Attendee killed, Trump whisked away after gunfire erupts at campaign rally
Donald Trump’s campaign said in a statement that the former president was “fine” after a shooting at his rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. A local prosecutor says the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead.
“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.”
The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement that “the former president is safe.”
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said in a phone interview that the suspected gunman was dead and that at least one rally attendee was killed.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers during his last rally before the Republican National Convention opens in Milwaukee on Monday when the shots began.
As the first pop rang out, Trump said, “Oh,” and grabbed his ear as two more pops could be heard, and he crouched down.
Someone could be heard saying near the microphone at Trump’s lectern, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents tackled the former president. They piled atop him to shield him with their bodies, as is their training protocol, as other agents took up positions on the stage to search for the threat.
Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. The bangs continued as agents tended to him on stage.
Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his face. There appeared to be blood on his face.
The crowd cheered as he got back up and pumped his fist.
His motorcade left the venue moments later.
Police began vacating the fairgrounds shortly after Trump left the stage in what local officers described as a crime scene.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, the White House said. He received an updated briefing from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
“I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well,” Biden said in a statement. “I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally.”
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., posted a photo of Trump on X, formerly Twitter, his fist raised and his face bloody in front of an American flag, with the words: “He’ll never stop fighting to Save America.”
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the three men on Trump’s short list 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 the stage with his fist in the air and a streak of blood on his face, along with the words “God protected President Trump.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement on X that he had been briefed on the situation and that Pennsylvania state police were on hand at the rally site.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,” he said.
Published at Sat, 13 Jul 2024 22:40:42 +0000
Gaza medics say 90 killed at tent camp by Israeli strike that IDF says targeted Hamas commander
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
It was unclear whether Deif was killed. “We are still checking and verifying the results of the strike,” an official for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told reporters.
The militant Islamist group Hamas said in a statement that Israeli claims it had targeted leaders of the group were false and aimed at justifying the attack, which was the deadliest Israeli attack in Gaza in weeks.
Displaced people sheltering in the area said their tents were torn down by the force of the strike, describing bodies and body parts strewn on the ground.
“I couldn’t even tell where I was or what was happening,” said Sheikh Youssef, a resident of Gaza City who is currently displaced in the Al-Mawasi area.
“I left the tent and looked around, all the tents were knocked down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown on the floor, young children in pieces,” he told Reuters.
The Israeli military said the strike against Deif also targeted Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, describing them as two of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the nine-month war in Gaza.
Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, and has topped Israel’s most wanted list for decades, held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 90 Palestinians were killed in the strike and 300 were injured, the deadliest toll in weeks in the conflict-shattered enclave.
In a statement, the aid organization Al-Khair said an airstrike in Al-Mawasi, Gaza, killed one of its senior aid workers and three staffers from other aid organizations on Friday.
Al-Mawasi is a designated humanitarian area that the Israeli army has repeatedly urged Palestinians to head to after issuing evacuation orders from other areas.
Reuters footage showed ambulances racing toward the area amid clouds of smoke and dust. Displaced people, including women and children, were fleeing in panic, some holding belongings in their hands.
The Israeli military published an aerial photo of the site, which Reuters was not immediately able to verify, where it said “terrorists hid among civilians.”
Pre-war map of Gaza’s population:
“The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds,” it said in a statement.
The Israeli military official said the area was not a tent complex but an operational compound run by Hamas and that several more militants were there, guarding Deif.
Hospital ‘full of patients’
Many of those wounded in the strike, including women and children, were taken to the nearby Nasser Hospital, which hospital officials said had been overwhelmed and was “no longer able to function” due to the intensity of the Israeli offensive and an acute shortage of medical supplies.
“The hospital is full of patients, it’s full of wounded, we can’t find beds for people,” said Dr. Atef al-Hout, director of the hospital, adding that it was the only one still operating in southern Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was holding special consultations, his office said, in light of “developments in Gaza.”
It was unclear how the strike would affect ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo.
“Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not good. I don’t know about Mohammed Deif, I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us,” said Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage who was taking part in a hostage solidarity march just outside Jerusalem on Saturday.
“We need to bring the hostages back,” she told Reuters.
“If [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu killed Mohammed Deif, then he has his picture of victory, so bring them back now.”
‘My whole family’s gone’
A senior Hamas official did not confirm whether Deif had been present in the attack on Khan Younis and called the Israeli allegations “nonsense.”
“All the martyrs are civilians, and what happened was a grave escalation of the war of genocide, backed by the American support and world silence,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the strike showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire deal.
Separately on Saturday, at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer hall at a Gaza camp for displaced people in west Gaza City, Palestinian health and civil emergency officials said.
WARNING: Video contains distressing images | As Israel’s war in Gaza drags on, it’s become almost impossible for seriously sick or wounded Palestinians to get the medical care they need, especially because leaving the country is no longer a viable option.
Critics have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel denies. It characterizes its actions as self-defence to prevent another attack like Oct. 7, though the International Court of Justice ordered Israel in January to take action to prevent acts of genocide.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in the cross-border raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel has retaliated with military action in Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, medical authorities in Gaza say.
Speaking to members of the National Security College, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believes Hamas is close to being eliminated in Gaza, and Israel remains committed to eradicating the remains of its forces.
Witnesses said the Khan Younis attack came as a surprise as the area had been calm, adding more than one missile had been fired. Some of the wounded who were being evacuated were rescue workers, they said.
“They’re all gone, my whole family’s gone … where are my brothers? They’re all gone, they’re all gone. There’s no one left,” said one tearful woman, who did not give her name.
Rising up the Hamas ranks over 30 years, Deif developed the group’s network of tunnels and its bomb-making expertise, Hamas sources say.
In March, Israel said it killed Deif’s deputy, Marwan Issa. Hamas has not confirmed or denied his death.
Published at Sat, 13 Jul 2024 12:25:18 +0000