Trump says he will continue outdoor rallies with increased Secret Service protection
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday said he will continue to hold outdoor rallies just two weeks after a bullet grazed his ear during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, the former president said:
"I WILL CONTINUE TO DO OUTDOOR RALLIES, AND SECRET SERVICE HAS AGREED TO SUBSTANTIALLY STEP UP THEIR OPERATION. THEY ARE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING SO. NO ONE CAN EVER BE ALLOWED TO STOP OR IMPEDE FREE SPEECH OR GATHERING!!!"
Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler on July 13 when a shooter opened fire from the rooftop of a building overlooking the crowd and the stage. The gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, killed one attendee and wounded two others.
Days later, Trump appeared multiple times at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee the following week with a bandage over the ear.
The FBI said on Friday that a bullet injured the former president.
"What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle," the FBI's Office of Public Affairs said in a statement provided to CBS News.
The statement came after FBI Director Christopher Wray testified earlier this week that there was still "some question" about what grazed Trump's right ear during the assassination attempt.
The Secret Service quickly came under intense scrutiny after the assassination attempt, with questions mounting as to how it could have happened at such a high-profile event. Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her position as director of the U.S. Secret Service after facing pressure from lawmakers who called for her to step down in the wake of the assassination attempt.
Trump is set to hold a rally Saturday night in St. Cloud, Minnesota, this time bringing along his running mate JD Vance. He also plans to speak at a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier in the day.