Trump injured after shooting leaves one dead during rally

Former US President Donald Trump was attacked. injured but is doing well à the continuation of shootings during a meeting on Saturday which costé life &agrav; a spectator, having been é evacuated with blood on the ear à a few days before his official inauguration as a Republican candidate.

In addition to the suspected shooter, a spectator was killed and two others were seriously injured, announced the Secret Service, responsible for the protection of presidents and ex-presidents.

“I was hit by a bullet that pierced the top of my right ear,” Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “It is unbelievable that such an act could occur in our country,” he added.

Donald Trump “is safe,” said the Secret Service.

Democratic President Joe Biden, who faces Donald Trump in the November election, said he was relieved to learn that the Republican was apparently in good health, saying he hopes to be able to speak to him on Saturday evening. “Everyone must condemn” such violence, he said in a televised address.

This meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania (northeast), was Donald Trump's last before the Republican convention which begins Monday, and at the end of which he must be officially nominated as the Republican Party's presidential candidate.

The Republican candidate, who had just begun his speech with one of his usual tirades on the migrants whom he accuses his Democratic successor of having allowed to massively enter the country, was immediately put to the ground by Secret Service agents.

Cries of fear erupted from the audience. After a few moments, Donald Trump stood up, his hair disheveled and without his red cap, surrounded by the agents. “Let me get my shoes,” he was heard telling them.

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He was then escorted from the stage to his car, raising his fist in the air several times in defiance, to the cheers of his supporters.

– Incalculable consequences –

“We saw a lot of people throwing themselves to the ground, looking confused. I heard the gunshots”, declared to the 'AFP on site a sympathizer, John Yeykal.

The alleged perpetrator of the shooting was outside the open-air enclosure where the meeting took place, Butler County Prosecutor Richard Goldinger told CNN on CNN, adding that he had no information on his identity.

Supporters of Donald Trump tour the stands at the former president and Republican candidate's rally in Butler, United States, July 13, 2024 © AFP – Rebecca DROKE

“No place for political violence in our democracy”, also reacted former Democratic President Barack Obama.

The head of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he was “horrified”.

Elon Musk reacted by supporting Donald Trump and wishing him a “prompt recovery”.

The consequences of this event on the campaign are still incalculable.

In recent days, the attention has been focused on doubts about the physical and mental state of Joe Biden, 81, and his ability to confront Donald Trump, 78, since their debate on June 27, marked by the disastrous performance of the Democratic candidate. Some 20 parliamentarians are now calling on him to step down.

The person himself repeated Friday in Michigan (north) that he remained in the race. “I am a candidate and we are going to win,” said a galvanized Joe Biden to his supporters in Detroit.

He also received strong support on Saturday, the figure of the American left Bernie Sanders who, in a column in the New York Times, called on the Democrats “to stop the bickering and nitpicking”.

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