The American presidential candidate was the victim of an assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13, the alleged shooter was shot dead. After the shock, questions about possible security failures are pouring in.
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The day after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, the gunshots left one dead and two seriously injured. The Republican candidate was injured in the ear by one of the shots. As for the assailant, the police identified a 20-year-old man, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as the alleged shooter. He was shot dead by snipers. In Butler, the city that hosted this campaign rally of former US President Donald Trump, candidate for re-election, the residents are stunned.
Butler is a small town of 13,000 people in Pennsylvania, where the huge American flag installed for the meeting still flies. The residents, and especially those present during the assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13, have a hard time understanding what happened. Especially since a father, originally from the town, lost his life there.
John is one of the residents of this “small town” on the scale of the United States. He filmed the whole scene with his phone: he wants to show us the video, on which we can hear several gunshots. “So, there, the guy started shooting 150 yards from his target. He hit President Trump, but there was a huge crowd behind him. : the toll could have been much heavier.”
“Several witnesses told the police and the secret services that there was an armed guy there. But no one did anything, at least checked?”
John, resident of Butler, Pennsylvaniato franceinfo
Butler residents are pointing to security flaws in the campaign rally. They felt unsafe. The first flaw: how did a 20-year-old have time to shoot without being seen by security? “The shooter got on this roof which is right thereJohn points out. Why wasn’t there a sniper on the water tower which is the highest point? We still don’t understand why there was no one.”
Many witnesses also reported to law enforcement that they saw an armed man in the hangar.But why didn’t anyone react at that time?”asks the Butler resident.
All of these questions raised by residents are what a senior White House official has called for to be raised in a detailed investigation into what he calls a “Gross security failure”. This is what comes out the most, on social networks and the country’s continuous news channels. Many experts parade to explain, in other words, what questions the inhabitants of Butler: the security system was permissive, too small, not thought out enough, they denounce, sometimes with a hint of conspiracy. The experts, for their part, point to human failures, the absence of drones to protect the candidate…. So many questions that will be dissected in the investigation requested by the White House.
Americans and the media across the Atlantic are also concerned about the continuation of the presidential campaign, and the violence that accompanies it. Since Saturday, some Republicans have accused both the media and the Democrats of being responsible for this attack. For his part, Donald Trump has launched an appeal for unity to moderate this political climate.