Donald Trump survived a weekend assassination attempt days before he is due to accept the formal Republican presidential nomination, in an attack that will further inflame the U.S. political divide and has raised questions about the security failures.
Authorities identified a rally attendee who was shot and killed as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania, who Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told reporters was killed when he dove on top of his family to protect them from the hail of bullets.
On Saturday, Trump, 78, had just begun a campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh, when shots rang out, hitting the former president’s right ear and streaking his face with blood.
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in what it called an attempted assassination. He was a registered Republican, according to state voter records and had made a $15 donation to a Democratic political action committee at the age of 17.
The assassination attempt on Trump, US President Joe Biden’s biggest opponent in the US election later this year, has set alarm bells ringing through the country’s security establishment.
Multiple rounds targeting the former President were fired at the Butler rally yesterday. Trump said one of the bullets pierced the upper part of his right ear. One person was killed and two others critically injured in the shooting. Visuals showed Secret Service operatives escorting the former President to safety after the shooting, bloodstains on his face.
US President Joe Biden has strongly condemned the incident and also spoken to his arch rival after the shooting.
FBI provided a consolidated update
Security agencies in the US have identified the shooter behind the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, but are yet to share details on the motive behind the crime.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the agency said in a statement.
Earlier, at a press briefing, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said, “At this time, we are not prepared to identify who the shooter is. We are close to that identification. As soon as we are 100 per cent confident who that individual is, we will share it with the press.”
Donald Trump was swiftly moved to safety after a bullet hit his right ear
New Delhi: Security agencies in the US have identified the shooter behind the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, but are yet to share details on the motive behind the crime.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the agency said in a statement.
Earlier, at a press briefing, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said, “At this time, we are not prepared to identify who the shooter is. We are close to that identification. As soon as we are 100 per cent confident who that individual is, we will share it with the press.”
The FBI official also said they are not yet sure of the motive behind the assassination attempt, that has also left one person dead and two others critically injured.
“We do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” he said.
The FBI is the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation into the assassination attempt.
This attempt will change the US Politics forever
Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, said the shooting could benefit Trump politically because it feeds into his campaign narrative that the country is off-track.
“The attempted assassination creates sympathy for Trump,” Bannon said. “It also confirms the idea to voters that something is fundamentally wrong in this nation, which is an idea that drives support for him.”
Trump in May was found guilty of engaging in a scheme to cover up an affair with a porn star, a conviction that did little to alter the race and suggested supporters of both sides remain entrenched in their positions.
Biden has dealt with a debate within his own party over whether he should step down as the Democratic candidate because of concerns that he is no longer fit for the job. He says his doctors have told him he is in good shape. Trump has benefited in some polls from Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, but others show the race to be even.
Many voters have already been alienated by both Biden and Trump. The chaos that surrounds the candidates may contribute to voters feeling that the nation’s problems are unfixable and the gulf between the parties cannot be bridged.
