It was pretty scary. We weren’t in anything like as much danger as those in front of the stage, but to be honest when people start shooting you start getting frightened.
What we also saw as people started to stream out and we got to the point where we thought that it was reasonably safe to start working again was people were upset and angry, very emotional. Some were very, very angry indeed.
There are going to be so many questions about the security. It’s an outdoor venue so it has a perimeter – why weren’t they on every low roof around this venue? Why hadn’t they checked those roofs? How did a man with a semi-automatic rifle get onto that roof and get a clear shot at a former president?
It’s a shocking, shocking moment, I think, in American history.
The anger is sprayed all around – the problem is how it’s going to land, where it’s going to land and what it’s going to mean not just for this election campaign but for the future of this country.
Political leadership has a choice as to how to process this, how to lead the country out of this and if it doesn’t do it right things could get a lot worse.
What do we know about the alleged shooter?
published at 07:31
He has been identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Here is what we know about him so far:
Thomas Matthew Crooks was 20 years old
He was from Bethel Park in Pennsylvania (70km/43 miles) from Butler, the site of the attempted assassination
The gunman was shot dead by Secret Service agents – the FBI did not name him immediately while they waited for DNA results
The FBI statement added that this remains an “active and ongoing investigation”.
Trump leaves hospital after assassination attempt at rally
Donald Trump has returned to his home in New Jersey after he was injured in an attempted assassination at a rally on Saturday
Shots rang out as he was speaking at the event in Pennsylvania, sparking panic in the crowd as Secret Service agents swarmed the former president
Trump, who emerged with a bloodied face, says he was shot in the ear, describing a “whizzing sound” and feeling a “bullet ripping through skin”
The male gunman was shot and killed by the Secret Service
The FBI says it has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump
One spectator was killed at the rally and two others were critically injured. Authorities say the victims were adult males.
A witness told the BBC they saw a man with a rifle crawling on a nearby roof before shots rang out
President Joe Biden has condemned the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling on all Americans to denounce such “sick” violence
Video shows Trump, the leading Republican presidential contender, dropping to the ground before standing up again and raising his fist to the crowd
Be the first to comment