Attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania

For the 2016 incident, see 2016 Donald Trump Las Vegas rally incident.

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Part of political violence in the United States
Butler Farm Show Grounds (right) 13 July 2024 6:36:51 p.m. EDT, 25 minutes after the shooting
Location	Butler Farm Show Grounds near Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40.8571223°N 79.9711779°W / 40.8571223; -79.9711779
Date	July 13, 2024 (2024-07-13) 6:11 p.m. (UTC−04:00)
Target	Donald Trump
Attack type	Attempted assassination by gunshot
Weapon	AR-15–style rifle
Deaths	2 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	3 (including Trump)
Perpetrator	Thomas Matthew Crooks

On July 13, 2024, 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election, was shot in his right ear at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was speaking to the audience when he was shot by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks fired eight rounds from an AR-15–style rifle from the roof of a nearby building outside the rally venue, killing Corey Comperatore, 50, in the audience and critically injuring two other audience members. Crooks was subsequently killed by a Secret Service Counter Assault Team sniper.

After being shot, Trump took cover and was surrounded by Secret Service personnel before being helped to his feet by Secret Service with blood visible on his right ear and cheek. He pumped his fist in the air and shouted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!", before being escorted to his motorcade and taken to a hospital. He was released a few hours later in stable condition. The shooting is being investigated as an attempted assassination and as a potential domestic terrorist act. Experts considered the shooting a sign of political polarization in the United States, and political figures called for a decrease in tensions.

The shooting evoked sympathy for Trump and was described as "shocking". A number of public figures have called for an increase in security for the major candidates in the election.

Background

Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election. The shooting occurred two days before the July 15 start of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the second attempt at violence toward Trump during one of his rallies: the first was in 2016, when a man attempted to disarm a security officer at a rally in Las Vegas.

On July 3, 2024, it was announced that Trump would hold a rally on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show Grounds, between Connoquenessing Township and Meridian, near Butler, Pennsylvania. On July 10, an advance team began setting up for the rally, including the installation of generators in a large open field. The rally was part of the Trump campaign's attempts to garner votes in Pennsylvania, which polling indicates is a swing state; the state has 19 votes in the Electoral College. U.S. Representative Mike Kelly said he had contacted the Trump campaign to recommend holding the rally in an area that could handle a larger crowd than the Butler Farm Show Grounds could, and that their response was, "We appreciate your input but we've already made up our minds".

Attendees at Trump's rallies are screened for prohibited items, including weapons. The Secret Service routinely screens and monitors nearby buildings and businesses, including structures outside security perimeters. Four separate counter-sniper teams were assigned to the event, two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement. The FBI had no information about any particular threats before the event.

Shooting

10 minutes prior to the assassination attempt; the shooter was on one of the buildings to the left.

Approximate locations (including Counter Assault Teams)

Trump arrived onstage at the rally at about 6:03 p.m. EDT. A few minutes into his speech, at approximately 6:11 p.m., Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight shots into the rally venue from an AR-15–style rifle chambered in 5.56mm. Crooks had not undergone security screening, as he was outside the rally's security perimeter; he had climbed onto the roof of a building around 400 feet (120 meters) north of Trump. Reports indicated that a witness had observed a man carrying a rifle on the rooftop and alerted the police about him minutes before shots were fired at Trump. A Butler Township police officer climbed to the roof, hoisted by another officer, and encountered Crooks. Crooks spotted the officer while the officer's hands were clinging to the edge of the roof and aimed his rifle at him, forcing him to retreat. Crooks began firing immediately after the confrontation with the officer.

Other local law enforcement officers identified Crooks and felt that he might have been acting suspiciously near the event's magnetometers; they expressed their suspicions over the radio, and together with the Secret Service, kept an eye on Crooks. As the shots were heard, the rally attendees yelled "Duck!"

Trump was shot in the upper right ear. He raised a hand to his ear before dropping down on the podium behind the lectern for cover. Secret Service agents lunged toward Trump and shielded him. After about 25 seconds, agents helped Trump get up, by which time blood was visible on Trump's ear and face and he asked the Secret Service agents to let him get his shoes. Trump then raised his fist, pumped it at the crowd, and shouted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd responded with cheers and chants of "U-S-A!" Trump was then escorted to a vehicle and taken to a nearby hospital.

Trump credited a large display of a chart portraying immigration statistics with saving his life. Just before the first shot, he turned toward the chart and pointed to it. Trump said, "If I hadn't pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head."

Crooks shot Trump and three rallygoers before being killed by a sniper from the United States Secret Service Counter Assault Team seconds later. One rally attendee was killed.

Victims

Apart from Trump, three men were hit. One of them, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was killed, and the other two critically injured. Comperatore worked as a project and tooling engineer and was a volunteer firefighter in Buffalo Township. According to his family and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, he died while shielding his daughters from gunfire.

U.S. representative Ronny Jackson said a bullet had grazed his nephew's neck, drawing blood.

Perpetrator

Main article: Thomas Matthew Crooks

On July 14, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour's drive from the rally venue. Crooks was believed to have acted alone. The rifle Crooks used had been legally purchased by his father, according to law enforcement sources. Crooks attended Bethel Park High School and graduated in 2022. He had no criminal record.

Crooks worked as a dietary aide in the kitchen of a nearby nursing home. Some people who knew him characterized him as quiet, and a former classmate said he had been bullied "every day" at school for wearing camouflage to class. Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, which has a 200-yard rifle range. Photos of Crooks's body showed him wearing a shirt that appeared to be merchandise from a popular YouTube channel celebrating firearms.

He was a registered Republican; his voter registration had been active since September 2021, the month he turned 18. Federal campaign finance records show that, earlier that year, on January 20, 2021, when he was 17, Crooks made a donation of $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project (a voter turnout group) through ActBlue (a donation platform for Democrats and progressive organizations).

Aftermath

Trump was transported to Butler Memorial Hospital for examination immediately after the shooting. A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed that he was safe.

Trump's motorcade left the hospital at around 9:30 p.m. EDT bound for Pittsburgh International Airport. Trump landed in Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey early on July 14 and spent the night at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. He confirmed that he would be able to attend the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 15. Security at Trump Tower and the RNC was strengthened after the shooting.

The Trump campaign organized a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for the rally goers who were wounded or killed, raising over $2 million by July 14.

Investigation

External videos
FBI Briefing on Trump Rally Shooting, July 13, 2024, C-SPAN

The FBI is leading an investigation with the United States Department of Justice National Security Division, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The incident is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

Police removed Crooks's corpse from the rooftop. He was carrying no identification. The FBI confirmed the shooter's identity via fingerprint biometrics and DNA profiling. Explosives were found in the car Crooks used to travel to the rally and at his home.

"Raised fist" photographs

Main article: Trump raised fist photographs

See also: Public image of Donald Trump

Evan Vucci's photograph of Trump after being shot in the ear

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Photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured images of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air, surrounded by Secret Service members, with an American flag in the background. The photos quickly spread on social media and television and were widely circulated by Trump's allies, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, his family members, and Republican members of Congress.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells of The New Yorker wrote of one of the widely circulated images, "It is already the indelible image of our era of political crisis and conflict." He noted that "some of the elements in Vucci's image are familiar from the countless others of Trump", and concluded, "It is an image that captures him as he would like to be seen, so perfectly, in fact, that it may outlast all the rest." Tyler Austin Harper of The Atlantic called Vucci's photograph "immediately legendary". Business Insider echoed those sentiments, writing that it had "become the most iconic image of his reelection among Republicans". Fraser Nelson of The Spectator wrote that it was "photojournalism at its most powerful" and "a perfect metaphor for the Donald Trump campaign". Shawn McCreesh of The New York Times wrote that it revealed Trump's instinct to carefully manage his image even "in the middle of the mayhem". Politico wrote that some had used the photo as "an opportunity to tout conspiracy theories and stoke political tensions".

Reactions

Political scientists, historians, and many Democratic and Republican political figures pointed to the shooting as a consequence of political polarization in the United States. It led to widespread sympathy for Trump on social media and public figures across the political spectrum both domestically and internationally urged a decrease in tensions, condemning the assassination attempt. News agencies said Trump was seen by Republicans as a martyr after the event.

Trump

Soon after being confirmed as safe, Trump released a statement on his own social media platform Truth Social recounting his experience, thanking law enforcement personnel and the Secret Service, and offering condolences to the families of people killed and injured:

I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

— Donald Trump

Domestic

U.S. president Joe Biden commenting on the assassination attempt, July 13

After the shooting, President Joe Biden said: "Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons we have to unite this country ... Everybody must condemn it." In a separate statement, he said he was grateful that Trump was safe. Biden also publicly expressed his condolences for Comperatore, hailing his actions as a father. Biden and Trump spoke on the evening of the incident. On July 14, Biden ordered an independent security review of Trump's rally and warned against political violence in an Oval Office address.

Statement from President Joe Biden

I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania.

I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well. I'm praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.

Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There's no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.

Joe Biden, The White House, July 13, 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to open an investigation into the shooting, seeking testimony from federal law enforcement and national security officials. Senate Republicans urged the Democratic-controlled Senate to conduct hearings as well.

Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins called for a Republican prosecutor to charge Biden for inciting an assassination. Republican Senator J. D. Vance blamed the Biden campaign's political rhetoric, while Republican Senator Tim Scott blamed messaging by "the radical Left and corporate media". Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured in the Congressional baseball shooting, said that Democratic leaders had been fueling "ludicrous hysteria" about Trump and called for the "incendiary rhetoric" to stop. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized Democratic representative Bennie Thompson for having introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons, including Trump.

Steven Woodrow, a Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives, posted on Twitter in response to the assassination attempt: "The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are." His post was widely criticized, including by the Colorado Democratic Party; Woodrow deleted his account about three hours after his post. Afterward, he told the Washington Examiner that he condemned the shooting "on the strongest terms" and that the comment "risks portraying Trump [as] a martyr, thus making him more likely to win in November".

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro denounced political violence and ordered flags to be lowered to half staff in honor of Comperatore, who was killed. Colorado Governor Jared Polis called for Biden to extend Secret Service protection to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Secret Service stated that it added protective resources to accommodate campaign travel schedules, disputing claims that it did not provide requested extra protection for Trump. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about what they perceived as errors or oversights that exposed Trump to gunfire.

Former president George W. Bush called the shooting "cowardly" and applauded the Secret Service's response. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was Trump's opponent in the 2016 presidential election, also condemned the attack and wished Trump a swift recovery. The Carter Center, founded by former president Jimmy Carter, condemned the attack and called for Americans to "embrace civility".

International

Many heads of state and of government, as well as of international organizations, condemned the shooting and expressed good wishes to Trump. Among them, Russia blamed the incident on "the atmosphere around candidate Trump" created by the Biden administration, while Cuba blamed the U.S. arms industry and increased political violence in America. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and other Georgian government officials blamed the attack on the "Global War Party", a recurring conspiracy theory of the Georgian Dream party alleging a mysterious international organization that exerts influence on the Western world from the shadows.

See also

• 2024 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
• List of people who survived assassination attempts
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots
• Security incidents involving Donald Trump

External links

• "Former President Donald Trump Campaigns in Butler, PA", July 13, 2024, C-SPAN
• Trump's statement on Truth Social