Former US President Donald Trump, on Sunday, said he looks forward to speaking from Wisconsin where the Republican National Convention will be held this week. "In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined," Trump said in a Truth Social post. It is his second post since he was shot and injured at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Earlier today in his first statement issued on the social media platform Truth Social, 78-year-old Trump also thanked the US Secret Service and law endorsement for their rapid response and also extended his condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed. Trump got injured during his election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania following a series of gunshots. He was immediately escorted out of the venue by the US Secret Service.
Video: Moment when former US President Donald Trump attacked at Pennsylvania rally
What happened with former US President Donald Trump
A shooting at former US President and Republican candidate for the upcoming elections Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania is being investigated as an attempted assassination of the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, law enforcement officials say. One attendee was killed and two were critically injured. Trump said on social media that a bullet “pierced the upper part” of his right ear before agents whisked him off stage. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue.
Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks?
The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. 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 January 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office. The FBI said it was working to determine a motive for the attack, in which one rally attendee died and two other spectators were critically injured. Trump was shot in the ear.
Thomas Matthew Crooks: A Republican or Democrat supporter?
The upcoming November 5 election would have been the first time Crooks had been old enough to vote in a presidential race. Crooks lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that it closed the airspace over Bethel Park for "special security reasons."
When Crooks was 17 he made a $15 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 earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.
Crooks' father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN that he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before speaking about his son. Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to the newspaper.
(With inputs from agency)
