Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in the aftermath of the attempt on his life, said Sunday it was “more important than ever” that the country stood strong, determined and not allow evil to win.
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he said on his Truth Social media platform. “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness.”
Trump is set this week to be officially nominated as the Republican presidential candidate in the November 5 election against Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump said he looked forward to addressing the country on Thursday from the Republican Party’s national convention in the midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The FBI said it has identified a suspect but not yet established a motive for Saturday’s assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a suburb of the eastern city of Pittsburgh. It was the highest-profile act of U.S. political violence in more than four decades.
The law enforcement agency said 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was the “subject involved” in the shooting. Bystanders outside the perimeter security area where Trump was speaking said they yelled at police to no avail when they spotted the gunman crawling up the roof of a nearby building with a weapon.
The gunman was able to fire four or five shots toward the rally, hitting Trump in his right ear, killing one spectator at the rally and critically wounding two others before police killed the suspect.
In Photos: Trump whisked from stage at rally following apparent assassination attempt
Crooks, who graduated from high school two years ago, was a registered Republican. But when he was 17, Crooks also made a $15 political donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing. The donation was designated for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.
Trump’s wife, former first lady Melania Trump, who was not at the rally, said in a social media post Sunday, “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried below the political machine.”
She added, “For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide — thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.”
About six minutes after Trump took the stage, several gunshots rang out – prompting the former president to reach for his right ear and then duck behind a riser before being piled on for protection by his assigned Secret Service agents.
In a social media post, Trump said he was “fine.” He was released from the hospital late Saturday.
According to witness accounts and videos posted online, the shooter was seen holding a rifle and crawling up the roof of a nearby building moments before the attack occurred. Several bystanders could be heard yelling at police to get their attention but the authorities either did not react at all or in time. The Secret Service said it killed the suspect and an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle was found near his body.
The incident immediately raised questions about the level of Secret Service protection provided to Trump, although the security agency rejected as “absolutely false” an assertion by some Trump supporters that the Secret Service turned down a request for more security for Trump.
“In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former president’s security detail,” an agency spokesperson said.
Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told CNN that authorities, in planning for the outdoor rally, had failed to “eliminate sightlines” to the stage where Trump spoke, either by positioning a physical barrier between the building from where the gunman fired and the rally stage or by posting law enforcement personnel nearby to block any access to the rooftop.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives said they will launch a “full investigation” into the incident and asked Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to attend a hearing on the matter.
Alex Gray, a former official in Trump’s National Security Council, said the shooting shows that Trump’s Secret Service protection was “paltry compared to the threats he was facing.”
“They need to immediately upgrade his detail to the fullest level possible that is befitting of a president – and not a former president, but a current president,” Gray said.
Earlier Saturday, Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, told reporters that “it is surprising” that the gunman fired four or five times before he was shot dead.
Trump, who later traveled to his home in New Jersey, said in the immediate aftermath of the attack that it is “incredible that such an act can take place in our country.”
Late Saturday, the White House said Biden had spoken to Trump – though it did not immediately give details of the conversation. The administration said Biden returned to the White House early Sunday, instead of remaining in Delaware as planned.
Biden later told reporters, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence.” He also said, “It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
The Biden campaign also said, in a statement, that it is “pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our (political) television ads (assailing Trump) as quickly as possible.”
Analysts warned the assassination attempt could upend a fiercely fought presidential campaign and further divide American society.
“This is an exceptionally dark day in America — an exceptionally dark day in our democracy. Possibly the most serious act of political violence we’ve seen since 9/11 at least,” said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“Today the world changed,” said George Washington University professor Casey Burgat.
“There will be partisan finger-pointing about how and why this happened, but across the political spectrum, we will rightfully hear a unified rejection of all political violence. I can only hope the latter wins out,” Burgat said.
VOA Serbian Service, Katherine Gypson and Ken Bredemeier contributed to this story.
