Former President Donald Trump will return to the site of the first assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the first week of October, according to two sources familiar with Trump’s campaign planning.
Leslie Osche, chair of the Butler County Commissioners, confirmed to CBS Pittsburgh that the second Trump rally will take place on October 5.
The rally will be held at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, where gunman Thomas Crooks shot him, grazing his ear, on July 13. The setup for the upcoming event will likely be similar to that of the July rally.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he would return to Butler. In late July, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he would return to Butler for a “BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY.”
rogue opened fire on Trump from a rooftop about 400 feet from the former president during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler. CBS News Video Analysis noted that the gunman fired eight shots in less than six seconds before being fatally struck by a bullet fired by one of the Secret Service snipers – a fact later confirmed by the FBI. Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore was shot dead at the rally in July and two other participants were seriously injured.
The U.S. Secret Service has placed at least five agents on leave, including the head of the Pittsburgh field office, according to several sources familiar with the matter, while the division’s internal affairs division continues its investigation into the events in Butler.
Since the assassination of Butler, Trump has spoken at his outdoor rallies behind bulletproof glass.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
When asked if he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after the shooting, Trump told CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns that he was not, but that it was “a miracle I wasn’t killed.”
“The answer is, it was very close, an eighth of an inch, and I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. And I think God has a reason for doing things, and his reason may very well be that he wants to save this country, maybe the world,” Trump said.
Recently, the former president has publicly admitted to being nervous. On Sept. 18, at a rally in Uniondale, New York, Trump flinched when it sounded like someone was trying to rush the stage. He mentioned that he had a “mild yip problem,” a type of nervousness or cramping that plagues golfers and baseball players.
“That’s a smart guy coming up there — that guy, I thought, I’m going to get ready,” he said. “I’m going to do it like this. You know, I’ve got a little yip problem here, right? That was unbelievable. I was ready to go.”
Trump’s life was threatened again when a potential assassin discovered by the Secret Service with a high-powered rifle in the bushes near the former president’s golf course in West Palm Beach while he was playing a round of golf.
Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh currently faces two federal firearms charges from the September 15 incident, and federal prosecutors also plan to charge him with attempted murder a political personality.
Pat Milton and Nicole Sganga contributed to this report.
