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Shooter, and spectator who was killed at Trump rally identified
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.
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Rebecca Droke
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AFP via Getty Images
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Former President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt Saturday when a gunman opened fire at him at a rally about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. One person at the rally was killed and two others wounded before Secret Service agents killed the shooter.
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Pennsylvania's governor identifies the man killed at yesterday's Trump rally
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the man killed in Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as Corey Comperatore, 50.
Shapiro said he spoke to Comperatore’s wife, who described him as a girl dad and a firefighter who went to church every Sunday; a man who loved his community and his family.
Comperatore, Shapiro said, was an avid supporter of Trump and was “so excited to be with him last night in the community.”
Comperatore’s wife told Shapiro, he said, that her husband dove on his family to protect them during the shooting. He was a “hero,” she told the governor.
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FBI identifies the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20 year-old man the FBI has identified as the shooter at former president Donald Trump's political rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Crooks was a registered Republican who donated $15 through ActBlue, the Democratic-allied organization, in 2021. That's according to Pennsylvania voter registration and FEC data.
Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service agents after his attack last night.
Trump issues statement
Trump said in a Truth Social statement:
“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. 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!”
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Former GOP Presidential candidates and VP hopefuls immediately respond
Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley issued a statement on the social media platform X that the incident “should horrify every freedom loving American.”
“We are lifting up Donald Trump, the entire Trump family, and all in attendance in prayer,” she said.
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who is shortlisted to be Trump’s vice president, also called for prayers for Trump and those attending the rally. He also posted a photo of Trump with his fist in the air ashe is pushed off the stage by the Secret Service.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who ran for the GOP nomination and is also shortlisted for vice president, is also calling for prayers; as is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Political rivals of Trump denounce the violence
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., both denounced the violence at the rally.
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“Political violence of any kind is never acceptable,” Jeffries said in a social media post.
Schumer in a statement said he was “horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe.” He echoed that “Political violence has no place in our country.”
Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders also called the violence “unacceptable.”
“I wish Donald Trump, and anyone else who may have been hurt, a speedy recovery,” he said on the social media platform X, formally known as Twitter.
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