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Donald Trump made his first public appearance since an assassination attempt at a campaign rally when he appeared at the Republican National Convention on Monday night.
The former president walked into the Fiserv Forum with a white bandage covering his right ear, grazed by a bullet fired by a gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
Trump’s surprise appearance came just hours after he formally clinched the Republican Party’s presidential nomination and announced Ohio Senator and loyalist JD Vance as his running mate. The former president was spotted in the hallway around 9pm before he walked out to the convention floor and pumped his fist while Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA” from a nearby stage.
Trump shook the hands of far-right media personality Tucker Carlson and a host of others as he made his way to the stands. He stood beside Vance, Carlson, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Congressman Byron Donalds as the crowd chanted “USA” and gave him a standing ovation.
The arena rang out with chants of “fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s words to his supporters in the moments after he was shot during a campaign rally on Saturday.
A 20-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle fired several rounds toward a rally stage in Pennsylvania, nearly killing the former president while he was minutes into his remarks.
Trump initially planned to delay his appearance at the convention until later this week, before he is scheduled to deliver remarks in a closing address to formally accept the party’s nomination.
But on his Truth Social on Sunday, he said he “cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force a change to scheduling, or anything else.” Trump arrived in Wisconsin on Sunday night.
A bullet fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks grazed Trump’s ear, and blood streamed from the former president’s head and streaked across his face as his Secret Service detail swarmed around him.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social on Saturday night. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”
Bomb-making materials were also discovered inside the gunman’s vehicle and at his home. Law enforcement officials have yet to determine a motive, and investigators have not yet discovered any evidence of his social media footprint or writings that indicate whether he was ideologically motivated.
The FBI is investigating the case as an unsuccessful assassination attempt and as an act of domestic terrorism.
Crooks, who is registered as a Republican in voter records, was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper moments after gunfire erupted.
Senior law enforcement officials told CNN that Crooks bought a large amount of ammo from a local gun store shortly before the attack.
The FBI declined to confirm if the report was true but said they “successfully gained access” to Crooks’ phone and will continue to analyze his electronic devices.
“The search of the subject’s residence and vehicle are complete. The FBI has conducted nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement personnel, event attendees, and other witnesses. That work continues,” the FBI said in a statement.
Crooks used a legally purchased, AR-style rifle with 5.56-caliber bullets in the shooting. Federal law enforcement believes that the gun belonged to Crooks’ father.
