Trump to rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, returning to site of assassination attempt
Former President Donald Trump will return to the site of the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the first week of October, according to two sources familiar with the Trump campaign's planning.
Leslie Osche, chair of the Butler County Commissioners, confirmed to CBS Pittsburgh that the second Trump rally will be on Oct. 5.
The rally will take place at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, where gunman Thomas Crooks shot at him and grazed his ear on July 13. The set-up for the upcoming event is likely to be similar to the July rally.
Trump has repeatedly said he'd return to Butler, writing on his social media platform Truth Social in late July that he was going back to Butler for a "BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY."
Crooks opened fire on Trump from a rooftop roughly 400 feet away from the former president during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler. A CBS News video analysis determined that the gunman fired eight shots in under six seconds before he was fatally struck by a round from one of the Secret Service counter snipers — a fact later confirmed by the FBI. Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore was shot and killed at the July rally, and two other attendees were seriously injured.
U.S. Secret Service has placed at least five agents on leave, including the head of the Pittsburgh field office, while the division's internal affairs department continues its investigation into what happened in Butler, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Since the Butler assassination attempt, Trump has spoken at his outdoor rallies from behind bulletproof glass.
When asked about whether he was suffering from any post-traumatic stress after the shooting, Trump told CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns he was not, but said it was "a miracle that I wasn't killed."
"The answer is, it was a very- it was a very close call, an eighth of an inch, and I wouldn't be talking to you right now. And I think God has a reason for doing things, and his reason might very well be that he wants to save this country, maybe save the world," Trump said.
More recently, the former president has admitted publicly that he's been on edge. On Sept. 18, at a rally in Uniondale, New York, Trump flinched when it sounded as though someone might try to rush the stage. He mentioned he had a "bit of a yip problem," a kind of jitter or spasm that afflicts golfers and baseball players.
"This is a wise guy coming up — this guy, I thought, I'm getting ready," he said. "I'm going like this. You know, I got a little bit of a Yip problem here, right? That was amazing. I was all ready to start duking it out."
Trump's life was threatened again when a would-be assassin was discovered by the Secret Service with a high-powered rifle in the bushes near the former president's West Palm Beach golf course while he was playing a round of golf.
Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh currently faces two federal firearms charges stemming from the Sept. 15 incident, and federal prosecutors also plan to charge him with attempted assassination of a political figure.