After a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, 2024 at a rally in Pennsylvania left two people, including the shooter dead, an image taken by photojournalist Evan Vucci has captured the attention of the world.
Bloodied and defiant, Trump can be seen immediately after the shooting in the Instagram from Vucci below, the stars and stripes flying above head, fist raised above his head, despite an army of security guards trying to get him to safety.
The gunman was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who killed audience member Corey Comperatore, 50, injuring two others before being killed by a Secret Service Counter Assault Team sniper.
Many impressive photographs came out of the traumatic day, including one appearing to show the bullet, but the set-up and results of Vucci’s work seem to have risen quickly to be the most iconic image of the day.
Evan Vucci is chief Washington photographer for the Associated Press, and has been covering Trump since his candidacy eight years ago.
In 2021, he was part of the Associated Press team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the aftermath and protests of the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020.
Among Vucci's work was the above photo, taken in 2022 at the White House, in which President Joe Biden speaks before signing two bills aimed at combating fraud in the Covid–19 small business relief programs.
Vucci has also photographed Trump before, during his inauguration in 2017.
Speaking to the Guardian about the recent events he said, “I heard the shots. So I ran to the stage as the Secret Service agents were starting to cover President Trump up. They were coming up on the stage from all different directions, and they were going on top of him. I went to the front, side of the stage and I started photographing everything I could,” says Vucci, who added that this was one of hundreds of rallies like this he has attended.
One user on Twitter, YouTube thumbnail designer David Altizer took to X (formerly Twitter) to praise Vucci’s professionalism during the shooting, allowing him to get the great shot.
“You're in the footage,” he writes, “I love your calm demeanor and seeing your intuition at work. You even check the EVF for framing/exposure and then switch back to the flip screen to give you that extra height needed. The composition wouldn't have been as good if you were slightly to the right like the other photographers.”
You're in the footage. I love your calm demeanor and seeing your intuition at work. You even check the EVF for framing/exposure and then switch back to the flip screen to give you that extra height neededThe composition wouldn't have been as good if you were slightly to the… pic.twitter.com/PEot8HSwQlJuly 14, 2024
In the video above it’s obvious that as the situation becomes clear, more agents arrived and a Swat team.
“I started thinking, OK, what’s going to happen next? Where is he going to go? Where do I need to be? Where do I need to stand? What is going to happen?,” he said to the Guardian,
“The job is all about anticipation,” he added.
Instead of quietly going with the security guards, Vucci witnessed Trump “kind of fighting his way to the front,” lift his fist, and chant “Fight, fight, fight.”
Despite admitting to being “taken aback,” when Trump first raised his fist, there was only one thing running through the mind of the ever-professional Vucci: “Slow down, think, compose. Slow down, think, compose.
“The thing about photography is two people can see the exact same image and have a completely different reaction…the blood on the face, it’s the flag, the raised fist.
“A lot of strong, strong emotions are happening in that image, and I think that’s what people are reacting to.”
These events, aided by this powerful photo, might be enough to win Trump the election in the eyes of many Americans. A soon–to–be historic image complete with stars and stripes of a defiant man surviving an assassination attempt, compared to the recent images of a man with his mouth open.
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