Former President Trump Shot at Rally. What Comes Next?
Now is the time to unite and condemn political violence. Full Stop. Period. End of Sentence.
I recently posted about global political events, but a lot has happened in the past few hours that will change the face of America forever, so I am writing to you again now.
7/13/24 8:45 PM EST
Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania and rushed off stage. Fortunately he appears to be in good condition.
We don’t know much yet, other then unfortunately at least one member at the rally was killed, likely by a stray bullet intended for the former President. Two people also appear to have been badly injured.
The shooter who carried out the attempted assassination was also killed by the secret service counter-sniper team. The sniper’s identity has not yet been released, but he appears to have taken the shot(s) from outside the secret services perimeter from a nearby rooftop.
One eye witness allegedly saw the shooter for preparing to take the shot at Trump and was trying to warn the police and secret service for several minutes before the first shot was taken as you can see in this interview with him on Twitter/X.
https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1812275068543648045
Biden gave a press conference and made a statement relatively shortly after the incident. His statement can be found below:
“I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well,” read the statement, which was released about an hour and a half after Trump was hurt when shots rang out while he was speaking on stage.
“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” the White House’s statement continued. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety.”
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America,” it went on. “We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
No matter what your political stances and how passionately you feel about them, there is no place for political violence in America. It is incumbent on all journalists and political commentators to be explicit about this, and I don’t mind starting with myself.
Although we do not yet know the motives here, there’s little doubt that the constant hyperbolic rhetoric about both candidates being a threat to democracy and demonizing them personally has contributed to an attack like this being more likely.
We all have a responsibility to step back, take a deep breath, and to bring down the temperature in America and abroad. Let’s debate the actual policies with vigor and reason instead of trying to win arguments by bullying and dehumanizing people who do not share our opinions. Reasonable people can disagree and we need to restore dignity and respect to public discourse.
The endless tribalism and ratcheting up of tensions for political points must end.
7/13/24 9:30 PM EST
Former President Trump’s official statement on the incident.
7/14/24 6:30 AM EST
We now know the the identity of the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Thomas Crooks lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from the rally. He was 20 years old. According to state records he was a registered Republican, although he had not yet voted in an election. Some are speculating he registered Republican to vote against Trump in the Republican primary in Pennsylvania. When Crooks was 17 he also made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for Democrats according to 2021 Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
We still not know and understand the motive of this attack. Both Republicans and Democrats continue to spread what are likely lies and misinformation. I urge everyone to put a lid on wild speculation until the investigation is complete and there are more facts about what happened.
7/14/24 3:30 PM EST
We are learning more about the innocent victim killed during the shooting at Saturday's Trump rally.
Corey Comperatore was the former fire chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company in Pennsylvania and worked as an engineer at SJP, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Comperatore attended the event with his wife and daughters, who mourned him in separate Facebook posts. His spouse, Helen Comperatore posted. "He died the hero he always was."
"My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds," Dawn wrote, asking for prayers for the family.
No matter what you believe politically, hopefully you agree anyone should be able to attend a political rally safely. Fortunately, it looks like a bipartisan group is introducing legislation to increase protection for both Biden, Trump, and RFK, something we should all support.
Wild conspiracy theories continue to float around the internet from both Republicans and Democrats. Please keep your heads about you and let’s wait until we learn some facts before jumping to any conclusion.
7/15/2024 8:30 AM
I would have expected we would know more about the shooter at this point in time then we do. The FBI so far has found few red flags however.
Below are some relevant excerpts from the article linked above.
On Sunday, federal investigators said a shooter they identified as Crooks had used an AR-15 style rifle purchased by his father to open fire from a rooftop outside the rally where the former president, Donald Trump, was speaking. In a series of new details, FBI officials said they were investigating the incident as a possible case of domestic terrorism, and that the gunman had left behind explosive materials in the vehicle he drove to the event.
Investigators were scouring his online presence and working to gain access to his phone, but so far had not found indications of strongly held political beliefs. In fact, the clues he left behind were confusing: He was a registered Republican but had also donated to a progressive cause in 2021; his parents were registered as a Democrat and Libertarian.
The FBI has not found a manifesto, and Crooks had never been under FBI investigation. The official confirmed that he did not have an unusual online history for a 20-year-old man.
Two former classmates who attended Bethel Park High School with the gunman said they had not noticed any obvious warning signs.
At this point it seems likely that we may never fully understand the motives that drove this individual to commit this attack.
No matter what we learn in the weeks and months to come, I want to again encourage everyone to try harder to debate specific policies we disagree on and to refrain from demonization of specific candidates and parties. If our politicians don’t lead by example in this regard, we should vote for ones that do.
We ultimately will get the politicians we deserve.
The failed assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump will continue to shape global events in the months and years to come, but I want to get back to focusing on issues primarily related to Zionism and Jewish life. If you’re unfamiliar with our editorials, advice column, and interviews, please take some time to check them out here.
Sources:
Trump shot at rally in Pennsylvania https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-rushed-off-stage-during-221800225.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
Few red flags so far in shooter investigation https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-finds-few-red-flags-115246867.html
Biden Statement https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-releases-statement-trump-wounded-001927801.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
Biden press conference video
Here’s what we know about the shooting suspect, Thomas Crooks so far https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-know-thomas-matthew-crooks-084127479.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
https://www.yahoo.com/news/thomas-matthew-crooks-donald-trump-101639620.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
Learning more about the victim who was killed https://www.yahoo.com/news/live/trump-rally-shooting-live-updates-fatal-victim-identified-as-corey-comperatore-biden-to-address-nation-222707452.html
Increase secret service protection bill https://www.axios.com/2024/07/14/trump-shooting-bill-rfk-biden-security--new
Well said! Thank you for speaking out quickly, unambiguously as a voice of reason about the imperative to act civilly in our democratic discourse!
I can’t believe someone at the rally was killed. How awful.