President Trump took the stage just after 6 p.m.
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President Trump took the stage just after 6 p.m. at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. An hour late, but he was in a good mood and so were the tens of thousands who had waited in the 90 degree heat of a sunny summer day.
Only a few attendees on the far left side of the crowd had a sense something was wrong. Everyone else, including Trump, was unaware a gunman had been seen crawling on the roof of a building just outside the fence line stage right soon after Trump had taken the stage to Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A.
Brief snippet of crowd reacting to President Trump taking the stage at the Butler, PA rally on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/v4FNthjETp
— Kristinn Taylor (@KristinnFR) July 17, 2024
A few minutes into his speech, Trump called an adlib and asked for a chart on illegal immigration to be posted on the giant TV screens above the bleachers on either side of the stage. The chart appeared and he started explaining it, turning to look at it as he spoke.
Several loud popping noises were heard, then a burst of popping noises and after a long pause, one last pop. All the pops came from the left front from where I stood. At the same time the hydraulic lines in a lift holding up a speaker column blew out, noisily spewing a large plume of fluid. From my vantage point to the right of the stage but about a hundred and thirty feet back, the noise was either gunfire or the hydraulics blowing out, but likely gunfire that caused the hydraulics to blow out. I did not see Trump get hit and go down. Most attendees did not either as the TV screens still had the immigration charts displayed. It’s my belief that not seeing Trump hit and then falling kept the crowd far back from the stage from panicking.
Secret Service agents rushed former President Donald Trump off the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 after what sounded like a series of gun shots. pic.twitter.com/3a9EJGHig4
— NTD News (@NTDNews) July 13, 2024
I took video immediately after the gunfire burst stopped. The last shot can be heard in the distance a few seconds in. Most people stayed. There was no stampede even as some made their way to leave. After a minute or so, a loud cheer erupted from the bleachers around the stage followed by chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Word soon got back to those of us in the rear that Trump had stood up, had blood on his right ear and had raised his fist. It appeared he was okay but we couldn’t be sure. We did not know about the others who had been hit and seriously (one fatally) wounded until later.
Raw video right after shots fired at President Trump at Butler, PA rally. I was taking photos and switched to video. I heard several shots but saw hydraulics on speaker column on right fail, dropping the column down while gushing fluid. Crowd reaction to Trump fist raise in video pic.twitter.com/hwFP47frg7
— Kristinn Taylor (@KristinnFR) July 14, 2024
If I had not been caught in a two-hour traffic backup to get into the rally, I would have been in the press pen at my usual post in the center of the fencing in front snapping close-up photos of Trump and the crowd in the bleachers around him. This video by CBS reporter Olivia Rinaldi was taken where I usually am when covering Trump rallies:
The moment press took the ground as shots rang out at Trump’s rally in Butler, PA. pic.twitter.com/VMP5kKQ0hv
— Olivia Rinaldi (@olivialarinaldi) July 14, 2024
I went forward to talk to witnesses, take photos and document any further attacks (there weren’t any.)
On the press riser from left to right: Alayna Treene, CNN; Dasha Burns, NBC News; Alexis McAdams, Fox News; Brian Glenn, RAV; Rachel Scott, ABC News.
Rico Elmore, the man with blood on his shirt, spoke at the rally:
Meet Rico Elmore
Patriot, GOP leader, and a great young man
Yesterday, he spoke at the Trump rally and minutes later sprung to action to help the victims
I’ve known Rico since 2021 when my organization hosted a political and leadership training in PA
RICO is a hero pic.twitter.com/EIFRPQoias
— Cliff Maloney (@Maloney) July 14, 2024
Scott’s report aired on ABC:
ABC’s Rachel Scott was at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday when a shooter opened fire, killing one spectator. The shooter was also killed. https://t.co/NwdIIZmC1c pic.twitter.com/ITS7jVkBgz
— ABC News (@ABC) July 14, 2024
President Trump has scheduled an indoor rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan this Saturday–just a week after being wounded on stage by a would-be assassin’s bullet.
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