“UNITE AMERICA!”
That’s the two-word response from former President Donald Trump after President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night after an attempted assassination of Trump. Biden also urged his “fellow Americans” to cooperate to “lower the temperature in our politics.”
On Saturday evening, a shooter opened fire during a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The former president claimed to have been unharmed, except for a bullet piercing his ear. From a nearby rooftop, the shooter—20-year-old Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, resident Thomas Matthew Crooks—targeted the rally, according to the FBI.
In his remarks on Sunday, Biden said that he has started an independent assessment of the security infrastructure. He denounced the assassination attempt once more.
Three minutes after the address ended, at 2:11 p.m., the former president posted his message of peace on Truth Social. He’d declared the same thing hours before.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump wrote. “I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.”
At his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump had barely been speaking for a short while when gunfire broke out. Trump was shot in the ear, treated at a nearby medical institution, and then released.
During the incident, several rallygoers were also injured. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed while he “tried to shield family” from gunshots. Two more people, James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, were hurt and are currently in stable condition.
Secret Service agents shot and killed the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was twenty years old. Crooks was outside the metal detector-equipped security barrier, on the roof of a building close to the demonstration. An attempted assassination is being looked into regarding the shooting.
“My fellow Americans,” Biden began his remarks, which aired live. “I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We are neighbors, we’re friends, co-workers, citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
Biden added that the shooting “calls on all of us to take a step back” and how he was “grateful” that Trump was “not seriously injured,” and he and First Lady Jill Biden were keeping him in their prayers. Biden mentioned that he had spoken to Trump last night and he was “doing well.”
Biden offered his condolences and prayers for the victims and noted that the investigation was “ongoing,” with the shooter’s motive, opinions, and affiliations not yet known.
Biden lamented how “a former president was shot” and “an American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing.”
“We cannot, we must not go down this road in America, we’ve traveled to before throughout our history. Violence has never been the answer, whether it’s with with members of Congress of both parties being targeted and shot or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on January 6 or a brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, or information and intimidation on election officials, or the kidnapping plot against a sitting governor, or an attempted assassination on Donald Trump. There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever, period, no exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to be normalized,” Biden said.
The FBI has officially determined that the shooting attack on former President Donald Trump shortly after his rally in Butler, Pa., began Saturday afternoon as an “assassination attempt,” but the bureau does not yet have a motive.
The FBI stated that the attack was an “assassination attempt,” but the motive has not yet been determined. Pennsylvania State Police said at the press conference that one shooter has been “tentatively identified,” Axios reported.
Meanwhile, the chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi put out a statement Saturday evening.
“During former President Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on the evening of July 13th at approximately 6:15 p.m., a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue,” he said. “US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased. US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and the former president is safe and being evaluated. One spectator was killed, two spectators were critically injured. The incident is currently under investigation, and the Secret Service has formally notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Trump’s senior advisers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, stated that Trump will attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which begins on Monday.
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