Former President Donald Trump’s campaign says he is “fine” after what law enforcement officials are treating as an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Officials said the man who opened fire was a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania.
The FBI early Sunday named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the shooter in the assassination attempt on Trump. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
The political leanings of Crooks were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in to office.
What happened at Trump rally shooting?
In a social media post, Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president was quickly whisked from the stage by Secret Service agents, his ear covered in blood.
A prosecutor said the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead, and the Secret Service said two spectators were critically injured.
Biden and political leaders of all stripes condemned the attack. “There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Where is Trump now?
Trump’s private jet landed shortly after midnight Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Video posted by an aide showed him deplaning flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter assault team, an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.
Trump planned to spend the night at his private golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Biden arrived at the White House early Sunday after cutting short a weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The White House said he would receive a briefing from Homeland Security and law enforcement officials on the attempted assassination of Trump later in the morning.
Vice President Kamala Harris was also to attend.
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