Attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania

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

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Butler Farm Show Grounds (right), 6:01 p.m. EDT, 10 minutes before the shooting
Location	Butler Farm Show Grounds in Connoquenessing Township/Meridian, near Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°51′25.3″N 79°58′15.6″W
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	5 (including Trump and a non-gunshot injury to an officer)
Perpetrator	Thomas Matthew Crooks
Motive	Under investigation

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, the former president of the United States and at that time the Republican Party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election, was shot and wounded while addressing a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired eight rounds with an AR-15–style rifle from the roof of a nearby building outside the rally venue. He killed audience member Corey Comperatore, critically injured two other audience members, and injured Trump in his upper right ear. Crooks was then shot and killed by the United States Secret Service Counter Sniper Team. The incident is being investigated as an attempted assassination and as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

Video of the incident showed Trump clasping his right ear before taking cover on the floor behind the podium, where he was surrounded by Secret Service personnel. After agents helped him to his feet, photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured images of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air, with an American flag in the background, that went viral on social media and have been widely praised as iconic and historically important. Trump mouthed, or shouted, the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!" before he was escorted off-stage to his motorcade. Taken to a nearby hospital, he was released a few hours later in stable condition. He made his first public appearance after the shooting two days later at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

The shooting gave rise to widespread bipartisan condemnation of political violence, including by President Joe Biden, who called the incident "sick". Public figures expressed concerns about apparent security failures at the event and called for increased security for the major candidates in the election. Crooks, who had borrowed the legally purchased rifle from his father, had no criminal record and his motive for the shooting remains unknown. No specific political views are indicated in his social media posts or other writings. Experts considered the shooting a sign of political polarization in the United States, and political figures called for a reduction in tensions. Soon after the shooting, misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories quickly spread on social media.

Background

At the time of the incident, Donald Trump was 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 notable attempt at violence toward Trump during one of his rallies; the first was in 2016, when a man attempted to grab a security officer's gun at a rally outside of Las Vegas.

On July 3, 2024, it was announced that Trump would hold a rally on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in 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. David McCormick, the Republican nominee in the state's concurrent U.S. Senate election, was invited to appear onstage during the rally to increase support for his campaign. 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, 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 Pennsylvania State Police, which serves as the law enforcement agency for Connoquenessing Township, were also involved in security matters. Butler Township police were given traffic duties. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had no information about any particular threats before the event. The Secret Service had increased Trump's security detail in prior weeks due to intelligence indicating that Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump.

Acting Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs denied this claim.

Shooting

On the day of the assassination attempt, Thomas Matthew Crooks borrowed his father's rifle—a DPMS Panther Arms-produced AR-15–style rifle with a 16" barrel (32" total length), chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, effective at the range intended by Crooks, and described by federal officials as an average rifle of its type. He then bought 50 rounds of ammunition from a gun store and purchased a five-foot (1.5-meter) ladder before driving to the site of the rally with an explosive device in the trunk of his car. He climbed onto the roof of a building around 400 feet (120 meters) north of the venue stage by means of an air conditioning unit. The building housed three police snipers tasked with covering the rally, but none of them were positioned on the rooftop due to manpower shortages. Crooks did not undergo security screening, as his rooftop location was, according to law enforcement officials, outside the Secret Service's security perimeter for the rally.

Approximate locations (including Secret Service Counter Sniper Teams)

According to WPXI, Crooks was photographed twice by security officers prior to the shooting. Prior to 5:45 p.m. EDT, a police officer saw Crooks on the ground and reported him, with a photograph, as a suspicious person. An officer searched for Crooks but did not find him. Multiple local law enforcement officers identified Crooks and believed that he might have been acting suspiciously near the event's magnetometers; they expressed their suspicions over the radio, and their radio communications were available to the Secret Service. At 5:45 p.m., a member of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit tactical team saw Crooks on a roof, notified other security services, and photographed Crooks. According to Forbes, in one of the two cases of Crooks being photographed, the police officer who photographed Crooks saw him "'scoping out' the roof and carrying a range finder". Reports indicated that several bystanders also witnessed a man carrying a rifle on the rooftop and alerted the police about him nearly a minute and a half before shots were fired at Trump. A Butler Township police officer attempted to climb to the roof of the building in search of Crooks, hoisted by another officer. Crooks spotted the officer while the officer's hands were clinging to the edge of the roof and aimed his rifle at the officer, at which point the officer let go, falling 8 feet (2.4 m) to the ground and severely injuring his ankle. Crooks undertook the assassination attempt immediately following the confrontation with the officer.

Trump arrived onstage at the rally at about 6:03 p.m. A few minutes into his speech, at approximately 6:11 p.m., Crooks fired eight shots into the rally, hitting Trump and three rallygoers before being killed by a sniper from the United States Secret Service Counter Sniper Team seconds later. As the shots were heard, rally attendees yelled "Duck!" Two shots were likely fired by law enforcement, one immediately after the shots fired from Crooks, and another 16 seconds later. Secret Service snipers were likely obstructed from being able to see Crooks as he crawled into a firing position due to the slant of the roof that Crooks was on, with the northern sniper team in particular having its line of sight obstructed by trees.

Trump was injured in his upper right ear. He raised a hand to his ear before dropping down on his 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. He asked the Secret Service agents to let him get his shoes. According to Trump, the agents "hit me so hard that my shoes fell off". A lipreader stated that Trump said "What? Blood on my face?", indicating that someone told him that he was bleeding. As he was walked off stage, Trump told the Secret Service agents to wait and then raised his fist, pumped it at the crowd, and shouted or mouthed the words "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 chart displaying immigration statistics with saving his life. Immediately before the first shot, he turned his head to his right, towards the chart, and pointed to it. The movement narrowed the profile of Trump's skull towards the direction of the shooter, possibly saving him from a direct gunshot wound to his head. Trump later 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."

Victims

Apart from Trump, three men were hit. Corey Comperatore (aged 50) of Sarver, Pennsylvania, was killed. Comperatore worked as a project and tooling engineer and was a volunteer firefighter in Buffalo Township. He was an active church member in the Global Methodist Church. According to his family and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, he died while shielding his wife and daughters from gunfire.

Two other audience members were shot and critically injured. They were identified as James Copenhaver (age 74) and David Dutch (age 57). Both were in stable condition on the following day. U.S. representative Ronny Jackson said that a bullet grazed his nephew's neck.

Perpetrator

Main article: Thomas Matthew Crooks

On July 14, the 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 from Community College of Allegheny County two months before the shooting. 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. Most neighbors also described Crooks as quiet and as a "normal person". Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, which has a 200-yard (180 m) rifle range.

Public records have not given any clear indication of Crooks's views; his political activities are seemingly diverging and internally contradicting with one another, with no known posts on social media websites or writings indicating his ideology. Authorities have stated that it is unknown what his political views were, or whether the assassination attempt was related to them. Federal campaign finance records show that on January 20, 2021, when he was 17, Crooks donated $15 to a voter turnout group, the Progressive Turnout Project, through a platform called ActBlue, which is used by Democrats and progressive organizations. He was a registered Republican; his voter registration had been active since September 2021, the month he turned 18. The FBI said that there had been "no indication of any mental health issues" regarding Crooks.

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 attended the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 15 with a bandaged ear. 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.

Following the shooting, stocks linked to Trump's media and technology interests experienced a significant surge, as well as shares of other companies that could benefit from a Donald Trump presidency, such as cryptocurrency stocks and gun stocks. Trump Media & Technology Group shares soared 31%, lifting its stock market value to $7.7 billion, and major cryptocurrency-related stocks, including Coinbase and bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, saw increases of 11% to 18%. Video-sharing platform Rumble, known for its popularity among conservative viewers, saw its stock price jump 21%. These surges reflect increased investor confidence in Trump's chances of winning the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Investigation

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, and also as an act of domestic terrorism. Police removed Crooks's corpse from the rooftop. He was carrying no identification; the FBI confirmed his identity via fingerprint biometrics and DNA profiling. Explosives were found at Crooks's home and in the car he used to travel to the rally.

Criticism of security arrangements

The Secret Service security detail responsible for protecting the former president during the rally faced criticism for not securing access to the roof of the building from which Crooks committed the shooting. Three police snipers were present in the building, but none were present on the roof or able to cover it. This was attributed to "extremely poor planning" and manpower shortages. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about what they perceived as errors or oversights that exposed Trump to gunfire. 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. Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle admitted that the lapse was "unacceptable".

Several prominent politicians and officials, mostly Republican, argued that DEI hiring by the Biden administration had compromised Secret Service training. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle and female agents serving in Trump's security detail faced scrutiny, especially following the release of footage showing one of the agents struggling to holster her weapon.

President Biden ordered an independent review on the federal security provided by the Secret Service in order to comprehend how the gunman got so close to assassinating Trump. The findings of this review will be made public. Additionally, he instructed the Secret Service to reassess all security protocols for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump was expected to be officially nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidential election on November 5.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was approved to receive Secret Service protection two days after the assassination attempt against Trump. Kennedy had previously sought protection from the Secret Service but was denied by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Kennedy had instead been relying on a private security firm for the duration of his presidential campaign.

Raised fist photographs

Main article: Trump raised-fist photographs

See also: Public image of Donald Trump

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

Photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured widely praised 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, family members, and Republican members of Congress. The images were seen as encapsulating masculinity, strength, Donald Trump himself, the United States, as well as the ongoing culture war in the country, and the pictures went viral on social media websites.

Political journalist Fraser Nelson called the images a "once in a generation photograph" and one "of the most important... ever taken" in history. 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". 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".

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. The shooting 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.

Donald 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

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

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.

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—later chosen as Trump's running mate—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. Jacqueline Marsaw—a member of Thompson's staff—was fired following a social media post that read "I don't condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don't miss next time oops that wasn't me saying that".

Steven Woodrow, a Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives, posted on X 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"

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. Protection of independent presidential candidates by the Secret Service are considered on an as-needed basis. Biden directed the Secret Service to do so on July 15.

U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division policemen on guard outside the White House the day after the attack

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. Mike Pence, who served as Vice President of the United States under Trump (2017–2021) and launched a rival bid to Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, released a statement saying "Karen and I thank God that President Trump is safe and recovering following yesterday's attempted assassination", praising the Secret Service for their quick response which Pence opined "undoubtedly saved lives", adding "There is no place in America for political violence and it must be universally condemned." The Carter Center, founded by former president Jimmy Carter, condemned the attack and called for Americans to "embrace civility".

Mark Webb, a bishop of the Global Methodist Church—the Christian denomination in which Corey Comperatore held church membership—stated that the assassination attempt was a "senseless act of violence and hatred" and implored all to "comfort those who mourn and boldly offer the promise of resurrection and new life through Jesus Christ".

The National Council of Churches condemned the assassination attempt, along with "toxic polarization, hate rhetoric, and the demonization and denigration of those who hold different opinions". Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement condemning the shooting as political violence, emphasizing that it is never a solution to political disagreements.

International

Many heads of state and of government, as well as of international organizations, condemned the shooting and expressed good wishes to Trump.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada issued a statement on social media that he was sickened by the attack, adding "my thoughts are with former President Trump, those at the event, and all Americans." Trudeau spoke to Trump on the phone following the attack. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer led condemnation of the shooting saying that he was appalled by the attack on Trump, stating that political violence had "no place in our society". Buckingham Palace confirmed on July 15 that King Charles III had written to Trump following the assassination attempt. First Minister of Scotland John Swinney also condemned the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India strongly condemned the incident, stating that "violence has no place in politics and democracies" and wished Trump a speedy recovery. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia condemned the shooting, saying there was "no place for violence in the democratic process" and added that he was relieved to hear Trump was safe. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said he was shocked to hear of what had occurred, adding that "no country should encounter such political violence". Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany condemned the shooting as an "attack on democracy", describing the attack on Trump as despicable and wishing the former president a quick recovery. Other European leaders to condemn the shooting included Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Simon Harris of Ireland, Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Luc Frieden of Luxembourg and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel released a video condemning the shooting and said it was an attack on democratic institutions everywhere.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed shock at the shooting, condemning the attack on Trump, and wishing the former president a speedy recovery. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, was confirmed by a UN spokesperson to have unequivocally condemned the attack, describing it as an act of political violence. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement saying that she was "deeply shocked" by the events at the rally, and offered condolences to the family of the deceased audience member, Corey Comperatore.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian president Vladimir Putin, condemned the event, adding that the shooting took place in an atmosphere created by Biden's leadership, in the context of what he argued to be attempts to remove Trump from the political arena. 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.

Online

The highly-visible event, which was immediately the subject of intense global news coverage, also became the subject of a large amount of commentary by Internet users. A large amount of activity occurred on X (formerly Twitter). NBC News said that videos "ripped" across the website, and tweets about the event quickly gained millions of views in the first hour; "Trump" was the top trending topic, with over 228,000 posts, with one livestream having hundreds of thousands of people in its audience. Posts, images and videos related to the event were not only seen from accounts users were following, but also appeared prominently in users' algorithmic "For You" feeds.

Many posters (including left- and right-wingers) discussed, argued, and tried to find out more about details of the event; topics of discourse involved details of the security setup, who was to blame for the attack, what kind of weapon the shooter had used, and whether language used by politicians and the media had "inflamed tensions" and played a role in motivating the attack. The Atlantic described posters as "trying to make their own order amid intense disorder". A very large number of claims made in the period immediately after the attack were unverified or conjectural, including multiple failed attempts at identifying the attacker. Many turned out to be false, and many were jokes or deliberate hoaxes.

While much larger audiences posted on X, the event was also discussed on 4chan, TikTok, Reddit, and Meta-owned Instagram and Threads. Similar bursts of activity happened on pro-Trump website patriots.win and Telegram, on the latter of which some far-right groups carried out a "pattern of mass deletion of posts [...] in case it was one of their own." 12 hours after the assassination attempt, right-wing Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald released the song "You Missed", voicing his frustrations about the shooting and the left-wing policies he believes led to it.

While some people and social bots on the Internet (including left- and right-wing users) suggested or claimed that the attack had been staged as a false flag, and the words "Trump" and "staged" were briefly the two highest-trending topics in the period immediately after the attack, no evidence emerged to support that this was the case.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories

Misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt also quickly spread on social media.

According to The Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz: "As more Americans lose trust in mainstream institutions and turn to partisan commentators and influencers for information, experts say they are seeing a big uptick in the manufacture and spread of left-wing conspiracy theories, a sign that the communal warping of reality is no longer occurring primarily on the right." BBC News disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring said that "the real change... is how this kind of lingo is being widely used by the average social media users" rather than being on the fringe, further noting that much of the "most-viral" false posts "came from left-leaning users who regularly share their anti-Trump views". MIT misinformation expert Adam Berinsky described the fast spread of such theories online as reflecting the extensive political division.

Conspiracy theories gained popularity within minutes. NBC News reported that on X that the word "staged" becoming the "second-highest trending topic". According to The Telegraph, the "staged" theory generated approximately 600 million views with the help of bot accounts, and The Atlantic reported left-wing users posting conspiracy theories of a "false flag" operation, dubbed as "BlueAnon", in reference to QAnon. The "staged" theories promoted by left-wing accounts claimed that the shooting was intended "to improve [Trump's] election chances". Right-wing conspiracy theories also circulated on social media. "Antifa" became a top trending topic after posts on X blamed the shooting on a "prominent Antifa activist", falsely identifying him as "Mark Violets" using a photograph of an Italian soccer vlogger. CBS News wrote that users on X alleged that "Secret Service resources were diverted from Trump's rally", an unsubstantiated claim denied by a spokesperson and echoed by Elon Musk, as part of the "baseless theory" that the agency is part of "a conspiracy to get rid of the former president".

Following the attack, some people criticized a statement Joe Biden had made earlier in the month, during a conversation with other Democrats: "I have one job, and that's to beat Donald Trump. I'm absolutely certain I'm the best person to be able to do that. So, we're done talking about the debate, it's time to put Trump in a bullseye." More than two dozen Republicans blamed the shooting on Biden, including Texas Representative Keith Self who argued that Biden's language had incited violence toward Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene who stated "Democrats wanted this to happen", and U.S. representative Mike Collins making the unsubstantiated claim that "Joe Biden sent the orders", in reference to the assassination attempt. According to The New York Times, the false claim that President Biden orchestrated the shooting of Trump was a "dominant" conspiracy theory to emerge following the assassination attempt. ITV News reported that many Trump supporters claimed it was a deep state plot to prevent Trump's re-election. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue described the idea of a the shooting being sanctioned by the left as a part of a "massive online spread of false claims".

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
• Corey Comperatore (official obituary)

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