Donald Trump Nominated at RNC Convention, Investigation Underway in Pennsylvania Rally Shooting

Donald Trump was formally nominated as his party’s presidential candidate as Republicans kicked off their national convention on Monday amid heightened security concerns and an ongoing investigation into an assassination attempt on his life during a weekend campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.

The former president promised immunity in his first media interviews since Saturday’s attempted bombing at a fair in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said his brush with death prompted him to “throw away” a speech he planned to give to party delegates at the convention in Milwaukee later this week.

Instead, he told the New York Post, He was preparing a novel address that he hoped would “unite our country,” but added: “I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Meanwhile, federal authorities said Monday that their efforts to determine the motive of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old Allegheny County man identified as Trump’s potential killer, are making only sluggish progress, as allegations and accusations continue to surface about the failure to follow security protocols that allowed him to get so close to the rally.

” READ MORE: As it turns out: Trump picks JD Vance as his VP running mate at early RNC; federal case against former president dismissed

The chairmen of three congressional committees have announced plans to hold hearings. The House Oversight Committee announced it will begin its deliberations next week with testimony from Kimberly Cheatle, director of the U.S. Secret Service.

Cheatle defended her agency’s handling of Butler’s rally in a statement — her first since the foiled assassination attempt on Trump. She also expressed confidence in the Secret Service’s security plans for the RNC.

“The Secret Service is working with all involved federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future,” Cheatle said.

Trump also notched a series of significant victories that day. In addition to receiving the official GOP nomination in a roll call vote from the convention floor, he revealed his vice presidential pick — U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio — and won a significant legal victory in one of the three remaining criminal cases against him.

” READ MORE: US Representatives from Pennsylvania Speak Out on House Investigation into Trump Assassination Attempt

A federal judge in Florida has dismissed allegations that Trump mishandled secret documents after leaving the White House, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith, whose office prosecuted the case, was improperly appointed and therefore handled the case illegally.

The decision, which broke with long-standing precedent, has piqued the interest of legal experts. Smith’s office, through a spokesman, has vowed to appeal.

” READ MORE: Judge dismisses Donald Trump’s charges of allegedly mishandling secret documents

But while Trump had committed to unity in interviews he gave to conservative media Just hours earlier, he greeted the news of the legal pardon with a post on his social media site Truth Social in which he condemned what he called a Democratic witch hunt against him.

The hunt for the motives of the potential killers continues, as questions about the security of the rally continue to arise

The FBI said Monday it had conducted nearly 100 interviews with law enforcement officials, rally attendees and people who knew Crooks in the two days since the attack on Trump, which also killed one spectator and seriously injured two others. But with the shooter now dead and unable to respond, officials appear to be no closer to understanding what prompted his actions.

Crooks’ parents are cooperating with the investigation. And agents accessed his phone data Monday, though it provided few clues to his motive, they said. Investigators have been hamstrung in their search for a motive by Crooks’ relative lack of social media presence and lack of any apparent political views.

A registered Republican, he previously donated to a progressive political action committee. Former classmates at Bethel Park High School, the Pittsburgh suburb where Crooks grew up, offered conflicting accounts of him, with some describing him as a quiet victim of bullying and others as a committed student who was not afraid to embrace conservative politics.

” READ MORE: What Thomas Matthew Crooks’ Former Colleagues and Employer Said About Trump Shooting Suspect

Law enforcement sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the ongoing investigation, he told the Washington Post on Monday determined that the gun Crooks used Saturday was legally purchased by his father 11 years ago. Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition at a local gun shop the morning of the rally, they said.

Kevin Rojek, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh operation, said investigators do not yet know whether Crooks took the gun without his father’s consent.

Investigators, who are treating the incident as an act of domestic terrorism, believe Crooks acted alone. And Butler County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger said Monday that in airy of Crooks’ death at the hands of the Secret Service, he did not expect criminal charges to be filed in connection with the attack.

Meanwhile, attention has focused on the Secret Service’s apparent failure to secure the rally site.

The agency informed CNN that it did not wipe out the farm implement factory from which Crooks had taken his place on the roof, and did not fire the shots that hit Trump in the ear, killing one man and seriously injured two other people viewers. Instead, she said, she relied on local law enforcement to secure the building.

But Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy told The Inquirer that only a petite number of city police officers helped cover the rally. They were responsible, he said, for securing the hospital after Trump and the victims were taken there.

He added that the city and borough of Butler have their own police forces and he was not sure which source was the primary source of support for the Secret Service on Saturday.

” READ MORE: In sleepy Butler, Pennsylvania, city workers are being inundated with emails of praise and threats: ‘We failed’

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania State Police maintained that they were not responsible for the area where the building was located and that they “provided all resources requested by the United States Secret Service” to help secure the interior of the perimeter.

Regardless of who was responsible for the building, warning signals appeared minutes before the shots were fired.

According to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, several rally attendees told local authorities they saw Crooks acting suspiciously and hovering near the magnetometers earlier in the day.

Video posted on social media late Sunday night showed other participants outside the security perimeter waving to law enforcement officers toward Crooks’ position on the roof in the minutes before he opened fire. At one point, an officer can be seen walking near the building as the shooter takes up a position near the top of the roof. It was unclear, however, whether he heard people in the audience trying to direct his attention to the threat.

A Butler Township police officer who was dispatched to investigate encountered Crooks before the shots were fired but was forced to retreat to safety when the assailant pointed a rifle at him, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said.

“I think all law enforcement on the scene did everything they could, especially local law enforcement,” Slupe told The Associated Press. “I hope they don’t get scapegoated.”

Butler Township Manager Tom Knight said the officer lost his grip — and didn’t retreat. He fell eight feet to the ground. “He was literally hanging off the edge of the building and getting into a defensive position that he needed at that point,” Knight said.

Nathan Stedman, a Butler resident who was among the people outside the fairgrounds who spotted Crooks before the shooting and tried to notify law enforcement, is heard on several recordings from the scene shouting, “He’s got a gun!”

He told the New York Times on Monday: that after he screamed, he saw Crooks roll onto his back and fire two shots toward the other end of the building. Another round of gunfire erupted seconds later, Stedman said. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas described the events as a “failure” of security in an interview with CNN.

“Such an incident cannot happen,” he said.

Attack on Trump puts Pennsylvania’s delegation to RNC in the spotlight again

But those unresolved issues and the heightened focus on security did little to dampen the spirits of celebration among Republican Party delegates gathered in Milwaukee for the first day of their party’s nominating convention.

Though they had to wait in lines at checkpoints for hours to get into secure areas and were allowed to carry only what could fit in small, clear convention bags, Secret Service officials said the measures were planned before the assassination attempt on Trump.

Still, delegates eagerly streamed into the conference room to cast roll-call votes formally announcing Trump’s nomination for president and to celebrate the announcement of Vance as his vice presidential running mate.

” READ MORE: Donald Trump’s choice for vice president takes on added significance after failed assassination attempt

That same day, Pennsylvania delegates gathered for a state delegation breakfast in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee, where they again turned their attention to the weekend events in Butler.

“Because of what happened Saturday night, the eyes of the world are on us,” said delegate chairman Jim Worthington.

He spoke about the defiant photo of former President Donald Trump, who after being shot, raised his fist and walked off stage.

“Now it’s our turn to do the same because America’s future depends on Pennsylvania,” Worthington said.

” READ MORE: Pennsylvania delegates in focus as RNC begins after failed Trump assassination attempt

Other speakers called for less aggressive rhetoric in politics.

“Where do we go from here is the question,” U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.) said at the breakfast. “What do we do? There’s talk of unity. Is this a moment that clarifies unity? Let’s do everything we can to make that happen.”

Then, in a dig at his rival party, Meuser added: “But did you happen to see the message that the Democrats put on our platform? It was full of hate.”

This article was contributed by reporters Rob Tornoe, Ryan W. Briggs and Max Marin; information from the Associated Press was also included.