Shoot A Tranny Today
2024-07-14 05:01:15 UTC
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) â Former President Donald Trump was the target of an
apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before
he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. A barrage of
gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the
ear, was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped
his fist in a show of defiance.
Trumpâs campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing âfineâ after the
shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
âI 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,â he wrote on his social media site.
Rallygoers screamed in panic. Shouts of âGet down!â rang through the crowd.
At least one attendee was dead and two spectators were critically injured,
authorities said. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter â
who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a
farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania â and that Trump was safe.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or
presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It came in a
deeply polarized political atmosphere, just four months from the
presidential elections and days before Trump is to be officially named the
Republican nominee at his partyâs convention â which his campaign said would
proceed as planned.
âThereâs no place in America for this type of violence,â President Joe
Biden, who is running against Trump as the presumptive Democratic nominee,
said in remarks. âItâs sick. Itâs sick.â
Two officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to
discuss the ongoing investigation. They said the shooter was not an attendee
at the rally and was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents.
The officials said the shooter was engaged by members of the U.S. Secret
Service counterassault team. The heavily armed tactical team travels
everywhere with the president and major party nominees and is meant to
confront any active threats while other agents focus on safeguarding and
evacuating the person at the center of protection.
Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a
third person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to
discuss the ongoing investigation.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the
scene of the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows
the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the
former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated
by the AP shows the body of a person wearing gray camouflage lying
motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International Inc., a
manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trumpâs
rally was held.
The roof where the person lay was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from
where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could
reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is the
distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized
silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies,
arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have
created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden
made to donors on July 8, saying âitâs time to put Trump in the bullseye.â
There was no immediate information on the shooter or their motivations.
A rally disrupted by gunfire
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the apparent
shots began just after 6:10 p.m. It took two minutes from the moment of the
first shot for Trump to be placed in a waiting SUV.
As Trump was talking, a popping sound was heard, and the former president
put his right hand up to his right ear, as people in the stands behind him
appeared to be shocked.
As the first pop rang out, Trump said, âOh,â and grabbed his ear as two more
pops could be heard and he crouched down. More shots were heard then.
Someone could be heard saying near the microphone at Trumpâs lectern, âGet
down, get down, get down, get down!â as agents tackled the former president.
They piled atop him to shield him with their bodies, as is their training
protocol, as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the
threat.
Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. A woman screamed
louder than the rest. Afterward, voices were heard saying âshooterâs downâ
several times, before someone asked âare we good to move?â and âare we
clear?â Then, someone ordered, âLetâs move.â
Trump could be heard on the video saying at least twice, âLet me get my
shoes, let me get my shoes,â with another voice heard saying, âIâve got you
sir.â
Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his
right hand toward his face. There appeared to be blood on his face. He then
pumped his fist in the air and appeared to mouth the word âFightâ twice his
crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of âUSA. USA.
USA.â
The crowd cheered as he got back up and pumped his fist.
His motorcade left the venue moments later. Video showed Trump turning back
to the crowd and raising a fist right before he was put into a vehicle.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover
âEverybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew,
everyone becoming aware of the fact this was gunfire,â said Dave McCormick,
the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to
Trumpâs right on stage.
As he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder
and noticed someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the
stage.
Eventually, first responders were able to carry the injured person out of a
large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots ring out and many
ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three bangs,
people in the crowd looked startled, but not panicked. An AP reporter at the
scene reported the noise sounded like firecrackers at first or perhaps a car
backfiring.
When it was clear the situation had been contained and that Trump would not
be returning to speak, attendees started filing out of the venue. One man in
an electric wheelchair got stuck on the field when his chairâs battery died.
Others tried to help him move.
Police soon told the people remaining to leave the venue and Secret Service
agents told reporters to get âout now. This is a live crime scene.â
Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally told
the AP that they helped people who appeared injured and heard bullets
hitting broadcast speakers.
âThe bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and
then chaos broke. We hit the ground and then the police converged into the
grandstands, said Chris Takach.
âThe first thing I heard is a couple of cracks,â Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he saw one of the speakers get hit and bullets rattling and,
âwe hit the deck.â
He said once Secret Service and other authorities converged on Trump, he and
Takach assisted two people who may have been shot in the grandstand and
cleared a path to get them out of the way.
âJust a sad day for America,â Sullivan said.
âAfter we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying
all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it. And then the
speaker tower started to fall down,â Sullivan said. âThen we heard another
shot that, you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasnât
firecrackers.â
Political violence again shakes America
The perils of campaigning took on a new urgency after the assassination of
Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur
Bremer shot and seriously hurt George Wallace, who was running as an
independent on a campaign platform that has sometimes been compared to
Trumpâs. That led to increased protection of candidates, even as the threats
persisted, notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, particularly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963,
have even greater layers of security. Trump is a rarity as both a former
president and a current candidate.
Biden was briefed on the incident and spoke to Trump several hours later,
the White House said. He received an updated briefing from Kimberly Cheatle,
the director of the Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, said officials were
engaged with the Biden and Trump campaigns and âtaking every possible
measure to ensure their safety and security.â
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD
Vance, the three men on Trumpâs shortlist for vice president, all quickly
sent out statements expressing concern for the former president, with Rubio
sharing an image taken as Trump was escorted off stage with his fist in the
air and a streak of blood on his face along with the words âGod protected
President Trump.â
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement on X that he
had been briefed on the situation and Pennsylvania state police were on hand
at the rally site.
âViolence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely
unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,â he
said.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-
7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5
apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before
he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. A barrage of
gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the
ear, was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped
his fist in a show of defiance.
Trumpâs campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing âfineâ after the
shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
âI 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,â he wrote on his social media site.
Rallygoers screamed in panic. Shouts of âGet down!â rang through the crowd.
At least one attendee was dead and two spectators were critically injured,
authorities said. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter â
who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a
farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania â and that Trump was safe.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or
presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It came in a
deeply polarized political atmosphere, just four months from the
presidential elections and days before Trump is to be officially named the
Republican nominee at his partyâs convention â which his campaign said would
proceed as planned.
âThereâs no place in America for this type of violence,â President Joe
Biden, who is running against Trump as the presumptive Democratic nominee,
said in remarks. âItâs sick. Itâs sick.â
Two officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to
discuss the ongoing investigation. They said the shooter was not an attendee
at the rally and was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents.
The officials said the shooter was engaged by members of the U.S. Secret
Service counterassault team. The heavily armed tactical team travels
everywhere with the president and major party nominees and is meant to
confront any active threats while other agents focus on safeguarding and
evacuating the person at the center of protection.
Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a
third person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to
discuss the ongoing investigation.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the
scene of the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows
the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the
former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated
by the AP shows the body of a person wearing gray camouflage lying
motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International Inc., a
manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trumpâs
rally was held.
The roof where the person lay was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from
where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could
reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is the
distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized
silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies,
arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have
created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden
made to donors on July 8, saying âitâs time to put Trump in the bullseye.â
There was no immediate information on the shooter or their motivations.
A rally disrupted by gunfire
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the apparent
shots began just after 6:10 p.m. It took two minutes from the moment of the
first shot for Trump to be placed in a waiting SUV.
As Trump was talking, a popping sound was heard, and the former president
put his right hand up to his right ear, as people in the stands behind him
appeared to be shocked.
As the first pop rang out, Trump said, âOh,â and grabbed his ear as two more
pops could be heard and he crouched down. More shots were heard then.
Someone could be heard saying near the microphone at Trumpâs lectern, âGet
down, get down, get down, get down!â as agents tackled the former president.
They piled atop him to shield him with their bodies, as is their training
protocol, as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the
threat.
Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. A woman screamed
louder than the rest. Afterward, voices were heard saying âshooterâs downâ
several times, before someone asked âare we good to move?â and âare we
clear?â Then, someone ordered, âLetâs move.â
Trump could be heard on the video saying at least twice, âLet me get my
shoes, let me get my shoes,â with another voice heard saying, âIâve got you
sir.â
Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his
right hand toward his face. There appeared to be blood on his face. He then
pumped his fist in the air and appeared to mouth the word âFightâ twice his
crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of âUSA. USA.
USA.â
The crowd cheered as he got back up and pumped his fist.
His motorcade left the venue moments later. Video showed Trump turning back
to the crowd and raising a fist right before he was put into a vehicle.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover
âEverybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew,
everyone becoming aware of the fact this was gunfire,â said Dave McCormick,
the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to
Trumpâs right on stage.
As he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder
and noticed someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the
stage.
Eventually, first responders were able to carry the injured person out of a
large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots ring out and many
ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three bangs,
people in the crowd looked startled, but not panicked. An AP reporter at the
scene reported the noise sounded like firecrackers at first or perhaps a car
backfiring.
When it was clear the situation had been contained and that Trump would not
be returning to speak, attendees started filing out of the venue. One man in
an electric wheelchair got stuck on the field when his chairâs battery died.
Others tried to help him move.
Police soon told the people remaining to leave the venue and Secret Service
agents told reporters to get âout now. This is a live crime scene.â
Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally told
the AP that they helped people who appeared injured and heard bullets
hitting broadcast speakers.
âThe bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and
then chaos broke. We hit the ground and then the police converged into the
grandstands, said Chris Takach.
âThe first thing I heard is a couple of cracks,â Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he saw one of the speakers get hit and bullets rattling and,
âwe hit the deck.â
He said once Secret Service and other authorities converged on Trump, he and
Takach assisted two people who may have been shot in the grandstand and
cleared a path to get them out of the way.
âJust a sad day for America,â Sullivan said.
âAfter we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying
all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it. And then the
speaker tower started to fall down,â Sullivan said. âThen we heard another
shot that, you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasnât
firecrackers.â
Political violence again shakes America
The perils of campaigning took on a new urgency after the assassination of
Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur
Bremer shot and seriously hurt George Wallace, who was running as an
independent on a campaign platform that has sometimes been compared to
Trumpâs. That led to increased protection of candidates, even as the threats
persisted, notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, particularly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963,
have even greater layers of security. Trump is a rarity as both a former
president and a current candidate.
Biden was briefed on the incident and spoke to Trump several hours later,
the White House said. He received an updated briefing from Kimberly Cheatle,
the director of the Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, said officials were
engaged with the Biden and Trump campaigns and âtaking every possible
measure to ensure their safety and security.â
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD
Vance, the three men on Trumpâs shortlist for vice president, all quickly
sent out statements expressing concern for the former president, with Rubio
sharing an image taken as Trump was escorted off stage with his fist in the
air and a streak of blood on his face along with the words âGod protected
President Trump.â
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement on X that he
had been briefed on the situation and Pennsylvania state police were on hand
at the rally site.
âViolence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely
unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,â he
said.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-
7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5