Donald Trump rally shooting: Here’s a look at previous assassination attempts on the former U.S. President 

Former President Donald Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts, including ricin and firearm threats, leading to arrests and convictions.

At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, former U.S. President Donald Trump became the target of an assassination attempt. The Associated Press (AP) learnt from his campaign representatives that the former U.S. President was doing “fine”. Trump had earlier taken to his social media website to enumerate that a bullet pierced his upper part of the right ear. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he wrote.

Trump rally shooting live updates

Law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20) of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Further, the U.S. Secret Service informed about the shooter having been “neutralised” and is dead. They also informed that one spectator was killed and two were critically injured.  

July 13 was not the first time that the 78-year-old‘s life was under threat. Similar attempts have been made as far as back as in 2016 when he ran for President for the first time.  

In November 2016, a youth was arrested when he tried to wrestle a gun from a police officer at a Trump rally in Las Vegas. He later told investigators about wanting to steal the gun in order to kill the then Presidential candidate. Identified as Micheal Steven Sandford, the 19-year-old British national was immediately arrested. News agency Reuters learnt from court filings that the teenager had been attempting to kill the Presidential candidate for a year. Furthermore, he decided to act upon it now because he “finally felt confident about trying it.” The UK-teen was sentenced to a year in prison.  

A month later, Trump again found himself in a situation albeit this time it was a scare. He had to be rushed off the stage by U.S. Secret Service during a rally in Reno, Nevada after someone in the crowd yelled “gun”. However, the federal agency could not find a weapon. Trump came out later amid loud cheers, stating, “Nobody said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never be stopped, never ever be stopped.” 

Attempts at causing harm to Trump were also prevalent during his stay at the Oval Office. The modus operandi this time around was ricin. As described by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a poisonous substance found naturally in castor beans. If the beans are chewed and swallowed, they release ricin and can cause injury or poison them.