- Trump will be formally nominated as the Republican candidate.
- President orders investigation into shooter who attacked Trump.
- Trump and Biden are locked in a tight electoral rematch.
MILWAUKEE: Donald Trump arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday, where he will be formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate later this week after surviving an assassination attempt that has exacerbated an already bitter US political divide.
Democratic President Joe Biden has ordered an investigation into how a 20-year-old man with an AR-15-style rifle got close enough to shoot Trump from a rooftop on Saturday. Trump, as a former president, has lifetime protection from the U.S. Secret Service.
Trump, 78, was holding a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a key state in the Nov. 5 election, when shots rang out, hitting his right ear and leaving his face covered in blood. His campaign said he was doing well.
“That reality is just sinking in,” Trump said. Washington Examiner Sunday. “I rarely look away from the crowd. If I hadn't at that moment, well, we wouldn't be talking today, would we?”
One person in the crowd was killed and two others were injured before Secret Service agents fatally shot the suspect.
Both Trump and Biden sought calm and unity on Sunday.
Trump is scheduled to accept his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention in a speech on Thursday. He raised his fist several times as he walked down the stairs of his plane after arriving in Milwaukee.
“This is an opportunity to unite the entire country, even the entire world. The speech will be very different, very different than it would have been two days ago,” Trump said. Washington Examiner.
Biden delivered a televised address from the Oval Office of the White House on Sunday.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, any kind of violence. Period. No exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to become normalized,” he said. “The political rhetoric in this country has become very heated. It's time to cool it down.”
Trump and Biden are locked in a tight election rematch, according to most opinion polls, including those from Reuters/Ipsos. Saturday's shooting has reignited debate over the presidential campaign, which had centered on whether Biden, 81, should drop out of the race following his shaky performance in the June 27 debate.
The FBI said there were no known threats to the Republican convention, which begins Monday, or to attendees, while the Secret Service said it does not anticipate any changes to the security plan.
The convention will feature televised speeches from rising Republican stars and Trump's pick for a yet-to-be-announced vice presidential running mate, while highlighting the party's stance on issues including abortion, immigration and the economy.
Suspected nursing home attendant
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect and said the shooting was being investigated as an attempted murder.
On Sunday, FBI officials said the shooter acted alone. The agency said it had not yet identified an ideology linked to the suspect or any indication of mental health issues or found threatening language on the suspect's social media accounts.
According to state voter records, Crooks was registered as a Republican and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting, he was working as a dietary aide at a nursing home. Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said Crooks “performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.”
The weapon, a 556 AR-style rifle, had been purchased legally, FBI officials said, adding that they believed it had been acquired by the suspect's father. Officials said “a suspicious device” was found in the suspect's vehicle, which was inspected by bomb technicians and made safe.
The Secret Service denied allegations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected a campaign request for extra security, saying it recently “added resources and protective capabilities to the former president's security team.”
Hours after the assassination attempt, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.
Saturday's gunfire appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said Butler Township police officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person but did not know the person was armed. He said one officer helped lift another officer up to look at the roof. When the officer got up, he confronted the shooter.
“The shooter heard it or saw it, turned around with his rifle and of course the guy dropped it and fell to the ground,” Slupe said. The shooter opened fire shortly afterward, he said.
Spectator murdered while protecting his family
Authorities have identified the protester who died Saturday as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania. He died while trying to shield his family from the hail of bullets, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
“Corey was a staunch supporter of the former president and was very excited to be there,” Shapiro said, adding: “Political disagreements can never, ever be resolved through violence.”
Two people injured in the shooting were in stable condition Sunday. Pennsylvania State Police identified them as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
Residents of Bethel Park, where the suspected shooter lived, expressed shock at the news Sunday.
“It's crazy to think that someone who made an attempted murder is that close, but it shows the political dynamic we're in right now with the insanity on both sides,” said resident Wes Morgan, 42, describing Bethel Park as “a pretty blue-collar area.”
While mass shootings at schools, nightclubs and other public places are common in the United States, the attack was the first targeting of a U.S. president or a major party presidential candidate since the attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Americans fear rising political violence, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, with two in three respondents in May saying they were worried violence could follow the election.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a deadly riot fueled by Trump's false claims that his defeat was the result of widespread fraud.
