President Joe Biden delivered a speech in the Oval Office on Sunday — a rare form of presidential remarks reserved for more solemn times — and urged Americans to unite and turn down the heat on politics after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally. campaign in Pennsylvania. .
Here’s what else you need to know:
Biden’s speech: The president condemned political violence and said that “disagreement is inevitable and American democracy is part of human nature, but politics should never be a literal battlefield or, God forbid, a killing field.” He warned against normalizing this violence and called on Americans to come out of their political silos “where we only listen to those we agree with and where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fan the flames of our division to give consistent results. with their interests, not ours.”
Trump’s moves: The former president told Social Truth that he will head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday for the Republican National Convention after initially considering delaying his trip. After the assassination at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump flew to Newark, New Jersey and spent time with his daughter Ivanka at his golf club in Bedminster, sources told CNN. The Secret Service said Sunday it has no plans to strengthen security plans for the RNC, saying it has confidence in the plans that are in place.
What happened at Saturday’s rally: Trump’s speech at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night began as it has at dozens of rallies before — his attendees chanted “USA! USA!” and the former president clapped and gestured to the crowd before taking the podium. About 150 yards to the north, a gunman was climbing to the roof of a building outside the rally’s security perimeter. He was carrying a handgun. AR style. Six minutes into the former president’s speech, the gunman took aim at Trump and pulled the trigger. Here’s a timeline.
The gunman was spotted: A local police officer saw the gunman on a rooftop during the campaign rally but was unable to engage him, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told CNN on Sunday. Slupe said Butler Township officers received calls about a suspicious person outside the perimeter of the rally and sought to locate that person. He said the initial calls that came in did not indicate the suspicious person had a gun.
New investigation details: The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had no prior contact with the FBI and had not previously been on its radar or database. Investigators are trying to understand his motives. Crooks used an AR 556-style rifle legally purchased by his father, FBI officials said, and one of the things investigators are still trying to figure out is how Crooks gained access to his father’s firearm. He also had “rudimentary” explosive devices in his car, an official said.
About the shooter: A former classmate and co-worker told CNN they remember Crooks as “the sweetest guy.” The colleague said Crooks was “not a radical” and never expressed any political views at work. “It’s hard to see everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person who did a really bad thing. And I’d like to know why,” said the colleague.
Congress: House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Sunday for the country to “return to civilization” and said he has yet to receive a “satisfactory response” from the US Secret Service about the “failure of security” at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.