WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday called for unity and promised an independent review of the events following a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday where former President Donald J. Trump was shot and wounded.
“This attempted attack goes against everything we stand for as a nation,” Biden said in a statement from the White House, adding that “this type of violence, or any violence, has no place in America.”
Biden said the independent review “will accurately assess what happened, and its findings will also be shared with the American people.”
Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday evening at 8:00 PM ET, addressing the assassination attempt on Trump.
“Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than this right now,” Biden said. “We will debate and we will disagree, that will not change. But we will not lose sight of who we are as Americans.”
Biden added that he had directed the U.S. Secret Service to assess security measures for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican Party will formally nominate Trump for president.
trump card wrote on Truth Social that he had initially planned to delay his trip to the RNC by two days but said he couldn’t “let a ‘shooter’ or a potential assassin force a change in schedule or anything else,” so he would arrive later Sunday.
Outraged congressional Republicans demanded answers from the Secret Service on Sunday about how the shooter could have gotten on the roof within reach of the former president, and committee leaders from both parties began planning hearings and investigations. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an attempted assassination.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was grateful the former president “survived the assassination attempt” and noted how threatening the situation was.
“How could this happen?” Graham asked. “How could someone walk within 130 yards of the president with a rifle?”
Pennsylvania resident killed
On Saturday, as Trump campaigned, there were several thunderous pops that quickly ended with him cupping his hand over his mouth, drawing blood and defiantly raising his fist at the crowd while shouting, “Fight, fight, fight!” before being quickly carried off the stage by Secret Service agents.
Trump was injured but was deemed unthreatening by the Secret Service, and later wrote on his social media site Truth Social that he was shot “with a bullet that penetrated the upper part of my right ear.”
One rally participant was killed in the shooting and two others were injured.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, on Sunday identified the man killed as Corey Comperatore. Local news reports said he was a former fire chief.
“Corey died a hero,” Shapiro said during a news conference. “Corey threw himself at his family last night to protect them.”
Shortly after the shooting, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi he said in a statement The shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally site” and Secret Service officers shot and killed the man.
This FBI identifies shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Congressional Republicans have said they want answers from the Secret Service about how the event unfolded and whether there were any security lapses.
The Secret Service is responsible for the security of current and former presidents and certain government officials.
Guglielmi on Sunday morning at X addressed “falsely claiming that a member of the former president’s team requested additional security measures and that the request was denied.”
He said it was an “absolute lie.”
“We actually added assets, technologies and protective capabilities as part of the increased pace of travel for the campaign,” he said.
The agency falls under the Department of Homeland Security, and Republican congressmen have clashed with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, until the moment of impeachment. Senate controlled by Democrats, dismissed both articles of impeachment.
House Republican Party Investigation
Hours after Saturday’s shooting, House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X that the House will conduct an investigation into the incident.
On Sunday’s “Today” show, Johnson said the House investigation “will determine where security lapses occurred, as well as everything else the American people should know and deserve to know.”
Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter to Mayorkas expressing concern about how the shooter was able to “get onto the roof within range and direct line of sight of where President Trump was speaking.”
“The gravity of this security failure and this horrific moment in our country’s history cannot be underestimated,” Green said. he wrote in a letter“Had the bullet trajectory been slightly different, the assassination attempt on President Trump might have been successful.”
Green asked Mayorkas to provide the committee with several documents by July 22, such as the rally’s security plan, Secret Service protocol for attempted bombings and copies of briefing materials given to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris about the incident.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri I sent a letter to Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters of Michigan to press for an investigation into the shooting.
Hawley, who sits on the committee, said the investigation “must include public testimony, hearings and close oversight of the appropriate federal departments responding to the attempted assassination.”
Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester, who also serves on the committee, I made the same requestand argued that an investigation was necessary because “individuals and groups will exploit yesterday’s tragedy to sow division in our country” and that the commission “can help counter those efforts by investigating and publicizing the facts about yesterday.”
Peters’ assistant, speaking on background, said the “committee will investigate” and that the committee had asked for a briefing for members as soon as possible.
Peters, a Democrat, “is speaking with Secretary Mayorkas today, and committee staff are getting a briefing from the department this afternoon,” the aide said.
“As we learn more about what happened, the investigation will likely include additional steps, including interviews,” the assistant said.
Comer wants Secret Service director to testify
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said in a statement that he would send a formal invitation to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for questioning.
“There are a lot of questions and the American people want answers,” Comer said.
Biden, who spoke briefly on Sunday evening after the shooting, condemned political violence and refused to clarify whether the incident was an assassination attempt.
“I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts,” Biden said, speaking from the police department in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, near his vacation home. “So I want to make sure we have all the facts before I comment.”
“Cool the atmosphere”
Lawmakers on both sides of the political barricade immediately condemned political violence.
On Sunday, they appeared on talk shows and urged a cooling of political rhetoric. “We need to bring the temperature down in this country,” Johnson said.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, who was at the rally Saturday, made similar remarks on “Meet the Press,” saying that “we all need to take responsibility and calm things down.”
Melania Trump, the president’s wife, appealed to Americans on Sunday to “unite.”
“The dawn has come again” she said in a statement. “This morning, rise above the hatred, the vitriol, and the naive ideas that fuel violence. We all want a world where respect comes first, family comes first, and love transcends all else.”
Shootings, threats, attacks
Threats against lawmakers and political violence have increased over the years.
Then-Arizona state representative Gabby Giffords, a Democrat, was shot at a campaign event in 2011. Her husband, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, on X condemned the violence: “No one should ever experience political violence — we know that firsthand.”
In 2017, Steve Scalise, the Republican majority leader in the Louisiana House of Representatives, was shot and wounded during a congressional baseball practice.
Out of 7,501 threats for members of Congress in 2022As the U.S. Capitol Police confirmed to States Newsroom, only 22 of those resulted in charges.
Two years ago, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, he was attacked and injured in their home in California and an attempted kidnapping and murder was thwarted in 2020 against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
And in insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021A mob of Trump supporters stormed the building in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.
No motive given yet
The motives for the attack are still under investigation. According to the Associated Press, Bomb-making materials were found in Crooks’s house.
According to Pennsylvania voting records, Crooks is a registered Republican and made a $15 donation to the Progressive Turnout Project PAC in 2021, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
The shooting occurred two days before thousands of Republicans gathered for the Republican National Convention, where they formally nominate Trump on Thursday. Trump will also announce his vice presidential candidate at some point.
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Convention Organizing Committee in Milwaukee, he told ABC News that he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president wants the convention to go ahead.
“It won’t be limited,” Priebus said. “In fact, if you were to ask me, I’d say this convention is going to be epic.”
Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a joint statement after the shooting that Trump would not change his plans for the RNC.
“President Trump looks forward to joining all of you in Milwaukee as we continue our convention to nominate him as the 47th President of the United States,” they said. “As our party’s nominee, President Trump will continue to share his vision to Make America Great Again.”
