An investigation is underway following what is being investigated as an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, at a MAGA rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The shooting left a former firefighter dead as he attempted to shield family members. Two other spectators who were also injured were reportedly in stable condition as of Sunday. Trump posted on social media that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear” but is reportedly fine.
The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Pennsylvania, was shot dead by snipers on a building rooftop about 150 yards away from the rally. Investigations of apparent security lapses and a motive for the shooting are currently underway. Crooks was reportedly a registered Republican and once made a $15 contribution to a left-leaning voter turnout organization.
President Joe Biden has addressed the nation three times since the shooting, with an Oval Office address on Sunday evening, July 14. An excerpt of President Biden’s address appears below:
Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here.
Thankfully, former [President] Trump is not seriously [injured]. I spoke with him last night. I’m grateful he’s doing well. And Jill and I keep him and his family in our prayers.
We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed. Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter, a hero, sheltering his family from those bullets. We should all hold his family and all those injured in our prayers.
Earlier today, I spoke about an ongoing investigation. We do not know the motive of the shooter yet. We don’t know his opinions or affiliations. We don’t know whether he had help or support or if he communicated with anyone else. Law enforcement professionals, as I speak, are investigating those questions.
Tonight, I want to speak to what we do know: A former president was shot. An American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing.
We cannot — we must not go down this road in America. We’ve traveled it before throughout our history. Violence has never been the answer whether it’s with members of Congress in both parties being targeted in the shot, or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on January 6th, or a brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, or information and intimidation on election officials, or the kidnapping plot against a sitting governor, or an attempted assassination on Donald Trump.
There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down. And we all have a responsibility to do that.
Read more here.