(AFP) – Donald Trump on Saturday flew over crowds of cheering supporters awaiting his much-hyped return to the spot where he cheated an assassin’s bullet, even as fears linger among his devotees that he could be targeted again. The rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, attended by thousands, comes almost three months after a gunman opened fire on the Republican presidential candidate, grazing his ear and killing one supporter.
Ahead of Trump’s speech Saturday, backers of the ex-president periodically chanted “fight, fight, fight” — echoing his rallying cry just after the July 13 shooting. “I love the fact that he came back… He said he’d come back to finish his speech, and to me (that takes) guts,” said Robert Dupain, 53, a local construction worker who was at the July rally. “That’s what (these) 50,000 people stand for,” said Dupain, who described having “nervous excitement all week” about attending. Though there was no official count, Saturday’s rally was significantly better attended than the one in July.
Trump’s return to Butler, a deeply conservative community in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, was also marked by noticeably tighter security. Secret Service sniper squads were stationed on several buildings around the Butler Farm Show grounds, while drones could be seen buzzing overhead and bulletproof glass was erected around the podium. The complex of buildings from where the would-be assassin fired, that in July was left outside the security perimeter despite its proximity to Trump’s podium, was ringed by state police on Saturday. Semis were also parked around the venue, blocking potential sightlines.
“There’s a lot going on that’s unnerving,” said Heather Hughes, 43, who had traveled from New Castle in Pennsylvania. “Do I think he’s safe? No, I think there’s going to be another attempt. But I think he’s going to make it through.” The gunman in July was quickly shot dead by a counter-sniper, but not before he had killed rally-goer Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, and wounded two others. An artist created a memorial artwork of Comperatore, complete with his firefighter’s helmet, while a singer performed a song about the shooting. “They took that shot thank God they missed / It’s time to put a stop to this,” went the lyrics.
The July attempt, and a September incident at Trump’s golf course in Florida that the FBI said was another attempted assassination, raised fears the campaign and the November vote could be marred by violence. President Joe Biden, who was replaced by Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee shortly after the July shooting, warned Friday that while he was “confident (voting) will be free and fair, I don’t know whether it will be peaceful.” “The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Biden said, referring to Trump’s refusal to accept his loss in 2020.
“The Republicans aren’t violent,” said retiree Glen Scheirer, who attended Saturday with five relatives wearing identical “By the grace of God” T-shirts showing Trump after the shooting. “(But) I think they (the Democrats) incite. They keep talking about Hitler and the end of democracy.” Scheirer described the 20-year-old shooter who tried to claim Trump’s life as “mentally ill,” but suggested he could have been influenced by rhetoric calling Trump a threat to democracy.
The crowd shouted firefighter Comperatore’s name when the mayor of nearby Slippery Rock, Jondavid Longo, paid tribute to the victims of July 13. “We’re glad to welcome president Trump back to Butler,” he said. “His return is not just political — it signifies our refusal to be defined by tragedy.”
Doctor James Sweetland, who ran to Comperatore in the wake of the shooting, told the crowd he “heard a voice saying ‘Go, go help him.'” “I’m telling you now it was the voice of God — an assassin’s bullet should not decide our election.” Sally Sherry, a first responder at Butler Memorial Hospital who treated Trump, told the Butler crowd how he sought to reassure his children and grandchildren in the wake of the shooting. He was not the hard character “like you see on TV,” she said.
– Gregory WALTON
© 2024 AFP
