Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt on his life on July 13, 2024 while he was speaking in a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter, a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several rounds of bullets at Trump from the roof of a building nearby. One bullet missed his head by merely half an inch but managed to pierce the upper part of his right ear. Fortunately for him, at the precise moment, he turned his head slightly to the right, thus, the bullet avoided hitting the head. Unfortunately, an audience member in the vicinity was hit and killed while two others were critically injured by stray bullets. The shooter himself was shot and killed by the U.S. Secret Service's counter-sniper team on duty at the time.
Trump now joined the list of past US Presidents who were shot at. Among the list, four were shot and killed while in office. Like Trump, two others were shot at but survived; namely, Theodore Roosevelt who was running for re-election at the time and Ronald Reagan.
Following the assassination attempt, Trump popularity among the voters has increased considerably due in part to the outbreak of sympathy for him.
Trump’s supporters are also being galvanized by his victory at the courts. The US Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2024 that affirmed Trump as President have rights to immunity from prosecution in the case relating to classified documents and files found in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, after he left the White House in 2021.
The above ruling has impact on his other court cases as well. With regards to the “hush money” case in New York where he was convicted on May 30 on 34 felony crimes, and is waiting for sentencing on September 18 by the district Judge Juan Merchan.
President Trump’s lawyers demanded that Juan Merchan recuse himself in the case over conflicts of interest involving his daughter Loren Merchan. Loren Merchan’s political firm, Authentic Campaigns, made tens of millions of dollars off of her father’s case against Trump. The firm does digital campaign work like online fundraising, mobile messaging and web design with Democrat political candidates, including some of Trump’s most outspoken opponents.
Merchan’s daughter business relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris should be seen as more significant now that Harris has replaced President Biden as Trump’s Democrat opponent in the upcoming election on November 5.
In spite of this new development, Judge Juan Merchan had denied Trump’s motion for the judge to step aside. This recent motion filed by Trump’s lawyers was the third attempt. Apparently, the judge has signaled that he intends to sentence Trump to prison on September 18, two days after early voting begins in Pennsylvania.
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