ON THIS DAY

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July 13, 2024

Donald Trump survives assassination attempt.

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, then a former president of the United States and presumptive nominee of the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election, survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired eight rounds from an AR-15–style rifle from the roof of a nearby building. Crooks also killed one audience member, Corey Comperatore, and critically injured two others. Four seconds after Crooks began firing, a member of the Butler County Emergency Service Unit shot at him and hit his rifle, preventing him from firing more shots. Twelve seconds later, Crooks was shot and killed by the Counter Sniper Team of the United States Secret Service.

As shots were fired, Trump clasped his ear and took cover behind his lectern, where Secret Service agents shielded him until the shooter was killed. Evan Vucci, a photojournalist for the Associated Press, captured photographs of Trump with blood on his face and ear, pumping his fist in the air and saying "Fight!" as agents escorted him offstage; the images went viral on social media. Trump was taken to a hospital, treated, and released later that day. He made his first public appearance after the shooting two days later at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wearing a bandage on his ear.

The incident is regarded as the most significant security failure by the Secret Service since the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, faced bipartisan calls for her resignation when she testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on July 22; she stepped down the following day. President Joe Biden ordered an independent review of the security arrangements, condemned the violence, and called for a reduction in heated political rhetoric, emphasizing the importance of resolving political differences peacefully.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories spread on social media after the shooting. Lawmakers called for increased security for major candidates in the election, and the Secret Service subsequently approved enhanced security measures, including the use of bulletproof glass at Trump's outdoor rallies.

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