The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that if he survived the assassination attempt he suffered on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, it was due to divine intervention.
Trump, who received a bullet impact in his right ear, shared a message on his social network Truth Social this Sunday in which he announced that he will address the nation this week from Wisconsin.
"Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as only God prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will not fear, but instead stand firm in our faith and defiant in the face of evil," expressed.
The former president sent his solidarity to the other victims of the attack. Authorities confirmed that there is one deceased and two critically injured, all three adult men.
"Our love is with the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of the injured and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly murdered," he added.
"At this moment, it is more important than ever that we stay united and show our true character as Americans, staying strong and resolute, and not allowing evil to prevail. I truly love our country, and I love you all, and I hope to be able to speak to our great nation this week from Wisconsin," he concluded.
Trump, 78, flew back to Newark, New Jersey at night. His campaign said he was fine, and aside from the shot to the ear, he had no major injuries.
Security flaws
The assassination attempt on Trump has raised doubts about the supposed inviolability that should characterize the protection system for a figure of his stature.
The attacker, a 20-year-old young man identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot from the rooftop of a building located about 140 meters from the stage where Trump was speaking. After being shot down by Secret Service agents, a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle was found near his body.
A Reuters report stated that law enforcement officials told the press that they have not yet determined a motive for the attack.
The National Public Radio (known by its acronym in English, NPR) revealed that the Secret Service is investigating how someone managed to get close enough to shoot and wound Trump, calling the incident a "monumental failure of one of the agency's main duties."
Crooks fired multiple shots from an "elevated position outside the location of the demonstration," the agency said.
The news agency AP analyzed more than a dozen videos and photos as well as satellite images of the place, which show that the shooter was "surprisingly close" to the stage where Trump was, NPR reported.
The roof was less than 150 meters away from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent shooter could reasonably reach a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which US Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, like the shooter at Trump's rally, is the civilian semiautomatic version of the military M16, as detailed by NPR.
On Saturday night, officials from the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police held a press conference that was not attended by any Secret Service representative.
Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent, expressed that it was "surprising" that the shooter could fire at the stage before being killed.
Two security forces officials told NPR on condition of anonymity that there were members of the sniper team and the counterattack team from the Secret Service at the rally.
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said that his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. He stated that the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of the department's "most vital priorities."
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