Gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick said there is "no room for violence in political discourse."
(Lauren Chapman)
Indiana leaders shared thoughts and prayers Saturday after a shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
On social media, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) sent prayers to Trump and his family. U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said “violence is never the answer.”
Indiana Democrats were in the middle of their state convention when news of the shooting first came in. Gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick said there is “no room for violence in political discourse.”
“There’s just other ways to handle disagreement and it’s not through violence,” McCormick said.
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said he was “totally shocked” and called the shooting “scary.”
“Safety of people who are running for public office and putting their name on the ballot — that’s not a partisan issue. That’s just an American issue,” Schmuhl said. “You should be safe in this country to speak your mind.”
In a statement, Republican Party Chair Randy Head said everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with Trump and those at the rally.
The Associated Press reports:
The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as it pressed its investigation.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks. The gunman attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue at a farm show in Butler, the agency said.
One attendee was killed and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. All were identified as men.
The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity
The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized U.S. less than four months before the presidential election. And it could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which will begin Monday in Milwaukee.
Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned
A rally disrupted by gunfire
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the gunfire began after 6:10 p.m.
As the first pop rang out, Trump said, “Oh,” and raised his hand to his right ear and looked at it, before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern. The people in the stands behind him also crouched as screams rang through the crowd.
Someone could be heard near the microphone saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents rushed to the stage. They piled atop the former president to shield him with their bodies, as is their training protocol, as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the threat.
Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. A woman screamed louder than the rest. Afterward, voices were heard saying “shooter’s down” several times, before someone asked “are we good to move?” and “are we clear?” Then, someone ordered, “Let’s move.”
Trump could be heard on the video saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes,” with another voice heard saying, “I’ve got you, sir.”
Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his face, which was smeared with blood. He then pumped his fist in the air and appeared to mouth the word “Fight” twice to his crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
His motorcade left the venue moments later. Video showed Trump turning back to the crowd and raising a fist right before he was put into a vehicle.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover
“Everybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew, everyone becoming aware of the fact this was gunfire,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on stage.
As he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder and noticed someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the stage.
Eventually, first responders were able to carry the injured person out of a large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots ring out and many ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three bangs, people in the crowd looked startled, but not panicked. An AP reporter at the scene reported the noise sounded like firecrackers at first or perhaps a car backfiring.
When it was clear the situation had been contained and Trump would not return to speak, attendees started filing out of the venue. One man in an electric wheelchair got stuck on the field when his chair’s battery died. Others tried to help him move.
Police soon told the people remaining to leave the venue and Secret Service agents told reporters to get “out now. This is a live crime scene.”
Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally told the AP that they helped people who appeared injured and heard bullets hitting broadcast speakers.
“The bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke,” Chris Takach said. “We hit the ground and then the police converged into the grandstands.”
,“The first thing I heard is a couple of cracks,” Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he saw one of the speakers get hit and bullets rattling and, “we hit the deck.”
He said once Secret Service and other authorities converged on Trump, he and Takach helped two people who may have been shot in the grandstand and cleared a path to get them out of the way.
“Just a sad day for America,” said Sullivan, who recalled that fluid sprayed from a mechanical line on the stage before a speaker tower started to fall.
“Then we heard another shot that, you could hear, you knew something was — it was bullets. It wasn’t firecrackers.”
Political violence again shakes America
The perils of campaigning took on a new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot and seriously hurt George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a campaign platform that has sometimes been compared to Trump’s. That led to increased protection of candidates, even as the threats persisted, notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, particularly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have even greater layers of security, and Trump is a rarity as both a former president and a current candidate.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, three men on Trump’s shortlist for vice president, all quickly sent out statements expressing concern for the former president, with Rubio sharing an image taken as Trump was escorted off stage with his fist in the air and a streak of blood on his face along with the words “God protected President Trump.”
