A group of loyal supporters of former US President Donald Trump gathered near the venue in Milwaukee where the Republican National Convention will be held to welcome the former president as “a hero” following the attack he suffered in Pennsylvania a day earlier.
The rally took place in a central park in the city, the largest in the state of Wisconsin, before the start of the convention that is to formalize the nomination of Donald Trump as the Republican candidate. The place is under heavy security measures.
“Get well soon,” they wrote on signs
Some fans carried signs with the former president’s face, but others highlighted the phrases: “You are our hero,” “get well soon,” “fight, fight, fight!”, which they showed to encourage the former president after suffering an attempt on his life that left him with an injury to his right ear.
“The president needs to know that he is loved, that we support him and that we will never give up. America’s freedom is worth fighting for,” he told EFE at the event organised by the far-right association Turning Point Action.
When Chris Leslie B. heard what had happened, “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said this woman who also participated in the rally in support of Trump.
“I was hoping that no one would be hurt and unfortunately people were and I just couldn’t believe it. Something like this hasn’t happened here since Reagan (shot and wounded in 1981), there hadn’t been an assassination attempt,” he told the same news agency.
Trump was thinking of delaying his trip
Trump said he had been considering delaying his trip from New Jersey for two days following the attack he suffered on Saturday while holding a rally in Pennsylvania, but ultimately decided to stick with the original plan and travel, he said on his Truth Social network.
“Based on the horrific events of yesterday, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin and the Republican National Convention by two days, but I have just decided that I cannot allow a potential ‘shooter’ or assassin to force a change in the schedule, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 pm TODAY,” he wrote on his social network.
Another participant in the rally in Milwaukee was John Puchner, a singer, teacher and church musician, who last night composed a song after feeling devastated by what had happened.
“When I saw what happened, I felt that the world is full of evil. We all need to pray, Republicans and Democrats, pray for President Biden and for Donald Trump so that we don’t have more violence,” he said.
“We are here because we love our country”
Toby Neuberger attended the rally with his sister, daughter and niece, wearing red caps and T-shirts reading “Make America Great Again,” the slogan of the Republican’s supporters.
“We are here because we love our country. We love the freedom that the United States gives us and we are here to pray, to support Trump and to pray for the family that lost their father yesterday,” he told EFE.
President Joe Biden delivered a message from the Oval Office of the White House, following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, in which he called for national unity.
“In America, we settle our differences at the ballot box. That’s how we do it, at the ballot box, not with bullets,” the president declared.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, any kind of violence, ever, period, no exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to become normalized. The political climate in this country has become very heated. It is time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do so,” he added.
Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old man, identified by authorities as Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire with a rifle, wounding the former president in the right ear, killing a firefighter and injuring more people who were gathered at the event.
The Secret Service shot and killed the attacker, who was standing at a high altitude outside the building. The FBI is investigating the motives that led Crooks to try to assassinate the Republican candidate.
With information from EFE
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