Trump voters in shock after gun attack at rally in Pennsylvania
Witnesses to shooting at campaign event say incident will galvanise Republican supporters in November
After the shooting at a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, many residents in the town where the attack took place emerged yesterday with a sense of shock and deepened resolve to support the former president as he runs for re-election.
The shooting took place on Saturday afternoon as Trump was holding a rally at a fairground in Butler, Pennsylvania, a strongly Republican city about 50km north of Pittsburgh.
“Yesterday was terrifying and chaotic,” said witness Ron Jurysta Jr, who arrived at the rally at 6.30am to ensure good seats for himself, his wife, son and daughter-in-law.
“We got seats right next to the president, where he came out, and the shots were fired over our heads actually. Unfortunately, the persons behind us were hit and tragically lost their lives,” Mr Jurysta, an oil and gas worker, told The National.
“I’m shocked – how could there be hate for one man or one party to cause somebody to want to do that? I just don’t understand it,” he said, adding that he had feared for his family’s safety on what he called a “very sad and terrifying day”.
Authorities shot and killed the suspected gunman, 20-yearold Thomas Matthew Crooks, after several shots were fired at Trump, with one bullet grazing his right ear. One person was killed and two were seriously injured in the attack.
My Jurysta, who has fired rifles in the past, said he had immediately recognised the sound of gunfire and saw small puffs of dust kicking up from the stage as bullets struck.
Gretchan Hoffman and her husband had driven to Butler from Buffalo, New York to attend a country music concert and decided to attend the Trump rally afterwards, as both are devoted supporters of the former president.
“It was my first rally ever,” Ms Hoffman said. “We got really close, probably 70 feet [21 metres] away, we could see him from the stage and within maybe seven minutes of him talking, there were snipers on the roof.”
Local resident Raymond said the shooting was a “shock”. “Who would ever think it would ever happen here?” said Raymond, 80, as he walked past the rally site, which police had closed off as a crime scene.
He said the shooting reminded him of a period in US history when political assassinations were frequent, including the killing of president John F Kennedy in 1963 and his brother Robert F Kennedy in 1968.
“It was terrible,” he said. “I mean, you kind of feel like it put us back in a different era.”
Almost twice as many residents of Butler voted Republican in 2020 as they did Democrat. Like many in the town, Raymond said he supports Trump “all the way”, and that the attack would galvanise support.
One man shouted “Trump 2024” as he drove past a group of journalists outside the rally site, where a giant American flag was suspended between two cranes.
Access to the rally grounds remained blocked by police as investigators continued to comb the area. The building from which Mr Crooks is alleged to have fired at Trump was also closed off.
Police are facing criticism for apparent security failures that allowed a gunman to climb on to a rooftop near the rally.
One man shouted ‘Trump 2024’ as he drove past a group of journalists outside the rally site