All the Updates from the Trump Assassination Attempt

New Details, Other Victims, Biden Speeches, Trump lands in MN, and Melania's response to everything.

New information was trickling out all day Sunday. Besides all the confusion surrounding the shooter’s identity and politics (The Guardian has even more information on him here), we now know that he was clocked by local police outside the venue before the event started. A local PD officer saw him “acting suspicious” around the magnetometers leading into the event. According to CNN, “They put it out over their radio to keep an eye on him – and that information was passed to Secret Service as well, according to the source.”

Eyewitnesses who were outside the event by the fence line spotted him on the roof and tried to help the police. A local sheriff climbed the ladder to check the roof and spotted the shooter. According to reports, the shooter turned the rifle on the sheriff, who retreated down the ladder, then pivoted and fired at the former President.

ABC reported that the FBI had three firearms from the scene in their possession. The shooter’s, the Secret Service rifle that fired the killing shot, and one belonging to a Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy “who was involved in the shooting.”

The FBI has described the shooter’s rifle as an “AR-style rifle” that uses 5.56 ammunition. USAToday discovered evidence of the shooter’s father buying something from Botach, an online dealer in Nevada, in 2020. While the purchase in question and the details weren’t included in the hacked information, it did give the reporters the father’s email address, which allowed them to find other evidence of the father potentially buying and selling weapons online.

“Rudimentary” bomb-making materials were recovered from the shooter’s car, prompting law enforcement to evacuate the neighbors before entering his home, where more bomb-making materials were found.

The Secret Service is facing serious questions about the massive security lapse. Ron T. Williams, a former Secret Service agent, told NorthJersey.com, “Outdoor events are problematic for high ground. It begs the question right now on why that two-story building in direct line of fire was not secured.” Williams also wondered if the advance team missed the building or if there was a breakdown in communication with the state and local PD. "Ultimately, the Secret Service is responsible for securing a site like that, so it’s going to fall on whoever did the advance.” The Secret Service decided to throw the local pd under the bus late Sunday night, in an attempt to deflect blame.

NorthJersey.com also talked to John Miller, a former FBI agent and former NYPD deputy commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism. He spoke about the video circulating on X that shows the counter-sniper looking through his scope before making a slight adjustment and firing after the first shots rang out. While he praised the sniper for his quick action to eliminate the threat, he pointed out the few seconds just before the shooting started and asked, “What happened during those seconds? What were the communications? What did he see through the scope, and did he act at his first opportunity?”

The FBI has taken the lead in the investigation, but DHS, Secret Service, and Congress will all be involved. Several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are demanding answers. House Speaker Mike Johnson has promised a full congressional investigation. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) sent a letter to DHS demanding to know why that building wasn’t properly secured. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said there was a “failure of the overall broader net.” Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is demanding that Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle appear before the Oversight Committee and answer questions. Rep. Rueben Gallego (D-AZ) is calling for accountability, “There should never have been a clear line of sight on the former president. My Marine Corps training taught me that.” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said, “This isn‘t about an opportunity for politics or strategy, or how this might play out are the visuals or anything like that. This was an incredibly dark day for Pennsylvania, but for our nation, as well.” Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) are working on a bill that would give enhanced Secret Service protection to Trump, Biden, and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Two officers are seen investigating the crime scene.

One man in the crowd, Corey Compatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief, was shot in the head while trying to cover his wife and daughters. He died instantly.

Two more victims were critically wounded. Marine Corps veteran David Dutch, age 57, was severely wounded. NYP reports that he was shot in the chest and liver. He has already had two surgeries and, as of Sunday night, was in critical but stable condition in a medically induced coma. Dutch volunteers for the Marine Corps League Department of Pennsylvania and is the “Commandant” of his location in the district.

James Copenhaver, age 74, was also in the hospital in critical but stable condition. He is on Moon Township’s Military Banner Committee.

Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) said his nephew was grazed on the neck by a bullet.

Donald’s National Finance Director, Meredith O’Rouke, set up a GoFundMe, with Trump’s approval, to provide aid to the victims of the shooting and their families.

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Biden has been trying to divert attention away from Donald, and make it appear that he is in control of the situation. When the shooting happened, he had been resting at home in Delaware while Jill was at a campaign event in Pittsburgh. Since then, he’s given three statements, all under seven minutes long.

The first was two hours after the shooting. In his first statement, he said he had been thoroughly briefed on the situation, but when asked if it was an assassination attempt, he said, “I don’t know enough to — I — I have — I have a — I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts.  So, I want to make sure we have all the facts before I make some comment — any more comments.” After his statement, his handlers whisked him off to the airport and sent him back to the White House.

His next statement was at about 2 pm ET from the White House. He was flanked by Kamala with her serious face on, and Merrick Garland, who seemed like he wasn’t so sure he wants to be here anymore.

He told us all that he had spoken with Donald, promised that full investigations would happen, and he’d tell us what the results were.

Biden was parked in front of the camera again in the Oval Office for an 8 pm ET address to the nation. It was rumored that it would be a pre-taped statement, but to the credit of whoever directed him, this speech had a single camera angle, and no visible jump cuts. The teleprompter could be seen in the reflection in the window behind him. He also spent the whole six and a half minutes squinting up and to the right of the camera. He tried to “both sides” his way out of any culpability for the insanely vitriolic rhetoric he has been spewing lately, like when he said the day before the assassination attempt that Trump was a threat to our nation, or when he called for putting a bullseye on Trump a few days before that. And don’t forget the multitude of times Joe Biden has said that Trump will be a dictator and our very freedom is at risk if he wins. (Don Jr’s X account is filled with more examples from multiple democrats.)

To illustrate his point, Biden brought up the attack on Pelosi's husband (by a mentally unwell BLM supporter), J6, "both parties" of congress being shot (Gabby Giffords was shot by a mentally unwell stalker. Steve Scalise was shot by a Bernie-Bro who wanted to take out as many Republicans as possible. These shootings are NOT the same.), The kidnapping plot of Big Gretch (which was a beautiful work of FBI fiction), intimidation of election workers (Ruby Freeman and her daughter in GA who won a lawsuit against Rudy Guliani). Interestingly, Biden left out any mention of the guy who wanted to off Kavanaugh.

The President did tell us all that we should get out of our information bubbles, and “resolve our differences at the battle box. You know, that’s how we do it, at the battle box, not with bullets.”

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Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday night that while he had considered delaying his trip to Milwaukee for a day, he decided to go. He was not going to let a little thing like getting shot in the ear change his schedule.

Trump’s plane lands in MN Sunday night.

His wife, Melania, posted a letter to America on her account Sunday morning.

I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans.

We have always been a unique union. America, the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered, but our courage and common sense must ascend and bring us back together as one.

When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change. I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.

To the families of the innocent victims who are now suffering from this heinous act, I humbly offer my sincerest sympathy. Your need to summon your inner strength for such a terrible reason saddens me.

A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion – his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband’s life – his human side – were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.

Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love. Our personal, structural, and life commitment – until death – is at serious risk. Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.

We are all humans, and fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another. American politics are only one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love, compassion, kindness and empathy are necessities.

And let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.

Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.

This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships again.

I am thinking of you, my fellow Americans.

The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide – thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.

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Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.