Former US President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. The attacker, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents. Trump suffered a non-life-threatening injury to his right ear and was briefly hospitalized before being released.In interviews following the incident, Trump described the experience as ‘very surreal’ and stated that he ‘should be dead’. He credited his survival to a fortuitous turn of his head while looking at a graph on illegal border crossings displayed behind him. ‘That graph saved my life,’ Trump told Representative Ronny Jackson, adding, ‘If I hadn’t pointed to that graph and turned my head to look at it, the bullet would have hit me right in the head’.The attack resulted in one rally attendee, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, being killed while protecting his family, and two others critically injured. Among the injured was a former fire chief who used his body as a shield to protect his wife and daughter.In response to the assassination attempt, both Trump and President Joe Biden have called for national unity and calm. Trump has decided to rewrite his speech for the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, shifting focus from criticizing Biden’s policies to emphasizing national unity.The FBI is investigating the incident as a potential act of domestic terrorism. The attack has raised serious concerns about security measures for presidential candidates, particularly in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention.Despite the attack, Trump has announced that he will attend the Republican National Convention as scheduled, where he is expected to be officially nominated as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election. The event is expected to be heavily secured, with the Secret Service and local authorities taking extra precautions.
Key points
- Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, suffering a minor ear injury.
- Trump credits his survival to a fortuitous turn of his head while looking at a graph on illegal border crossings.
- In response to the attack, Trump has rewritten his Republican National Convention speech to focus on national unity rather than criticizing Biden’s policies.
- The FBI is investigating the incident as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
