President Joe Biden spoke from the Oval Office on Sunday, a rare presidential address reserved for the most solemn of occasions, calling for Americans to come together and ease political tensions in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Biden’s speech: The president condemned political violence, saying, “Disagreements are inevitable, and American democracy is part of human nature, but politics must never become a literal battlefield or, pray to God, a killing field.” He warned against the normalization of such violence and urged Americans to break out of political silos “where we only listen to those we agree with, where disinformation spreads, and where foreign powers stomp our divisions and engineer outcomes that serve their interests rather than ours.”
Trump’s moves: Former President Trump told Truth Social he initially considered postponing his trip, but plans to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Sunday. Following the assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump flew to Newark, New Jersey, to spend time with his daughter Ivanka at his golf club in Bedminster, sources told CNN. The Secret Service said Sunday it has no plans to increase security for the Republican National Convention and is confident in the plans in place.
What happened at Saturday’s meeting: Trump’s speech at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening began like dozens of others before him. Attendees chanted “USA! USA!” and former President Trump clapped and pointed in the crowd’s faces before taking the podium. About 150 yards north, a gunman climbed onto the roof of a building outside the rally’s security perimeter. The man was carrying an AR-type weapon. Six minutes after former President Trump began speaking, the gunman took aim at Trump and pulled the trigger. Here’s a timeline of events:
The shooter was found: Butler County Sheriff Michael Throop told CNN on Sunday that local police officers saw a shooter on a rooftop during the rally but were unable to respond. Throop said Butler County police officers received a call about a suspicious person outside the rally perimeter and went looking for him. He said the initial call did not indicate that the suspect had a gun.
New research details: The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had no prior contact with the FBI and was not on the agency’s watch or in its database. Investigators are struggling to determine the suspect’s motive. FBI officials said Crooks used an AR-style .556 rifle that was legally purchased by his father. One thing investigators are still trying to determine is how Crooks got access to his father’s firearms. The suspect also had a “rudimentary” explosive device in his car, officials said.
About the culprit: A former classmate and co-worker told CNN he remembers Crooks as “the nicest guy.” The co-worker said Crooks “wasn’t an extremist” and never expressed political views at work. “It’s painful to see all of this going on online because he was a really, really good guy and he did some really bad things and I want to know why he did it,” the co-worker said.
meeting: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday called for the country to “restore civility” and said he has yet to receive a “satisfactory response” from the U.S. Secret Service about “security lapses” at President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
