Trump shot in ear at campaign rally, law enforcement treating as attempted assassination
DEVELOPING: Former president Donald Trump was shot Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, shooter dead, audience member dead
UPDATED, 930p ET:
Law enforcement are investigating an assassination attempt against Donald Trump after he was shot in the ear by an assailant at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania Saturday evening.
Shortly after 6 p.m. ET, Trump grabbed his right ear and dropped to the ground — Secret Service agents rushed the stage and covered the former president. As Trump stood up, blood on the top of his right ear, he pumped his fist in the air and was rushed to his motorcade.
“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!” Trump wrote in a statement posted to his social media website Saturday.
President Joe Biden, his opponent in the 2024 race, said Saturday he was trying to get in touch with Trump to check on him and said he was praying for Trump and roundly decried political violence.
“The idea that there's political violence, or violence in America like this is just unheard of. It's just not appropriate. Everybody, everybody must condemn,” Biden said. In the immediate wake of the shooting, Biden’s campaign pulled down political ads against Trump.
Partisans and pundits flooded social media with inaccurate information and speculation in the immediate wake of the shooting Saturday, meanwhile actual details and information trickled out steadily following the attack. Officials reported that the shooter was shot dead on a rooftop just outside the rally — rallies featuring current and former presidents are typically heavily secured by Secret Service, including extensive security screenings.
The BBC interviewed a man outside the Trump rally who said he witnessed the alleged shooter crawl atop a building just outside the rally. The witness said he alerted law enforcement immediately that there was a threat to the former president.
Top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, said they were praying for Trump’s safety and roundly denounced political violence of any kind.
“My thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump. I am thankful for the decisive law enforcement response. America is a democracy. Political violence of any kind is never acceptable,” Jeffries said in a statement to social media Saturday.
The attack on Trump comes just two days before the start of the Republican convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is set to accept his party’s nomination for the third straight time. It is the latest stunning development in the race for the White House which seems certain to retrain the focus on Trump and the investigation into Saturday’s shooting.