By Anthony Marcus, correspondent in Washington. Eurasia Business News, July 14, 2024. Article n°1091.
On Saturday evening, a shocking incident occureed during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A sniper tried to shoot Donald Trump. The former U.S. president (2016-2020) and presidential candidate 2024 survived with a wound to his right ear. At the same time, one of the president’s supporters was killed, and two were seriously injured.
The FBI has taken over the investigation into this assassination attempt. One of the key questions that will be scrutinized during the investigation is how the attacker managed to position themselves undetected on the roof adjacent to the rally venue. This security breach raises significant concerns about the effectiveness of protective measures in place for high-profile political events.
After this incident, Donald Trump participated in another rally. It was held in the city of Butler, located in Pennsylvania, one of the few states where the outcome of the entire election race should be decided in November. The event was the final push ahead of the Republican convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump is expected to officially receive his party’s nomination as well as announce who he has chosen as his vice presidential candidate.
At first, the rally was not much different from all the previous ones. However, it was destined to go down in the history of the United States. Mr. Trump has just begun his speech. Turning to the right, he began to talk about his favorite topic – the record number of illegal crossings of the southern border. But then suddenly a loud bang interrupted the politician’s speech. The former president, seemingly in disbelief in what had happened, raised his right hand to his ear and collapsed to the ground. Instantly, the secret service guarding the president and former heads of state covered him with their bodies.
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In the crowd, meanwhile, shouts were heard, indicating that someone among the rally participants was injured. Later it turned out that one of the president’s supporters was killed and two were seriously wounded.
Donald Trump himself survived, but was forced to stay on the ground for some time while special services eliminated the threat – a sniper lying behind the perimeter on the roof. Only after the shooter was eliminated, the guards, taking the president in a ring, tried to take him out of the podium. Donald Trump stopped for a moment, trying to control his flying shoes, and then asked his escorts to wait a second and raised his hand clenched into a fist. Some eyewitnesses claimed that he said: “Fight!” (“fight”). A photo with a bloodied ex-president with his hand raised in the air, surrounded by special services and against the background of the waving American flag, instantly went viral.
People at the rally, realizing that Donald Trump had survived, exhaled and exploded with shouts of joy. The ex-president left to the cries of “USA, USA”. Before entering the service car, he once again raised his hand up, promising to continue the fight.
As it turned out later, the attacker was noticed by local residents. They tried to warn the special services about a suspicious person in uniform on the roof, but they did not have time to prevent the tragedy.
After that, videos began to circulate on the network with the shooter eliminated by snipers. It was also reported that an AR assault rifle was found next to the shot. “The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crookes, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as an entity involved in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump,” the FBI said in a statement, quoted by CNN.
The question of how the attacker managed to lie unhindered on the roof next to the election rally will be raised more than once during the investigation, which was taken over by the FBI. During a press conference, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rozek, answering a question about possible mistakes of the special services in preparing for the rally, said: “It is necessary to conduct an investigation to determine whether there were any failures. We can’t really comment on that at this time.”
The bureau also said it would cooperate with the Secret Service, as well as various local and state-level law enforcement agencies. US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the investigation is also being conducted by agents of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives).
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would commission a full investigation into the attack because “the American people deserve to know the truth.” “We will invite Secret Service Director Kimberly Chitle and other relevant officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to appear for hearings in our committees as soon as possible,” he added.
Donald Trump himself went to a local hospital after the incident. When, about two hours later, the doctors made sure that the life and health of the politician were not in danger, he immediately appeared in the information space.
“I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service and all law enforcement agencies for their quick response… I want to express my condolences to the family of the person who died at the rally, as well as to the family of another person (at that time only one victim was known), who was seriously injured,” Mr. Trump wrote on the page of his social network Truth Social.
“I immediately realized that something was wrong, I heard whistling, shots, and immediately felt the bullet tearing the skin. There was heavy bleeding, so I then realized what was happening,” the ex-president shared his impressions. And he ended his message with the phrase “God save America!”
Later, the Republican Party Committee reported: despite the incident, Donald Trump does not intend to change his plans to participate in the Republican Convention, where he will officially become the presidential candidate from this party.
In the history of the United States, there have been several assassination attempts on presidents and presidential candidates. All of them happened quite a long time ago. Four assassination attempts—Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963)—resulted in the death of presidents. In 1981, an attempt was made on Ronald Reagan, he was saved thanks to a timely operation. As for presidential candidates, in 1968, Robert Kennedy, the father of the independent presidential candidate in the 2024 elections, Robert Kennedy Jr., died in an assassination attempt.
The 60th presidential election in the United States is scheduled for November 5, 2024. The election race started in 2023, Republicans and Democrats traditionally compete, but recent polls in the United States showed a request for a third, independent candidate. A number of candidates, including Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Marianne Williamson, and Dean Phillips, have already dropped out of the race. The main struggle is unfolding between the current US President, Democrat Joe Biden, and the previous President, Republican Donald Trump, who is tentatively leading in the polls and is the favorite in the debates. The latest news and all the most important things about the presidential race in the United States and the November elections are on Eurasia Business News.
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© Copyright 2024 – Eurasia Business News. Article No. 1091.
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