President Donald Trump was on his way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday after surviving an assassination attempt during a rally that turned into a crime scene.
A lone wolf gunman and a retired fire chief who was attending the rally with his family on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, died. Two other men, also attending the rally, were injured.
President Joe Biden condemned the political violence. Trump was at his golf club in New Jersey Sunday when he released a new message on Truth Social.
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“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote.
The Republican National Convention starts on Monday in Milwaukee and Trump still plans to be there.
“I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin,” Trump wrote.
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The gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, had a weapon his father had purchased, according to law enforcement.
The FBI, the lead investigating agency in the case, deployed experts in explosives to investigate bomb-making materials in Crooks’s car and home.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, reported Crooks, 20, who wore military fatigues during the shooting, was not affiliated with any of the U.S. military service branches.
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Reaction to the political violence continued on Sunday, as law enforcement’s effort to answer questions about the security lapses continued.
While on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, said he wants to understand how “someone could get on a roof with a superior position, with a weapon, and attempt to assassinate” Trump.
“It’s just unthinkable, unfathomable,” Turner said. “We need to know, is this a protocol failure? Is this a resources issue? Or is this just a failure of those who were on site that day?”
Local and state leaders joined the cries of condemnation around the nation and the world. Some of Trump’s supporters showed solidarity near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
More reaction to the shooting