Donald Trump is ‘fine,’ his campaign team said after shots were fired during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with law enforcement officials treating the incident as an attempt to assassinate the former President of the United States of America.
#WATCH | Gunfire at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (USA). He was escorted to a vehicle by the US Secret Service
"The former President is safe and further information will be released when available' says the US Secret Service.
(Source – Reuters) pic.twitter.com/289Z7ZzxpX— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2024
Videos from the rally show the moment ‘loud bangs’ started ringing through the crowd. The presumptive Republican nominee is seen taking cover behind the stage dais even as agents of the Secret Service rush towards him. After a few seconds, the agents form a protective circle around him and whisk him off the stage.
Trump, with what appears to be a bloodied ear, gestures to the crowd, which responds with a loud cheer.
The rally was the ex-President’s last before the four-day Republican National Convention (RNC) opens in Milwaukee on Monday. There, the billionaire businessman, 77, will be officially nominated by the party for November’s US presidential elections, where his likely rival will be Democrat Joe Biden, the incumbent President.
Trump, who first became President in 2016, was defeated by Biden four years later.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the former’s team thanked law enforcement and first responders for their ‘quick action during this heinous act.’