Attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, then a former president of the United States and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election, survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who fired eight rounds from an AR-15–style rifle from a nearby building's roof. Crooks also killed an audience member, Corey Comperatore, and critically injured two others. Four seconds after he began firing, a member of the Butler County Emergency Service Unit shot at him and hit Crooks's rifle, preventing him from firing more shots. Twelve seconds later, Crooks was shot and killed by the Counter Sniper Team of the United States Secret Service.

As shots were fired, Trump clasped his ear and took cover behind his lectern, where Secret Service agents shielded him until the shooter was killed. Evan Vucci, a photojournalist for the Associated Press, captured photographs of Trump with blood on his face and ear, pumping his fist in the air. During this, Trump was saying "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as agents escorted him offstage; the images went viral on social media. Trump was taken to a hospital, treated, and released later that day. He made his first public appearance after the shooting two days later at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wearing a bandage on his ear.