U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle enters a House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing on the security lapses that allowed an attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said July 22 that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump, as lawmakers of both major political parties demanded during a highly contentious congressional hearing that she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.

Ms. Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly angering lawmakers by evading questions about the investigation during the first hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt. Ms. Cheatle called the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades and vowed to “move heaven and earth” to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make sure there’s no repeat of it.

“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” she told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

Ms. Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. She also revealed that the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally. Ms. Cheatle said she apologised to Mr. Trump in a phone call after the assassination attempt.

Yet, Ms. Cheatle remained defiant that she was the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she takes full responsibility the security lapses. When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested she begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Ms. Cheatle responded, “No, thank you.”

In a rare moment of unity for the often divided committee, the Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer, and its top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, issued a letter calling on Cheatle to step down. The White House didn’t immediately comment on whether President Joe Biden still has confidence in Ms. Cheatle after her testimony.

How could the gunman get so close to Trump?

Democrats and Republicans were united in their exasperation as Ms. Cheatle said she didn’t know or couldn’t answer numerous questions more than a week after the shooting that left one spectator dead. At one point, Ms. Mace used profanity as she accused Ms. Cheatle of lying and dodging questions, prompting calls for lawmakers to show “decorum.”

Lawmakers pressed Ms. Cheatle on how the gunman could get so close to the Republican presidential nominee when he was supposed to be carefully guarded, and why Trump was allowed to take the stage after local law enforcement had identified Crooks as suspicious.

“It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States. Regardless of party, there need to be answers,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.

Role of local law enforcement

Ms. Cheatle acknowledged that Crooks had been seen by local law enforcement before the shooting with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure the distance from a target. She said the Secret Service would never have taken Mr. Trump onto the stage if it had known there was an “actual threat.” Local law enforcement took a photo of Crooks and shared it after seeing him acting suspiciously, but he wasn’t deemed to be a “threat” until seconds before he opened fire, she said.

“An individual with a backpack is not a threat,” she said. “An individual with a rangefinder is not a threat.”

Ms. Cheatle said local enforcement officers were inside the building from which Crooks fired. But when asked why there were no agents on the roof or if the Secret Service used drones to monitor the area, Ms. Cheatle said she is still waiting for the investigation to play out, prompting groans and outbursts from members on the committee.

“Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. “If he were killed, you would look culpable.”

Lawmakers ask Cheatle to resign

Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the Democrats who joined the calls for Ms. Cheatle to resign, noted that the Secret Service director who presided over the agency when there was an attempted assassination of former Republican President Ronald Reagan later stepped down.

“The one thing we have to have in this country are agencies that transcend politics and have the confidence of independents, Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives,” Mr. Khanna said, adding that the Secret Service was no longer one of those agencies.

Mr. Trump was wounded in the ear, a former Pennsylvania fire chief was killed and two other attendees were injured when Crooks opened fire with an AR-style rifle shortly after Trump began speaking.

Ms. Cheatle said the agency hopes to have its internal investigation completed in 60 days. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has separately appointed a bipartisan, independent panel to review the assassination attempt, while the department’s inspector general has opened three investigations.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan delegation of about a dozen members of the House Committee on Homeland Security toured the shooting site Monday. The lawmakers said they were the first group outside law enforcement to climb onto the roof where the shooter positioned himself.

Authorities have been hunting for clues into what motivated Crooks but have not found any ideological bent that could help explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone found photos of Trump, Biden and other senior government officials and found that he had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Conventional as well as Trump’s appearances. He also searched for information about major depressive order.

U.S. Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement officials escort Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump after he was shot at during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., on July 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed a bipartisan, independent panel to review this month’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, officials said Sunday.

The panel members will have “extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Also read: ‘Nobody mentioned it’: Trump says he received no warnings before assassination attempt

The first people named to the panel are former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush; Mark Filip, a former federal judge and deputy attorney general to President George W. Bush; and David Mitchell, former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the state of Delaware. Additional experts could be asked to join the group in the coming days, the statement said.

Editorial | Dodging bullets: On an assassination bid and U.S. politics

The panel will have 45 days to review the policies and procedures of the Secret Service before, during and after the rally on July 13 where a gunman fired at Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“We formed this bipartisan group to quickly identify improvements the U.S. Secret Service can implement to enhance their work. We must all work together to ensure events like July 13 do not happen again,” members of the independent review panel said in a joint statement.

Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle said she welcomes the review. “I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again,” she said in a statement. “The U.S. Secret Service is continuing to take steps to review our actions internally and remain committed to working quickly and transparently with other investigations, including those by Congress, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.”

Ms. Cheatle is set to testify on July 22 before the House Oversight Committee.

New Delhi:

Unless a miracle happens for Democrats, Donald Trump is set to be the 47th President of the United States of America, a beaming Shalabh Kumar, a close aide of Trump, told NDTV. The Chicago businessman underlined that the failed assassination attempt means it is a game, set, match for Trump in the November election.

“This particular event, the assassination attempt, has practically sealed the election campaign. It is almost over. It is very challenging at this point for Democrats to figure out what to do. Such a contrast has been laid out in the minds of the electorate. Two weeks prior to this, you had this debate between Trump and Biden where everybody recognises, including president Biden, that it was really a bad night for him. He just seemed to be lost. He didn’t seem to be anywhere; could not answer any question. Sleepy Joe as he has been known,” said Mr Kumar, Chairman of the Republican Hindu Coalition.

“In contrast to that we have a man of steel, a fighter. Doesn’t look like a 78-year-old. After getting shot in his right ear, if he had been looking straight it would have gone straight to his head. He gets up and has this fighting spirit, says fight, fight, fight. That’s what Americans like to see in their presidents. As it stands right now, unless the Democrats come up with a different candidate, they still have a month to go, this election is over,” said the prominent Indian-American businessman.

Pressed to answer if there is a rethink on the presidential candidate on the Democratic side, he said he is hoping for a last-minute change to make for an exciting contest. They still have a month to decide, he said.

“I am still betting on President Barack Obama convincing his wife Michelle Obama to step in at the last minute. Then there would be a real contest. I would probably say then between Trump and Michelle Obama there will be a contest. Between Trump and Joe Biden there is no contest. Between Trump and Kamala Harris there is no contest. Behind the scenes, everybody wishes on the Democrat part that Michelle Obama is persuaded to become the Democrat nominee. A good contest is always a good thing,” said the man, who was involved in the Ronald Reagan re-election campaign in 1984.

“They have to come up with something different. I am hoping Obama convinces Michelle to step up. Then there will be a real contest. They have to find somebody else,” said the businessman.

Asked how the fundraising is coming along post the assassination attempt, Mr Kumar said it has seen a dramatic increase.

“Money is going like crazy. Donor class is seeing that the DJT (Donald John Trump) is coming back as the 47th president. Am sure you are aware of what Elon Musk has done. $45 million a month till the election. Peter Thiel. Big time people are coming forward and funding the campaign. Money raising has increased dramatically after the assassination attempt,” said the businessman who is not just a financial backer but is on the ground getting people out to vote as Trump limbers for a second showdown with Joe Biden.

Donald Trump won the formal nomination Monday as the Republican presidential candidate and picked a right-wing loyalist, JD Vance, for his running mate, kicking off a triumphalist party convention in the wake of the weekend’s failed assassination attempt.

“We have 6 million Hindu Americans in the country, out of that 3.3 million are registered voters. Hindu Americans, Indian Americans, they like to declare themselves independent. They go back and forth. 2008, 2012 they were majorly for the Democrat. And 2016 we changed that significantly, especially in the battleground states. Then in 2020, they shifted back to Democrats. Maybe they are fence-sitters. Hindu Americans, they decide practically at the last minute who they are going to vote for. Maybe on the day of the election itself. They are not committed to any particular party,” he said.

The 78-year-old former president was injured but survived the assassination attempt, a brazen attack that shocked a nation already deeply polarized ahead of the November election.

“The country is divided. However, even before the debate, particularly after the debate, the country was pulling towards Trump,” he said.

Trump was speaking when multiple bangs rang out. He clutched his ear, with blood visible on his ear and cheek, then ducked to the floor as Secret Service agents swarmed onto the podium, surrounding him and rushing him to a nearby vehicle.

Iconic images of a bloodied Trump waving his fist after the shooting are already galvanizing Republican hopes that voters will further rally behind him for a landslide victory in November.

“The campaign after the assassination attempt has become a different campaign. It’s altogether different. The enthusiasm in the delegates and people on the ground, the MAGA crowd, the enthusiasm is through the roof. As everybody can sense that at this point in time, unless a miracle happens for Democrats, he is the 47th president of the US and we are all very happy about it,” he stressed.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024, that set off panic as a bloodied Trump was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried into his vehicle. A former fire chief attending the rally with family was killed, as was the gunman. Two other people were critically wounded.

Also Read : Trump rally shooting LIVE

This is a brief analysis of the scene of the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as satellite imagery of the site, which shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking.

Here’s what’s known so far about the timeline of the shooting:

Trump’s rally takes place at the Butler Farm Show Grounds, Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.

The ground on 625 Evans City Road is home to the Butler Farm Show, an annual agriculture fair.

6.02 p.m. EDT – Trump takes the stage to the strains of “God Bless the U.S.A.” He waves at the cheering crowd and begins his regular rally speech, with spectators both in front of him and behind him on risers.

Trump starts addressing his supporters and speaks for roughly six minutes before the scene erupts into chaos.

6.10 p.m. – After rally-goers notice a man climbing on the top of the roof of a nearby building, a local law enforcement officer climbs to the roof, according to two law enforcement officials.

A man identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks points his rifle at the officer, who retreats down the ladder, the officials said.

Gunman then quickly fires, according to the officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Trump was showing off border-crossing numbers when gunfire began.

As the first pop rings out, Trump says, “Oh,” and raises his hand to his right ear and looks at it, before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern. Video shows Trump getting to his feet and reaching with his right hand toward his face, which was smeared with blood.

Secret Service agents rush to the stage and pile atop the former president to shield him.

Secret Service counter snipers fire back and shoot Crooks.

While the gunman is positioned outside the rally venue, the distance between him and where Trump is speaking is only approximately 400 to 500 feet, according to law enforcement sources.

About 1 minute after the shots – As Trump stands up, he pumps to the crowd with his right fist. He appears to mouth the word “fight” twice to his crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”

About 2 minutes after the shots – Trump turns back to the crowd and again raises a fist right before agents put him into a vehicle and he is taken to a local hospital.

Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief attending the rally, is shot and killed. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that Comperatore used his body as a shield to protect his wife and daughter.

6.50 p.m. – Secret Service says “the former President is safe.”

8:42 p.m. – Trump posts on his social media site that he was injured in the upper part of his right ear. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” he said.

Trump’s private jet lands at Newark Liberty International Airport. Video posted by an aide showed the former president deplaning, flanked by U.S. Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter assault team. It was an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.

Trump travels to his private golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey, to spend the night.

Source: AP, Reuters, CNN, and FBI

Milwaukee:

The gunman who shot at former president Donald Trump during an election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday appears to have acted alone, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is probing the incident as a potential “domestic terrorism” act.

The gunman, shot dead by a sniper, has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20).

“At this point in the investigation, it appears that he was a lone actor, but we still have more investigation to go,” said Robert Wells, the executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

The FBI, he said, is investigating this as an assassination attempt and also as a “potential domestic terrorism act”. The counterterrorism division and criminal divisions are working together to determine the motive, he added.

Trump was left with a bloodied face after a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. He is now safe and continuing with his schedule that includes travelling to Milwaukee to attend the Republican National Convention, which would formally nominate him as the party’s presidential nominee against incumbent Joe Biden.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the assassination attempt.

“The shooter may be deceased, but the investigation is very much ongoing. And, because of that, we are limited in what we say at this point,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

“What we witnessed yesterday was nothing short of an attack on democracy and our democratic process,” he told reporters at a news conference in Washington DC.

According to an FBI official, the investigation into the gunman at Donald Trump’s rally Saturday has not yet turned up any mental health issues, threatening posts, or other motives, but cautioned it was still early.

The shooter, as per FBI, used an AR-style rifle chambered in 5.56mm, a common calibre for such weapons.

The New York Times said authorities were scouring the gunman’s social media and other property as they sought to determine a motive for the attack.

Biden is likely to address the nation at 8 pm from the Oval Office. He will give “a forceful and needed address to update the nation on the horrifying attack on Donald Trump and the need for every American to come together to not just condemn, but put to an end political violence in this country once and for all,” a campaign official told the daily.

Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County two months ago, earning an associate degree in engineering science, school officials said in a statement, adding that they were “shocked and saddened by the horrific turn of events.”

Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, in a memo to her agents, said “The attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, is a moment that will forever be remembered in history.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hours after a bullet grazed former US president Donald Trump’ ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday sending shockwaves throughout the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the assassin as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania,” the FBI said in a statement.

The investigation agency has now released a photo of the young attacker. The image shows the 20-year-old wearing glasses and smiling into the camera. 

Crooks was shot down by Secret Service snipers after he fired multiple shots at the former US president in the rally from a nearby rooftop. Witnesses claimed they tried to warn the secuirty officials about a man moving from roof to roof nearby and laying on his stomach with a gun pointed at the rally. 

An assault rifle, AR-15, was found near his body.

Described as a “quiet, lonely” student, Crooks had graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, and received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.

A registered Republican, the upcoming November 5 election would have been the first time he would have voted in a presidential election.

His schoolmates labelled him as “socially reserved” and did not recall him ever discussing politics or Trump but mentioned that he was often bullied at school. “He was quiet but he was just bullied. He was bullied so much,” a student told local US media.

After graduating, he had been working at a nursing home.

Following the attack, a “suspicious device” was found inside his car, which is now being inspected by bomb technicians. Officials are now searching through his phone.

The Sunday attack was a close call for Trump, who is currently in the middle of a bid to be re-elected as the President of the United States. Videos show that a last second tilt of his head saved the leader’s life as the bullet clipped his ear.

A video showed the 78-year-old Republican leader, with blood smeared on his face, raising his fist and muttering “Fight! Fight!” as Secret Service agents whisked him off the stage after the attack.

Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt yesterday evening during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Multiple videos shot by bystanders and video journalists showed what happened before, after and the moment when Mr Trump was shot at. Now, a four-month-old video has resurfaced online that predicted the attack on the former US president.

In a video posted on YouTube on March 14, Bradon Biggs spoke about an alleged divine vision he had about the attempt at Trump’s life. Biggs has a YouTube channel where he frequently posts videos on “visions and prophetic warnings”.

“I saw an attempt on his (Donald Trump) life. This bullet flew by his ear and it came so close to his head that it busted his eardrum, and I saw he fell to his knees during this timeframe and started worshipping the lord,” he said.

The 78-year-old had just begun his speech when shots rang out, hitting his right ear and streaking his face with blood. He dropped to his knees behind the podium. When he emerged about a minute later, he mouthed “Fight! Fight! Fight!” pumping his fist in the air.

Many X users are now posting the clip of Biggs in which he also claim that he saw Trump “winning the presidency”.

Recorded on 3/14/24 (verified), Pastor Brandon Biggs recounts a prophecy he saw.

“I saw an attempt on [Trump’s] life that this bullet flew by his ear and it came so close to his head that it busted his ear drum. And I saw, he fell to his knees during this timeframe…” pic.twitter.com/U9iGpNmN7j

— John Greenewald, Jr. (@blackvaultcom) July 14, 2024

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination.

One rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured in the shooting. The suspect was shot dead by a Security Services agent.

The shooting occurred less than four months before the November 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos show the two locked in a close contest.

It was the first shooting of a US president or major party candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.

The incident has raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents including Trump with lifetime protection.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally after an assisation attempt on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images via AFP

As he survived an assassination attempt by a whisker in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, Republican Donald J. Trump’s image underwent an abrupt makeover. From defending charges of being an instigator and an authoritarian-in-waiting, he will now be seen as a target of political violence.

Mr. Trump’s defiant response in the face of death with his fist raised against the backdrop of an American flag could blunt his Democrat rival Joe Biden’s strategy of a counter polarisation, and reinforce his messianic claims. The bid on Mr. Trump’s life could derail the wobbly script that Mr. Biden struggled to put together after his meltdown in the presidential debate on June 27.

Also Read : Trump rally shooting LIVE

Mr. Trump is seen as a divisive figure of U.S. politics, but Mr. Biden’s re-election bid is also premised on polarisation. With the Democrat base itself conflicted over his politics, Mr. Biden has raised the decibel on rhetoric on domestic and international questions to unify his party. All that adds up to a very elementary claim that Mr. Trump would be worse.

On two polarising domestic questions that can unite the progressives, Mr. Biden has raised the stakes since the debate — gun control and abortion decontrol. The Biden campaign has sought to corner Mr. Trump on both questions. The battleground States that turned by narrow margins in 2016, and 2020, are being addressed on these two questions which would not only charge up the Democrat base but also potentially swing women voters from the Republican side too. Against the backdrop of his accelerating gaffe train, Mr. Biden amplified his messaging on these two questions, contrasting himself with Mr. Trump in stark terms.

‘Washington Playbook’

But this has not stopped the chatter about his fitness to run for another term. In fact, it is growing into a clamour, being repeated by Democrat seniors and American strategists across the political divide. Mr. Biden has sought to talk up the Russia-China axis in recent weeks — though he mistook Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for ‘President Putin’.

Mr. Trump’s first term had significantly disrupted what former President Barack Obama had described as ‘Washington Playbook,’ — the standard, usually militarised response to most global events. By confronting China and appearing friendly to Russia, Mr. Trump’s first term had disrupted this playbook.

Mr. Trump’s first term institutionalised rivalry with China in U.S. strategy, and Mr. Biden turned it into a new cold war by talking up the danger of an axis between Russia and China. This focus on Russia and China also helped Mr. Biden skirt two foreign policy setbacks under his watch — the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan without achieving the stated strategic goals and Israel’s war on Gaza that has scattered the Democrats.

On all these points, Mr. Biden’s claim of legitimacy has been that he is the most effective counter to Mr. Trump and his instincts. The stark scenarios that Mr. Biden portrays involve a double barrel polarisation — a U.S.-led world order threatened by an authoritarian Russia-China axis and the U.S. democracy threatened by fascism fuelled by MAGA [Make America Great Again] Republicans.

Mr. Trump is a common factor in Mr. Biden’s campaign narrative, which shows the former President as a stooge of Mr. Putin. The gunman in Pennsylvania has not merely dismantled this grand narrative of Mr. Biden’s claim of his own inevitability despite his infirmities but also reinforced the talking points of Mr. Trump.

Trump’s narrative

Mr. Trump has always claimed that he is a victim of a deep state conspiracy that undermined his first presidency, and thwarted his re-election in 2020. He has also, repeatedly, alluded to “a divine plan” in his politics — a theme that got an instant boost in social media chatter after his miraculous escape from the bullet on Saturday. Mr. Trump’s other talking points — American weakness, leftist conspiracies, and his claims of being a fighter and a true patriot, all fall in place for a perfect storm of a campaign for him on the eve of the Republican National Convention that begins on Monday in Milwaukee.

Mr. Trump presents himself as a strong leader and accuses Mr. Biden of being weak. By appearing unruffled and combative with blood dripping from his bullet injury, Trump can claim to have lived up to his boast. In the coming weeks, he is sure to use this to amplify his politics.

Washington:

The attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump with a semi-automatic rifle illustrates once again how easy it is for shooters in the US to get their hands on inexpensive, easy-to-use, military-style weapons.

The AR-15-style rifle is one of the most popular guns in the US. It has also been a common denominator in some of the country’s worst mass shootings.

Here are some key facts about the weapon:

Why Are AR-15s So Lethal?

The AR-15 is a semi-automatic weapon, meaning a user can fire multiple shots in quick succession.

Its cousin, the M-16, has been used by the US military since Vietnam. While some military assault rifles are fully automatic, civilians are prohibited from owning such weapons in most circumstances.

AR-15s fire high-velocity bullets that travel at triple the speed of a handgun round, are accurate over long distances, and cause expansive, devastating wounds to soft tissue and internal organs.

While handguns account for more deaths per year in the United States, AR-15s have frequently been used in high-profile mass shootings.

In May 2022, a former student used an AR-15 to shoot dead nineteen children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The weapon was also used in October 2017 in Las Vegas, where a gunman massacred 60 people at a music festival.

Cheap And Easy

Buying an AR-15 is easy. Depending on the state of residence, a prospective owner can walk into a gun shop and, after presenting a valid ID, buy a rifle or shotgun provided they can pass a federal background check.

This process looks at a buyer’s criminal history or whether they have ever been committed to a mental institution. But even this cursory check can be flouted in the case of private sales.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) touts the rifles for recreational target practice and home defense, but critics say their lethality means they do not belong in civilian hands.

Part of the reason for the popularity of AR-15s in America is that they are widely customizable, with owners able to add scopes, large-capacity magazines and a plethora of other accessories.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives does not know how many assault weapons there are in America — they are prohibited by federal law from keeping a gun registry database.

A Washington Post poll in 2023 estimated that one in 20 American adults own at least one AR-15.

Banned In Several States

Assault weapons were banned in 1994 under president Bill Clinton, but the restriction lapsed in 2004 amid pressure from the powerful NRA.

Federal efforts at reforms to gun laws have been stymied ever since, with critics arguing that they infringe the constitutional right to own a firearm, enshrined in the Second Amendment.

Several states, like California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington DC, have however banned ownership of assault weapons.

California claims its gun safety laws have helped save 19,000 lives in a decade.

In May, President Joe Biden’s administration moved to crack down on firearm sales at gun shows and online that evade federal background checks.

But several Republican-led states quickly sued to block the measure.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Police tape blocks a street in Bethel Park, Pa., that they say is near a residence of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former President Donald Trump, Sunday, July 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Law enforcement officials tell The Associated Press that bomb-making materials were found inside the vehicle of the man suspected in the Trump rally shooting. There were also bomb-making materials found at his home.

The two officials were not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former President Donald Trump called Sunday for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him wounded but “fine” and the gunman and a rally-goer dead.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” he wrote on his social media site. “Much bleeding took place.”

In a subsequent post on Sunday, Trump said “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” his post said.

The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as it pressed its investigation. An FBI official said investigators had not yet determined a motive.

Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks. The gunman attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue at a farm show in Butler, the agency said.

One attendee was killed, and two spectators were critically wounded, authorities said. All were identified as men.

Investigators believe the weapon had been purchased by Crooks’ father at least six months ago, two law enforcement officials said. Federal agents were still working to understand when and how his son obtained the gun and to gather additional information about Crooks, the officials said.

The officials were not authorised to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Rising political violence

The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized U.S. less than four months before the presidential election. And it could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee.

Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.

Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a local Pennsylvania hospital, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport.

A video posted by an aide showed the former president leaving his private jet flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter-assault team, an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.

Biden, who is running against Trump, was briefed on the attack and spoke to Trump several hours after the shooting, the White House said. “There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” the president said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”

Biden late Saturday cut short a weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington.

Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”

Officials said the counter-assault team killed the shooter. The heavily armed tactical team travels everywhere with the president and major party nominees and is meant to confront any active threats while other Secret Service agents focus on safeguarding and evacuating the person at the center of protection.