Expected by his supporters, Republican candidate Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, flying over the site of the assassination attempt of which he was the victim on July 13.
Thousands of people came to listen to the end of a speech interrupted by gunfire a little over three months ago, which cost one person his life.
“I appreciate that he is coming back. He said he would come and finish his speech and for me, that takes guts,” greets Robert Dupain, 53, an employee in the construction sector present on July 13.
“This is what these 50,000 people want,” he adds, about the participants around him, while recognizing a certain “excitement”.
Although no official figures have been given, the crowd is significantly larger than during the July gathering. Supporters galvanized by the rallying cries of Republicans in recent months: “fight, fight, fight!”
– “Push-to-crime” –
On the roofs of buildings around the site, snipers from the Secret Service, the agency responsible for the security of high-ranking officials, are visible and you have to pass under security gates before accessing the site.
As for the building from which the shots were fired in July, it is literally surrounded by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Still, Heather Hughes, 43, from the neighboring town of New Castle, is worried about Mr. Trump.
“I don’t think he’s safe, in my opinion there will be another attempt. But he will get through,” she assures.
On July 13, in the middle of a meeting, a young man shot the former president, injuring him in the ear. He killed a supporter in the stands and injured two others.
The Secret Service had shot the young shooter, Thomas Crooks, 20, perched on the roof of a building a few hundred meters away. The head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, was forced to resign.
In the crowd, a work paid tribute to the victim, Corey Comperatore, represented with his firefighter helmet.
Nearby, a singer hums: “They shot but thank God they missed / It’s time to stop this.”
The July attempt as well as the second attempt against Donald Trump, on his golf course in Florida in September, raised fears that the rest of the campaign and the November election would be marked by violence.
– “the voice of God” –
On Friday, US President Joe Biden expressed his concern at a press conference at the White House: “the things that Trump said last time, when he didn’t like the result of the election, were very dangerous. So I’m worried about what they’re going to do.”
“The Republicans are not violent, I think (the Democrats) are crime-mongers. They keep talking about Hitler and the end of democracy,” replies Glen Scheirer, a retiree who came to the meeting with five close ones.
For him, Thomas Crooks was “psychologically ill” but could have been influenced by the statements pointing out the risk that Donald Trump would present for democracy.
The meeting opened with a tribute, paid on the stage by the mayor of the town near Slippery Rock, Jondavid Longo, to the victims of July 13, the crowd chanting the name of Corey Comperatore.
“We are happy that President Trump is back in Butler,” he said.
A tribute that continued with Doctor James Sweetland, who rushed to Mr Comperatore just after the shots, claiming to have heard a voice say to him: “go help him”.
“I tell you now, it was the voice of God,” Mr. Sweetland said. “An assassin’s shooting should not determine the outcome of our election.”
