Analysis: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump will have a major impact on the presidential election – but exactly how is still up in the air, writes US correspondent Logan Church.
Butler, Pennsylvania loves Donald Trump.
As I drove in to the town this morning, several homes were adorned with Trump campaign flags and trucks had Trump’s name plastered along their sides — it was “Make America Great Again” as far as the eye could see.
It’s a semi-rural, quiet place, just north of Pittsburgh, where the sheer number of American flags is noticeable in a country where American flags are already everywhere.
It’s a beautiful place.
But it will also go down in history as the place where former US President Donald Trump was almost assassinated.
Investigation focused on what motivated 20-year-old Thomas Crooks to fire on the former President. (Source: Breakfast)
There was a sense of almost stunned numbness among locals as I arrived at the police cordon surrounding the showgrounds where Trump held his rally yesterday.
All available space along the side of the road was taken up by news cars, with American and international reporters hiding from the sun under umbrellas while breathlessly reporting the latest developments from the investigation happening behind them. I quickly joined them.
Even from afar, you could see an oversized flag still hanging from two large cranes situated above where Trump was speaking yesterday before the almost-assassin opened fire.
Outside the cordon, I spoke to Todd Gerhart, one of those who was at the rally yesterday and was now waiting to get back in to grab his stuff that he left behind in the rush to get out.
He spoke of the shock he felt when the bullets started flying.
“Probably 25 minutes later [the police] came yelling and screaming at us saying, we need to leave because they found a suspicious package down on the right hand side and the bomb trucks are coming in,” he said.
It comes one day after the former US president survived an assassination attempt. (Source: 1News)
Todd was almost smiling as we talked, but not because he was happy. It was a smile that came from the total incredulity at the situation.
I asked him that journalism question everyone hates but is usually the most pertinent at the time: “How are you feeling?”
“Fear, anger. You feel vulnerable,” he said.
“I mean, you're out in this wide open [space]. There was a gentleman in the crowd that jumped over his family to protect him. He was killed in front of the stage.”
Todd, like so many others here, was deeply concerned about the display of political violence.
“You're just there, out in America, just wanting to support your [candidate]. And I don't know, it's just, you feel vulnerable.”
He would keep going to rallies though, he said.
Big questions ahead of convention
After spending some time in Butler, I left the county and started my journey to Milwaukee, where this year’s Republican National Convention is still going ahead.
Organisers say their plans haven’t changed and they are pressing forward; they want to show a united and strong Republican Party in the face of violence.
But in reality, everything will change.
Some of the biggest questions surrounding the attack such as the identity of the shooter and their motivations remain unclear. (Source: 1News)
Security will be hyper tightened. The upper echelon of Republican political figures was supposed to be in the small city, wandering around and attending events. All of that is being reevaluated.
Meanwhile, the thousands of delegates whose job it is to select a presidential nominee are angry. They want accountability for what happened in Butler. Some are already spouting wild conspiracy theories. What will people do in their anger? Will they unite? Or fight?
Trump was reported to mouth “fight, fight, fight” while he was led away from yesterday’s rally surrounded by Secret Service.
How will that be interpreted?
There had also been plans for anti-Trump protests prior to the attempt on his life – how those manifest remains to be seen.
It all makes for plenty of unanswered questions ahead of one of the biggest political events in the US election calendar.
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