2024-07-14 07:47:24
Former US President Donald Trump, wounded in the ear, escaped an assassination attempt on Saturday during a meeting in the now-defunct election campaign.
Donald Trump, 78 years old, was removed with a bloodied face after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania (northwest). Before the officers took him to a big black car, he raised a hand to the crowd in defiance.
The shooters and one attacker were killed and two bystanders were seriously injured, all elderly men, according to police.
The FBI identified the shooter as “Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania,” according to a statement by NBC and CBS television.
“I was hit by a bullet that went above my right ear,” Donald Trump said on his Social Media platform.
Democratic President Joe Biden, who faced Donald Trump in the November election, said he was happy to learn that the Republican was apparently in good health while condemning “such violence”. Joe Biden spoke with Donald Trump, the White House said.
Unverified footage shows the body of the alleged attacker lying on the roof of a small house from which he was shot, causing horror and panic among onlookers.
During a press conference Saturday evening, the FBI confirmed that the shootings were indeed “attempted murders.”
Several witnesses said they saw the shooter before the shooting and alerted Butler police, who said they were “responding to a number of reports of suspicious activity,” without elaborating.
– “Let me get my shoes” –
This meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania (northeast), is the last one before the Republican convention which begins on Monday in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), and at the end of which Donald Trump must be officially nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
His campaign team confirmed on Saturday evening that the former president decided to go there after undergoing a medical examination at the hospital as a precaution.
He was seen leaving his plane unaided, hours after escaping an assassination attempt, according to a video posted on social media by his deputy director of communications.
The Republican candidate, who had just begun his speech with one of his regulars on immigrants, accusing Joe Biden of letting them into the country altogether, was immediately tackled to the ground by Secret Service agents.
In the audience, cries of fear began, and the spectators threw themselves down. After a few minutes, Donald Trump got up, his hair disheveled and without his red hat, surrounded by representatives. “Let me get my shoes,” they heard him say to them.
He was then carried from the stage to his car, repeatedly raising his hands in the air in protest, as his supporters cheered.
“It’s shocking that such an act can take place in our country,” Donald Trump said on Truth in the following hours, at the risk of further fueling political rivalries.
“Immediately I knew something was wrong because I heard a whistle, shots, and I immediately felt a bullet that pierced the skin,” he explained.
“I knew what was happening at that time.
The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement that the suspected shooter “fired several shots at the scene from a vantage point (located) outside the convention” before being “disarmed” by agents.
– “International shock wave” –
The attack sent shock waves around the world, with leaders of Britain, Israel, Japan and many other countries expressing outrage.
Joe Biden cut short a stop at his Delaware beach house to return to Washington. He will receive an update from security services on Sunday morning, the White House said.
Senator J.D. Vance, one of Donald Trump’s colleagues, said that Joe Biden’s “speech” has “directly led” to Donald Trump’s attack.
The consequences of this event on the campaign can be unpredictable.
In recent days, attention has focused on the physical and mental doubts of Joe Biden, 81, and his ability to face Donald Trump since their debate on June 27, marked by the disastrous performance of the Democratic candidate. Many MPs are now calling on him to resign.
The man himself also had Friday in Michigan (northern) that he was in the race.
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