it was “not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans” for the RNC. “We’re ready to go.”

There have been 327 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2024 so far.

*Sources: *New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNN /

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