Trump Assassination Attempt: What You Need to Know

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The News Memo

Jul 19, 2024

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In this week’s memo:

Trump Assassination Attempt Shocks Country, Questions Remain Unanswered
California Passes Law Prohibiting Schools from Informing Parents of Students’ Gender Changes
GetSmart: The Man in Japan Who Gets Paid to “Do Nothing”

Newsbites

Calls for President Biden to step out of the race re-intensified this week amid continued concerns about his physical and mental stamina, a sharp slowdown in Democratic campaign funding, and growing public support for Donald Trump following the assassination attempt. Top Democratic lawmakers, such as Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Schiff, have either publicly called for Biden to step down, or expressed concerns in private conversations. Multiple sources close to top Democrats are now saying it is a matter of “when” not “if” Biden drops out of the race, with many expecting him to do so this weekend.

More: On Wednesday, Biden tested positive for covid-19 and is currently self-isolating at his Delaware home.

J.D. Vance was selected by Donald Trump to be his vice presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention this week. Vance, 39, was elected to the U.S. Senate in the state of Ohio in 2022. He emerged on the national scene in 2016 for his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, a recount of his life growing up with abusive parents and severe economic struggles in middle America. Vance stood out to the Trump family when he took a strong stance against funding for the war in Ukraine. In contrast to former VP Mike Pence, Vance is much more aligned with Trump’s populist agenda.

Copa America Chaos: The Copa America soccer final between Columbia and Argentina, which was held in Miami on Sunday, was delayed 75 minutes due to a stampede of fans that overwhelmed security (video). The 800 officers on the ground tried to control the inflow of fans; however, as the situation escalated with fans battling the police and the risk of a stampede increasing, the decision was made to briefly open all gates at once, letting in a swarm of fans (video), many of which didn’t have tickets. Within a few minutes, the stadium was at capacity, the gates were closed, and many fans with tickets were unable to enter. The cheapest tickets were selling for about $2,000. Some fans were so desperate to get in that they climbed through the stadium air ducts (video). At least 27 people were arrested in the altercations, including the Columbian Football Federation president, Ramón Jesurún, and his son.

More: The incident raised concerns about the U.S.’ preparedness for the World Cup in 2026, which will be held across Mexico, U.S., and Canada.

RNC Convention: The Republican National Convention convened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week, to officially appoint Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as the nominees for the Republican Party. Mr. Trump received a standing ovation when he walked into the convention with a badge over his ear just days after the assassination attempt. Some highlights of the convention included a speech from J.D. Vance, a Trump endorsement from Nikki Haley, and an emotional address from Trump who honored the victims of the tragic shooting at his rally.

Trump endorsements grow: In the wake of the assassination attempt, Trump’s list of influential, deep-pocketed supporters is growing. Elon Musk, who had previously said he would not donate to either Biden or Trump, endorsed Trump shortly after the shooting and later announced he will start contributing $45M a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC. If given every month through October, the sum would be a staggering $180M. Outside of Musk, a growing number of Silicon Valley leaders are contributing to the former president, including the Winklevoss twins and Joe Lonsdale.

Tenant evictions have spiked in some cities compared to before the pandemic, according to data from Eviction Lab, a research division of Princeton University. In many of the major Sunbelt cities that experienced massive growth during covid, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Houston, eviction rates over the past year are about 35% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Other cities experiencing higher rates are Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) and Columbus (OH). The increased eviction rates appear to be concentrated in a handful of cities, as the eviction rates nationwide are roughly the same as before the pandemic.
More: Average rental prices increased 30% from 2020 to the beginning of 2024.

Biden defends “time to put Trump in a bullseye” comments: President Biden sat down with Lester Holt to respond to the assassination attempt of Donald Trump and the continued questions of Biden’s mental fitness for the presidency. Holt asked Biden about his comment to Democratic donors on July 8 saying, “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.” Biden responded saying, “I didn’t say cross-hairs. I was talking about focus on. Look, the truth of the matter was that I guess what I was talking about at the time was there was very little focus on Trump’s — agenda.” Biden added that it was a mistake to use that term. (video)

Main Stories

Trump Assassination Attempt Shocks Country, Questions Remain Unanswered

A Brief Recap
A slight turn of his head was the difference between a bullet ending Donald Trump’s life and grazing his ear (video illustration). Trump was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, when a shooter opened fire and attempted to assassinate him. The shots killed one rally attender and seriously injured two others.

Upon realizing the shot had grazed his ear, Trump dropped to the ground. Moments later, Secret Service agents confirmed he was okay and helped him to his feet. Trump turned to the crowd, began pumping his fist and saying the word “fight,” as he was escorted off the stage (video).

In comments to the Washington Examiner, Trump said he raised his fist in the air to tell the crowd he was ok and to say “that America goes on, we go forward, that we are strong.”

According to new reports, the shooter not only intended to assassinate Trump, but also to detonate multiple explosions. Retired Colonel J. Fischer writes, "The transmitter found on the would-be Trump assassin appears to be a multi-code 12 button keypad of an off-brand origin. Law enforcement has clearly removed a 9-volt Duracell battery from the transmitter, as both the battery cover and battery are lying next to what appears to be the shooter's phone."

Here is a brief, but not exact, timeline of what happened according to new information from the FBI investigation:

July 3: The Trump Campaign publicly announces the Butler rally, giving secret service and local law enforcement at least 10 days to prepare.

July 13:

5:10 p.m. Thomas Crooks, the shooter, is identified as a person of interest to security.
5:30 p.m. Crooks is noticed with a rangefinder walking around the area.
5:52 p.m. Crooks is identified on the roof by the Secret Service.
6:02 p.m. Trump walks onto stage to address supporters.
6:09 p.m. (1 minute and 50 seconds before shooting): Trump supporters notice a man crawling on the roof with a rifle and start warning security personnel. One law enforcement officer is walking around the building of the shooter.
6:11 p.m. (20 seconds before the shooting) Trump supporters start to panic and scream, “He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!” Seconds later, shots are fired.
6:12 p.m.: Trump drops to the ground and Secret Service rushes to keep him down. Female Secret Service agent yells, “What’re we doing? What’re we doing? …Where are we going…” Trump eventually escorted off the stage after fist pumping to the crowd and yelling, “fight, fight, fight.”
6:12: 26 seconds after the shooting, Crooks is shot and killed by a counter-sniper team of the USSS.

Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service officer, said that per information he has received, the counter-sniper’s shot to take out Crooks was one of the most difficult shots a counter-sniper team has had to take given the view of the shooter was partially obstructed by a tree and the slope of the roof.

Secret Service Under Scrutiny
There have been conflicting reports from the Secret Service and local law enforcement. Shortly after the shooting, the Secret Service said local law enforcement had been responsible for securing and patrolling the American Glass Research (AGR) building from which the shooter fired. However, multiple reports, including CBS News, have confirmed that local police had informed the Secret Service two days before the rally that it did not have the resources to secure and patrol the AGR building which Crooks used, and said they could only handle traffic control. The Secret Service never responded to the messages.

In an interview with ABC, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was asked, “should that roof have been secured?”

Cheatle answered, “That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point, and so you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there, that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. So the decision was made to secure the building from inside.”

Cheatle has come under widespread criticism and many have called for her to resign. She is set to testify before Congress in the coming weeks.

Who is Kimberly Cheatle?
Cheatle was appointed by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate in August 2022. Her prior professional experience included 3 years as the head of global security for Pepsi, and more than 25 years in the Secret Service. In a May 2023 interview with CBS, Cheatle had said one of the agency’s goals was to diversify its staff, including hitting a target of 30% of recruits being female by 2030. “We need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce, and particularly women," Cheatle said.

U.S. lawmaker raises possibility of intentionality outside of shooter
Cory Mills, a U.S. Representative from Florida and former US Army sniper, sat down for an 8 minute interview (video) with CNN in which he walked through the unfolding of the attack. Mills said that given the amount of negligence and mistakes that were made, a full Congressional investigation should be conducted to determine what happened and who should be held accountable, including whether there was intentionality for the attack outside of the shooter acting alone.

What was the motive?
Authorities have gained access to Matthew Crooks’ phone and online accounts and are reviewing the information. At this point, there has been nothing substantial offered as a possible motive. Per briefings to members of Congress, Crooks’ search history did show he looked for the dates of the Democratic National Convention, as well as future Trump events. He also had photos of various politicians - including of Trump and Biden - downloaded to his phone, although the photos were not accompanied by threatening messages or comments. In addition, his search history included entries about major depression disorder.

What do we know about the shooter?
Note, some of the following information is still developing and based on interviews with fellow classmates of the shooter.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes from the site of the Trump rally. He graduated from Bethel Park high school, and in May 2024, he graduated from Community College of Allegheny with a degree in science engineering. He passed a background check to enter the college, graduated with honors, and had no disciplinary record. Interviews with fellow classmates of Crooks have generally described him as a loner with few friends.

He was living at home with his parents and working as a dietary aid at a nursing home. Both of his parents have been employed as counselors for more than 20 years. Crooks’ father had legally purchased and registered more than 12 guns. State records show Crooks was a registered Republican. In 2021, during President Biden’s inauguration, he donated $15 to a Democratic campaign cause.

Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, a gun range, for at least the past year, records show. One classmate said Crooks tried out for the varsity rifle team in high school, but failed to even make the junior varsity team. On the day of the shooting, Crooks was wearing a shirt from the YouTube channel Demolition Ranch, a channel about guns and explosions.

Responses to the shooting
Donald Trump: Trump gave a long and detailed response to the assassination attempt during his speech at the RNC.

President Joe Biden: When asked about the shooting in an interview with Lester Holt (video), Biden said he had a cordial phone call with Trump to see if he was okay. As he continued, Biden re-emphasized his view that Trump is a threat to democracy and criticized Trump’s role in January 6, contesting the 2020 election, and inciting violence through his rhetoric.

Melania Trump: In a letter posted to X, Melania wrote, “Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love. Our personal, structural, and life commitment - until death - is at serious risk. Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.”

Refer a friend

California Passes Law Prohibiting Schools from Informing Parents of Students’ Gender Changes

What happened?
If a student is undergoing a sexual orientation change, or is asking to be referred to by pronouns that don’t correspond to their biological sex, many states have “parental notification policies” in place by which school districts are permitted or even required to inform the student’s parents.

This week, California became the 1st state to prohibit such parental notification policies without the student’s consent. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that forbids schools

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