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      A Blind Spot and a Lost Trail: How the Gunman Got So Close to Trump

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      About an hour before a gunman let loose a volley of bullets that nearly assassinated a former president, the law enforcement contingent in Butler, Pa., was on the verge of a great policing success.Among the thousands of people streaming in to cheer former President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, local officers spotted one skinny young man acting oddly and notified other law enforcement. The Secret Service, too, was informed, through radio communication. The suspicious man did not appear to have a weapon.Remarkably, law enforcement had found the right man — Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin, though officers did not know that at the time. Then they lost track of him.Twenty minutes before violence erupted, a sniper, from a distance, spotted Mr. Crooks again and took his picture.As time slipped away, at least two local officers were pulled from traffic detail to help search for the man. But the Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting Mr. Trump, did not stop him from taking the stage. Eight minutes after Mr. Trump started to speak, Mr. Crooks fired off bullets that left the Republican presidential nominee bloodied and a rally visitor dead.Secret Service snipers surveilling the surrounding area before Mr. Trump began to speak.Eric Lee/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Un tiroteo conmociona una campaña en EE. UU., ya de por sí accidentada

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      El atentado contra Donald J. Trump fue la última escalada de violencia política y un recordatorio de la creciente fragilidad de la democracia pacífica en Estados Unidos.[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]El intento de asesinato contra Donald Trump del sábado en su mitin en Pensilvania sumió la contienda presidencial de 2024 en un estado de conmoción e incertidumbre.La campaña del presidente Joe Biden se apresuró a retirar sus anuncios de televisión de los medios de todo el país e interrumpió todas las comunicaciones oficiales externas. No habría ningún llamado a recaudar fondos ni comunicados de prensa. Una orden interna de la campaña de Biden pedía a todos los miembros de su personal que “se abstuvieran de hacer comentarios en las redes sociales o en público”, lo mismo dictó un lineamiento interno de la campaña de Trump.Biden, quien estaba la iglesia en el momento del atentado, condenó la violencia como “enfermiza” en un breve discurso a la nación desde un departamento de policía local en Delaware, luego cambió de planes y regresó a la Casa Blanca después de la medianoche. Él y Trump hablaron el sábado a última hora, una llamada que un funcionario de la Casa Blanca describió como “buena, respetuosa y breve”.Trump emitió su propio relato gráfico del momento difícil en una publicación en sus cuentas de redes sociales mientras regresaba a Nueva Jersey antes de la Convención Nacional Republicana que, según las autoridades, continuará como estaba previsto el lunes en Milwaukee: “Oí un zumbido, disparos e inmediatamente sentí la bala desgarrándome la piel”.“¡Nunca me Rendiré!”, escribió Trump en un mensaje de texto a sus seguidores.Sus dos principales asesores, Susie Wiles y Chris LaCivita, escribieron en un mensaje público la noche del sábado que Trump no dejaría de asistir a la convención para reunirse con sus partidarios. Y en un mensaje interno al personal de la campaña de Trump, escribieron que estaban “reforzando la presencia de seguridad armada con oficiales en todo momento en el lugar” tanto en Washington como en West Palm Beach, Florida, en las oficinas de campaña.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Biden Had a Clear Message: Trump Was a Threat. Then the Shooting Happened.

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      Former President Donald J. Trump has gone from being an instigator of political violence to a victim of it. The assassination attempt raised questions about how far language should go in a heated campaign.For months, the message from the White House and Wilmington was as stark as it was simple: This year’s election amounts to an existential choice between a defender of democracy and a destroyer of democracy. Nothing less than the future of America is at stake.And then the bullets started flying.The assassination attempt over the weekend has complicated President Biden’s argument now that former President Donald J. Trump has gone from being a longtime instigator of political violence to a victim of it. Republicans, including Mr. Trump’s newly anointed running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, instantly blamed Mr. Biden, citing his sharp rhetoric.No one in Mr. Biden’s camp thinks that is a good-faith argument, especially from allies of a former president who sent the mob that marauded the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and did nothing to stop its assault, and has now vowed to pardon rioters convicted of violent crimes. But the images of Mr. Trump with blood streaked across his face after being grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet raise the question of how far language should go in a heated campaign.Mr. Biden, who has long preached unity and civility, conceded on Monday that it was “a mistake” to tell supporters a week ago that he wanted to “put Trump in a bull’s-eye,” an expression that was certainly metaphorical but opened the president to criticism after his opponent found himself in literal cross hairs. At the same time, Mr. Biden and his team have made clear that they will not back off efforts to demonstrate that Mr. Trump is a budding dictator who is dangerous to the country.“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Mr. Biden asked Lester Holt of NBC News on Monday during his first interview since the assassination attempt. “Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody? Look, I’m not engaged in that rhetoric. Now, my opponent is engaged in that rhetoric.”Mr. Biden responded to the shooting in Butler, Pa., on Saturday by calling Mr. Trump to express relief that he was not more seriously wounded and urging Americans to “lower the temperature” this campaign season. His campaign suspended television ads and its regular barrage of attack emails.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Assassination Attempt Against Donald Trump

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      What we know about the shooting in Pennsylvania. Authorities have identified the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump yesterday but are still racing to understand what the shooter’s motives were and how he was able to get so close to Trump.The F.B.I. named the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pa., roughly 40 miles from Butler, the small city in western Pennsylvania where the attack occurred. Crooks was a registered Republican, though records show that he had donated money to a liberal voter turnout group in 2021. Here is the latest on Crooks.The attack killed one spectator at the scene and left two others critically injured, officials said. Trump had blood on his face as he was escorted from the stage but was safe this morning.The assassination attempt added a shocking and violent turn to a presidential campaign that had already been more tumultuous than any in decades. In today’s newsletter, we’ll help you understand what we know this morning.What happenedOur colleague Simon Levien was at the rally during the shooting. “Trump had just started to talk about immigration in his stump speech when several shots rang out from the bleachers to his right,” he wrote. “Everyone immediately ducked — myself included.”There were two bursts of fire — first three shots, and then five.Trump put his hand to his ear and then ducked, before Secret Service agents rushed the stage to shield him. As they began to move him offstage, Trump told them to wait and defiantly pumped his fist, with blood on his face, while the crowd chanted, “U.S.A.” (Watch the video here.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More