BY SALENA ZITO | THE FREE PRESS | JULY 13, 2024
PHOTO CAPTION | DONALD TRUMP IS COVERED BY SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AFTER BEING SHOT DURING A JULY 13, 2024, RALLY IN BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.
PHOTO CREDIT | ANNA MONEYMAKER VIA GETTY IMAGES
A gunman tried to assassinate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Salena Zito was there.
BUTLER, PENN. — As soon as he saw me, he shook my hand.
It was that thing that all electeds do—the familiarity, the warmth, or the faux-warmth—but he’s better. It feels like he means it.
“Salena, it’s so great to see you. How are you doing? How are all those grandkids?”
Donald Trump always remembers my grandkids. I have four. Last time I talked to him, over the phone in the spring, I told him about my latest, Rocco. He replied, “I love my grandkids, too. I love being around them.”
It was just before six o’clock on Saturday when he greeted me. He was about to go onstage for a rally about 50 miles from my hometown of Pittsburgh. Inside the tent with me were forty local cops—men and women.
Many of them told him they were looking forward to him being president.
“Thank you so much for your service,” he said.
He was in great spirits. At rallies like these, he always is.
These are the people I wrote about during his first campaign in 2016, when I noticed that Trump, the billionaire, was connecting with blue-collar crowds. They weren’t taking him literally, as I wrote at the time. They were taking him seriously.
Eight years ago, he won 65 percent of this county. He won it again, by the same percentage, in 2020. Despite January 6, despite his felony conviction, the support of the people in this corner of Pennsylvania has not wavered.
The crowd formed in the sprawling field five hours before he arrived. Even in the 90-degree heat, they waited for him. Kids. Old people in wheelchairs. They waved signs: “Trump 2024.” “Joe Biden You’re Fired.” They listened to music. They heard speeches. A Ukrainian priest gave an invocation. As they waited, the crowd swelled to 30,000 people.
Then Lee Greenwood blared through the speakers: “God Bless the USA.”
Right around 6 p.m., Trump appeared on a red walkway, in his trademark blue suit and MAGA hat, waving to his fans. The excitement grew to a frenzy as he strode to the podium.
I was four feet from the stage, in a causeway with about five other journalists. My daughter, a photographer, was next to me. Her husband was next to her.
Trump started speaking.
Six minutes later, we heard the noise.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
Some people in the crowd might have thought they heard fireworks. But I knew exactly what it was. I own a gun.
I looked up at the president. He touched his ear. I was shocked to see blood on his face. A smear of red across his cheek.
Suddenly, he was surrounded. Everyone went down.
My daughter hit the ground. My son-in-law lay on top of her. I threw my body next to theirs. Immediately, a security officer was on top of me.
“ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY?” he asked.
Three more shots.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
I’ve since seen videos of what happened. People were screaming. But all I remember hearing was an eerie silence. With that kind of crowd, you’d expect pandemonium, a stampede. But I never had a sense of chaos.
“I’VE SINCE SEEN VIDEOS OF WHAT HAPPENED. PEOPLE WERE SCREAMING. BUT ALL I REMEMBER WAS AN EERIE SILENCE,” WRITES SELENA ZITO PICTURED HERE AT THE RALLY. (VIA X)
Trump was back on his feet within seconds, although his red hat was knocked off his head. He was calm.
I heard him shout to one of his staffers, “Get my shoes!”
He lifted his arm in the air. I think he shouted, “Fight!”
Then he definitely shouted, “USA!”
The crowd chanted it back in unison.
The former president was moved off the stage. We were told he was flown to a local hospital. I was moved into a holding pen with the other journalists.
I’m still in shock. I can’t make sense of any of it right now. As a journalist, you’re always looking 360 degrees around you at all times—but for details, not for danger.
The whole thing was deeply disorienting. We’ve all seen enactments of this sort of violence—in movies or documentaries—but when you experience it, it doesn’t happen that way. There’s no soundtrack, no visual signposts. It’s just unreal.
What’s clear to me after today is that if someone is determined to commit an act of political violence, they will find a way.
Earlier that afternoon, before the shooting that left two people dead including the gunman, I asked an 11-year-old: “Is this your first Trump rally?”
“Yeah,” he smiled, “but it’s not going to be my last.”
Salena Zito is a Pittsburgh-based politics reporter for the Washington Examiner.
Follow her on X at @ZitoSalena
LINK TO THE ARTICLE AS IT APPEARED ONLINE AT ‘THE FREE PRESS’
Link to the ‘Honestly with Bari Weiss’ podcast episode on Spotify:
Salena Zito Was Four Feet Away When She Heard the Bullets
Episode Description:
Yesterday, Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A few minutes into the rally, a gunman opened fire, and a bullet pierced the former president’s ear. He ducked to the ground, the Secret Service piled on top of him, supporters screamed, and chaos erupted through the crowd.
Trump suffered a superficial wound, but one rally attendee was killed and two others were critically injured. Moments after the shooting, images of Trump flooded the internet—fist clenched, blood running down his face, mouthing “fight” to a dazed crowd. It was the first time in over 40 years that an elected president was wounded in an assassination attempt. The gunman was immediately killed. He was later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The internet was, of course, soon overrun with speculation, conspiracies, over-the-top rhetoric, and the assignation of blame—most of which demanded that the shooter share responsibility for his evil actions with certain aspects of the media or certain politicians. It’s all a stark reminder of the deep polarization of our politics, and that political violence is something of a constant in American life.
On the ground at the rally, watching the mayhem unfold, was Salena Zito. Salena is a reporter for the Washington Examiner and a contributor to The Free Press. She was standing four feet from the president when the first shots rang out.
Today, we discuss what she witnessed at the rally. We discuss her interactions with President Trump immediately before the shooting, the shooter’s possible motive, what it means for the 2024 election, and more importantly, what it means for the country.
Link to a downloadable copy of the article from the the Real KBrett Stack of Stuff archive:
Last Updated on July 25, 2024 by Real KBrett