TGP Photos: Trump Butler, PA Rally Part Two-After | The Gateway Pundit | by Kristinn Taylor


TGP Photos: Trump Butler, PA Rally Part Two-After

by

President Trump took the stage just after 6 p.m. at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. An hour late, but he was in a good mood and so were the tens of thousands who had waited in the 90 degree heat of a sunny summer day.

Only a few attendees on the far left side of the crowd had a sense something was wrong. Everyone else, including Trump, was unaware a gunman had been seen crawling on the roof of a building just outside the fence line stage right soon after Trump had taken the stage to Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A.

A woman on a camera riser partially blocks the view of a jumbo TV screen at the Trump rally in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024.

A few minutes into his speech, Trump called an adlib and asked for a chart on illegal immigration to be posted on the giant TV screens above the bleachers on either side of the stage. The chart appeared and he started explaining it, turning to look at it as he spoke.

Several loud popping noises were heard, then a burst of popping noises and after a long pause, one last pop. All the pops came from the left front from where I stood. At the same time the hydraulic lines in a lift holding up a speaker column blew out, noisily spewing a large plume of fluid. From my vantage point to the right of the stage but about a hundred and thirty feet back, the noise was either gunfire or the hydraulics blowing out, but likely gunfire that caused the hydraulics to blow out. I did not see Trump get hit and go down. Most attendees did not either as the TV screens still had the immigration charts displayed. It’s my belief that not seeing Trump hit and then falling kept the crowd far back from the stage from panicking.

I took video immediately after the gunfire burst stopped. The last shot can be heard in the distance a few seconds in. Most people stayed. There was no stampede even as some made their way to leave. After a minute or so, a loud cheer erupted from the bleachers around the stage followed by chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Word soon got back to those of us in the rear that Trump had stood up, had blood on his right ear and had raised his fist. It appeared he was okay but we couldn’t be sure. We did not know about the others who had been hit and seriously (one fatally) wounded until later.

If I had not been caught in a two-hour traffic backup to get into the rally, I would have been in the press pen at my usual post in the center of the fencing in front snapping close-up photos of Trump and the crowd in the bleachers around him. This video by CBS reporter Olivia Rinaldi was taken where I usually am when covering Trump rallies:

I went forward to talk to witnesses, take photos and document any further attacks (there weren’t any.)

Shortly after President Trump was shot and left the stage, attendees did not flee in a panic at the rally in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
A couple seated close to the stage remained after President Trump was shot and left his rally in Butler, PA, July 23, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Campaign sign on the podium at President Trump’s rally in Butler, PA, was knocked askew when Secret Service agents rushed to protect him during an assassination attempt, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Trump supporters and NBC reporter Dasha Burns appear shocked after Trump assassination attempt at his Butler, PA rally, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Secret Service officers evacuating the bleachers and seated areas following the assassination attempt on President Trump at his Butler, PA rally, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Supporters being evacuated by Secret Service officers from near the stage after the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.

On the press riser from left to right: Alayna Treene, CNN; Dasha Burns, NBC News; Alexis McAdams, Fox News; Brian Glenn, RAV; Rachel Scott, ABC News.

Supporters make their way out of the front seating for the Trump Butler, PA rally after an assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Fox News reporter Alexis McAdams looks out on the scene after an assassination attempt on President Trump at his Butler, PA rally, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
An anguished Trump supporter points the finger of blame at reporters as CNN’s Alayna Treene looks on after an assassination attempt on President Trump during his rally in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Law enforcement officers gather on the roof over the body of the slain would-be Trump assassin at President Trump’s rally in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Law enforcement officers gather on the roof over the body of the slain would-be Trump assassin at President Trump’s rally in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Bleachers and seating for Trump’s Butler, PA rally after being cleared out by police following the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
State Police and a man with blood on his shirt, Rico Elmore, after crime scene tape was set out following the assassination attempt on President Trump at his Butler, PA rally, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.

Rico Elmore, the man with blood on his shirt, spoke at the rally:

Supporters leave after the assassination attempt on President Trump at his Butler, PA rally, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Two SWAT police officers briefly confront a credentialed reporter leaving the Trump rally in Butler, PA, following the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
ABC News reporter Rachel Scott files a report from just outside the scene of the Trump rally in Butler, PA after it was declared a crime scene following the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.

Scott’s report aired on ABC:

Reporters, including Alexis McAdams of Fox News on left, file reports outside the scene of the Trump Butler, PA rally after it was declared a crime scene following the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
A ‘Pray for Trump’ yard sign for sale in merchandise row outside the Trump Butler, PA rally after the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Trump ‘Never Surrender’ merchandise on sale outside the Trump rally in Butler, PA, after an assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
Supporters gather on merchandise row outside the site of the Trump Butler, PA rally after an assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.
The end of merchandise row at the Trump Butler, PA rally after the assassination attempt on President Trump, July 13, 2024, photo by Kristinn Taylor.

President Trump has scheduled an indoor rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan this Saturday–just a week after being wounded on stage by a would-be assassin’s bullet.

Formner President Donald Trump is escorted from Saturday's rally by Secret Service agents.
Formner President Donald Trump is escorted from Saturday’s rally by Secret Service agents. (Forbes Breaking News / YouTube screen shot), July 13, 2024.

Photo of author

Kristinn Taylor
Kristinn Taylor has contributed to The Gateway Pundit for over ten years. Mr. Taylor previously wrote for Breitbart, worked for Judicial Watch and was co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. He studied journalism in high school, visited the Newseum and once met David Brinkley.

You can email Kristinn Taylor here, and read more of Kristinn Taylor’s articles here.

 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Telegram
Tumblr