Iran denies conspiracy to avenge general’s death
Chronology of the shooting and assassination at Trump’s rally
A suspected lone gunman opened fire at a rally for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. The shooting is being investigated as an attempted murder.
Iranian government officials on Wednesday vehemently denied “malicious” reports of an alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, saying the Islamic country was seeking a “legal way to bring him to justice” for ordering the killing of an Iranian general in 2020.
The White House confirmed to USA TODAY a report that Trump’s security measures had been beefed up in recent weeks after intelligence showed Iran had plotted his assassination. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said Iran had sought revenge since Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, whom Trump later called “the No. 1 terrorist in the world.”
Trump was speaking to crowds of supporters on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Pennsylvania on Saturday when a gunman opened fire from the roof of a nearby building. Trump’s face was bloodied from a bullet that also appeared to have injured his ear. Secret Service agents dragged Trump off the stage. Trump supporter Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed and two other rally attendees were seriously injured before a sniper fatally shot the gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Authorities have not established any link between Iran and Saturday’s shooting. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Wednesday rejected claims that it was an assassination attempt on Trump, saying the allegations had “malicious political motives and objectives.”
The Iranian UN mission said in a statement that Trump remains a criminal who must be tried and punished for ordering Soleimani’s assassination. “Iran has chosen the legal route to bring him to justice,” the statement said.
A hero, firefighter, Trump supporter: What will the death of Corey Comperatore mean?
Developments:
∎ The gunman’s father called police after the shooting because he was concerned that his son and a gun were missing, three senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. Fox News reported that the family called authorities before the shooting.
∎ Crooks would normally have gone to work on Saturday, but told his boss he needed the day off because he had “something to do,” several police officials told CNN. Crooks told his coworkers he would return to work on Sunday.
∎ The condition of the other two people injured in the shooting, James Copenhaver and David Dutch, was upgraded from critical to serious, Allegheny General Hospital said Wednesday.
∎ A tree near the roof from which the gunman fired may have blocked the view of one of the sniper teams protecting Trump, CBS News reported. Another sniper team firing in a different direction responded to the shots and killed the attacker.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General said Wednesday that it would investigate the Secret Service’s efforts to provide security at the campaign rally where Trump was shot and an attendee was killed. A statement on the agency’s website for “ongoing projects” on counterterrorism and homeland security threats said the goal was to “evaluate the U.S. Secret Service’s process for securing former President Trump’s campaign rally on July 13, 2024.” The Secret Service is under the Department of Homeland Security.
Also on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that a bipartisan House task force would investigate the assassination attempt. He said, “We need answers to these shocking security failures.” President Joe Biden had previously ordered an “independent review” of security measures at the event.
The Secret Service was criticized for failing to stop the gunman from using a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle to get to the roof, 137 meters from the rally. Local police were stationed inside the building, but none were on the roof. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle called the shooting “unacceptable” but said she would not resign.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has subpoenaed Cheatle for a hearing on Monday.
Biden has renewed his call for stricter gun controls after remaining quiet on the issue at the campaign rally immediately after the shooting. In a speech Tuesday at the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas, Biden said it was time to ban assault weapons like the one used to shoot Trump.
Biden responded to numerous gun massacres in recent years by reviving calls for stricter gun laws, including reinstating the assault rifle ban that expired in 2004 and requiring background checks on all gun purchases. But the proposals have repeatedly failed due to opposition from Republicans in Congress.
“An AR-15 was used to shoot Donald Trump, just as assault weapons have killed so many other people, including children. It’s time to ban them,” Biden said to applause from his supporters.
− Joey Garrison
Biden renews call to ban AR-15 rifles: Appeal after Trump’s assassination attempt
Thomas Matthew Crooks wasn’t a former CIA agent with a homemade gun that could pass through metal detectors. He didn’t carry an Uzi or wear a black tuxedo. He wasn’t a professional killer like you see in some movies. Crooks was an isolated Gen Z kid with an associate’s degree who worked a low-paying job and lived with his parents. But in an increasingly online world where digital surveillance is easier than ever, the 20-year-old managed to remain unusually hidden while hatching a plan to assassinate a former U.S. president in just 10 days of planning time—and almost succeeded. Read more here.
“The security deficiencies of law enforcement that day helped make it seem much more sophisticated than it normally would,” said Seamus Hughes, a researcher at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center at the University of Nebraska Omaha. “If they had sent an agent to the roof instead of into the building, it would have turned a very sophisticated attack into a very stupid one.”
− Kenny Jacoby, Kristine Phillips and Christopher Cann
Trump’s potential assassin: Had little time to prepare – and left hardly any traces of the plot
Friends and family of Corey Comperatore will gather Thursday in Freeport, a small town on the Allegheny River, to pay their final respects to the only person killed in Saturday’s tragic campaign rally. The funeral will be held Friday at his longtime church in Butler County. Comperatore was declared a hero after Gov. Josh Shapiro said the former volunteer firefighter jumped to protect his family when the shooting started.
James Sweetland, a doctor from Dubois, Pennsylvania, who was present at the rally, rushed to Comperatore’s aid, but he had been shot in the head above the ear and never regained consciousness.
“Yesterday, time stopped,” his daughter Allyson Comperatore wrote on Facebook. “And when it started again, my family and I began to experience a real nightmare.” Read more here.
− Chris Kenning
Contributors: Tom Vanden Brook
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