The FBI confirms that former President Donald Trump was struck by a bullet during his assassination attempt earlier this month.
Trump, 78, was struck in the ear during a re-election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. After the shots were fired, agents of the Secret Service shielded the former president down to the ground behind the podium until they confirmed that the shooter was “down.”
Blood on Trump’s upper right ear and face were visible when he emerged from the ground and was shuffled away into a vehicle to be treated for his injuries.
However, the FBI set the record straight in a statement on Friday, confirming a bullet, whole or fragmented, was the cause of his injury.
“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," said the agency, per NPR.
On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress that the agency still wasn’t sure if Trump was hit by a bullet or from shrapnel while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee.
Trump’s former White House physician, Ronny L. Jackson, wrote a statement a week after the attack in which he claimed that the bullet came “less than a quarter of an inch” from entering Trump’s head, calling it “an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed.”
While a motive behind the assassination attempt is still under investigation, details about the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, emerged following the attack.
It was revealed that Crooks had fired eight shots at Trump on July 13, but managed to only graze him once.
Crooks, who graduated high school in 2022 and became a registered Republican on his eighteenth birthday, reportedly didn’t make his school’s varsity rifle team because he was “a comically bad shot.”
A second classmate who chose to remain anonymous said that the coach of the team “expressed concern” over Crook’s behavior.
"You know, obviously, we’re using guns in a school setting, so you need to be very careful in that regard,” said the anonymous classmate, per the New York Post. “He made some crass jokes that weren’t appropriate when there are firearms in the school setting."
Crook’s online search history included several mass shooters, Trump, President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Convention, and members of the British Royal Family. It was revealed that his last search was for pornography.
Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper after he opened fire at the Trump rally. According to USA Today, Two male attendees, aged 57 and 74, were left injured while 50-year-old Corey Comperatore of Sarver, Pennsylvania, did not survive the attack.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump announced on Saturday his intentions to return to outdoor rallies, writing, "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!!!"