‘We Must Never Descend to Violence,’ Biden Says in Address to Nation (2024)

Pinned

Here’s the latest.

The president pledged to continue arguing for another four-year term and said he expects Mr. Trump and his allies to attack his record during the Republican National Convention that begins on Monday. But he urged Americans to step back from a politics of hate and division that leads to violence.

“We debate and disagree,” he said. “We compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the records, the issues, the agenda, the vision for America, but in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box.”

The president’s six-minute speech came as senior F.B.I. officials said on Sunday that agents were investigating the shooting at the rally as a possible domestic terrorism attack and assassination attempt.

The officials said that they had found no indication that the 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pa., was part of any larger plot and that their top priority was determining his motive. The shooting, in Pennsylvania on Saturday, killed one man at the rally, injured Mr. Trump and critically wounded two other people. The shooter was killed by Secret Service snipers.

Mr. Trump said on social media that a bullet had pierced his right ear. He was able to walk off his plane unaided when it landed in New Jersey hours later.

The F.B.I. officials said they had not uncovered evidence that the shooter had mental health issues, and said his phone, rifle and a possible “rudimentary” explosive device found among his possessions had been sent to the bureau’s lab in Quantico, Va. The family was cooperating with the investigation, the F.B.I. said.

The assassination attempt plunged the 2024 presidential race into shock and uncertainty. Mr. Trump was set to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention, beginning in Milwaukee on Monday. His campaign and R.N.C. officials said in a statement that the convention would proceed as planned, and Mr. Trump said early Sunday that he looked forward to speaking to the nation from Wisconsin.

Mr. Trump, who said he planned to travel to Milwaukee Sunday afternoon, vowed to remain “defiant in the face of wickedness.”

Mr. Biden said Sunday afternoon that he had demanded a national security review and promised to share the results with the American people. He also said he had directed the Secret Service to review security arrangements for the Republican convention and pledged that the Secret Service would give Mr. Trump “every resource capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.”

“We must unite as one nation,” Mr. Biden said. “We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are.”

Here’s what we know:

• Biden’s plans: Mr. Biden still plans to sit for a previously scheduled interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday, and to travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday for an official — not campaign — speech at an N.A.A.C.P. convention.

• The victims: The spectator killed at the Trump rally was Corey Comperatore, said Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. He was 50, according to a post on Facebook by Mr. Comperatore’s sister. The two other victims, who remained hospitalized on Sunday, were David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pa., and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pa.

• Rally security: There were four counter-sniper teams covering the rally, two from the Secret Service and two from local police agencies, the Secret Service’s spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, said. The building where the gunman fired from was outside of the rally’s designated perimeter, he said, so it was secured by local law enforcement officers. Mr. Guglielmi said that before the shooting occurred, civilians reported spotting someone suspicious to the local police, and quickly thereafter the man opened fire. A Secret Service counter sniper saw the gunman after he started shooting and fired at him, killing him, Mr. Guglielmi said.

• The gun: F.B.I. officials confirmed that the gunman’s father had purchased the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle found near his body — a type of weapon common to many mass shootings — but said that it was not clear if the father gave the weapon to his son or whether it was taken without permission. A New York Times analysis of videos from the event suggests that the gunman fired eight shots from a small building a few hundred feet from the stage where Mr. Trump was speaking.

• The response: The shooting recalled assassinations that roiled U.S. presidential campaigns in the 1960s and early 1970s. It prompted condemnations from President Biden, other world leaders and politicians from both major U.S. political parties — along with a flood of unsubstantiated claims on social media. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said it would investigate and asked Kimberly A. Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, to testify on July 22. Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, issued a statement calling the shooter a “monster” and urging Americans to remember their commonalities, saying, “Beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together.”

• Firsthand accounts: New York Times journalists were at the rally. A reporter and a photographer each described their experience. One image by the photographer, Doug Mills, appeared to capture a bullet streaking past Mr. Trump’s head.

• Campaign security: Mr. Trump’s campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, sent a memo to staff members telling them to avoid their offices while they were being assessed for security. In the memo, which was viewed by The New York Times, they urged staff not to comment publicly on the shooting and said they “will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media.”

Mike Ives contributed reporting.

The bureau confirmed that a second “suspicious device” was found during a search of the gunman's house, in addition to the one found in his car. It was “rendered safe by bomb technicians” and is being evaluated by F.B.I. technicians at a laboratory in Quantico, Va., officials said.

“I can confirm that Mr. Crooks was a member of Clairton Sportsmen’s Club,” said a statement released by the club’s legal counsel, Robert Bootay. “Beyond that, the Club is unable to make any additional commentary in relation to this matter in light of pending law enforcement investigations. Obviously, the Club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred yesterday. The Club also offers its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former President.”

Here’s what we know so far about the shooting victims.

As more details began to emerge on Sunday, tributes and prayers for the victims and their families were pouring in, including from officials such as Mayor Ed Gainey of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro.

Steve Bicehouse, director of emergency services for Butler County, said that he had set up set up a “portable hospital” with four of his staff members and about 30 medical professionals. Mr. Bicehouse said that he was not aware of any other shooting-related victims at the rally besides Mr. Trump and the three attendees.

Here’s what we know so far about the victims.

Corey Comperatore

Corey Comperatore, 50, was fatally shot in the head after he dove to shield family members who had accompanied him to the rally, according to the governor.

Governor Shapiro said on Sunday that Mr. Comperatore “died a hero,” adding: “Corey was the very best of us.”

Mr. Comperatore was a father of two from Sarver, Pa., worked at a plastic manufacturing company and loved fishing. He spent several years as a volunteer firefighter, at one point serving as the chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. He attended nearby Cabot Church, where he was selected as a future trustee in 2021, helping oversee issues like church property and insurance.

In interviews, friends and neighbors described him as a “good man,” dedicated to his wife and two daughters and to his service as a firefighter.

Kip Johnston, the current chief of the fire company, said that Mr. Comperatore was his chief for about three years. “He was a great leader,” he said. “You couldn’t meet a more humble guy.”

A neighbor, Matt Achilles, recalled when Mr. Comperatore asked if there was anyone in need for him to donate a Christmas ham. Mr. Comperatore gave one to a single mother with five children.

David Dutch

David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pa., has been working at Siemens for decades, according to Jennifer Veri-Grazier, his sister. He served in the Marine Corps and was a leader in his local chapter of the Marine Corps League, a service and advocacy organization, according to a news release.

“Our immediate support continues for David and his family as he continues his recovery from this attack,” said Warren Griffin, national commandant and chief executive officer of the Marine Corps League, in the statement. “We offer solace for David and his family along with eternal thoughts and prayers for all the victims of this tragedy.”

Mr. Dutch has been a longtime Trump supporter, along with other members of his family, Ms. Veri-Grazier said. She saw a picture of her brother before he headed out on Saturday, wearing a flag dress shirt and sunglasses. He seemed “ecstatic,” she said.

Now, he is hospitalized with damage to his liver and broken ribs, awaiting another surgery, she said.

“He was exercising his rights and went to the rally, and he didn’t deserve any of this,” Ms. Veri-Grazier said.

James Copenhaver

Mr. Copenhaver, 74, is from Moon Township, Pa. Records showed that he was registered as a Democrat. He is married with at least one son and plays in a band, according to his friends.

Larry Wheeler, who went to high school with Mr. Copenhaver, said that just last week they talked about Mr. Trump — though Mr. Wheeler said he didn’t know that Mr. Copenhaver would be going to the rally.

Mr. Trump was talking about immigration when gunshots first rang out. Alicia Rath, a rally attendee, said that she had crawled over to help Mr. Copenhaver, who was lying high up on the bleachers to Mr. Trump’s left.

Ms. Rath, 45, from Valencia, Pa., noticed that he had been shot in the abdomen and was breathing abnormally.

“Hi, what’s your name?” Ms. Rath recalled asking.

“Jim,” Mr. Copenhaver replied.

“Jim, I’m going to pray for you,” Ms. Rath said. She said she did so until two officers came to get him.

Albert Quaye, a supervisor in Moon Township, said he first met Mr. Copenhaver a few years ago at a local board of supervisors meeting, which Mr. Copenhaver had attended to share concerns about a development project near his home. He seemed to catch the local politics bug then and kept returning to meetings, Mr. Quaye said. “He would be there sometimes with us through late-night meetings,” he said.

Mr. Copenhaver was retired, according to Mr. Quaye. Mr. Copenhaver worked at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board from 1988, when he started as a clerk, until 2009, according to Shawn Kelly, a spokesman for the board. Mr. Copenhaver retired as general manager of the state-operated liquor store in Aliquippa, Pa., about 10 miles north of Moon Township.

Joseph Palombo, now the general manager at the store where Mr. Copenhaver had held the same position, said they occasionally worked together years ago. He said that Mr. Copenhaver loved music and was in a band. “He used to always tell me to come check them out,” Mr. Palombo said. “I never did.”

Mr. Quaye said he was optimistic about his friend’s prognosis. “Jim’s a healthy 74,” he said.

Christina Morales and Brian Conway contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

Republicans place the shooting in Trump’s narrative of persecution.

“They’re not coming after me,” he declared at the first rally of his 2024 campaign, last year in Waco, Texas. “They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way.”

In the hours after the shooting — before the gunman’s name, much less a motive, was known — many Republican politicians and Trump supporters blamed Democrats and the news media. They pointed to portrayals of Mr. Trump as an authoritarian and anti-democratic force in politics, which they argued created a climate that made an attempt on his life inevitable.

“Dems and their friends in the media knew exactly what they were doing” in comparing Mr. Trump to Hitler, Donald Trump Jr. wrote on Sunday in one of several accusatory posts on X about his father’s shooting.

Others pointed to President Biden’s remarks on a call with donors last week in which he said, “It’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.” Citing the speech, Mike Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia, wrote on X: “Joe Biden sent the orders.”

Accusations blaming political rhetoric for violence have been leveled by Republicans and Democrats alike after other shootings of politicians, such as former Representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011 and Steve Scalise, now the House majority leader, in 2017 in Washington. Throughout the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has been criticized himself for accusing Mr. Biden of “treason” and “conspiracy to overthrow democracy.” Similar statements are ubiquitous among his supporters online and at political events.

In a memo to aides on Sunday morning, Mr. Trump’s top advisers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, told their campaign staff “we will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media.”

Still, many Trump allies, including Mr. LaCivita, in a post he has since removed, portrayed the assassination attempt more specifically as the culmination of a plot to stop Mr. Trump’s return to the presidency at all costs, echoing claims that Mr. Trump has made central to his presidential campaign.

Since he began campaigning in earnest in March of last year, days before his indictment in New York in the first of several criminal cases he has since faced, Mr. Trump has depicted his impeachments, investigations, prosecutions and social media bans as a coordinated scheme.

Mr. Trump had no hard evidence for the claims, but many suspects: Democrats, Trump-resistant Republicans, media and tech companies, partisan-minded prosecutors and government bureaucrats were all working together, he would suggest, to stop him from returning to office.

Allies quickly claimed the assassination attempt as the next logical step, and in some cases hinted that the same forces — the “they” so often invoked in Mr. Trump’s speeches — were responsible.

“They tried to silence him. They tried to jail him. Now they’ve tried to kill him,” John James, a Republican congressman from Michigan, wrote on X.

There is no indication yet that the gunman, Thomas Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., saw his actions in such terms.

Mr. Crooks, 20, who was killed by Secret Service agents shortly after firing at the stage, was a registered Republican, but he had also made a small donation to a liberal political organization in 2021. No other information has yet emerged clarifying his political views or suggesting what prompted him to act.

In the history of assassination attempts on American presidents and presidential candidates, the shooters’ avowed motives for their actions have varied widely, from the radically ideological to the largely apolitical.

But the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life takes place in a race where both candidates have cast their rivals as an existential threat to the integrity of the nation — although Mr. Trump has used more apocalyptic terms, calling the election “our final battle.” And Mr. Trump’s bid is unique among modern major party campaigns in the extent to which it has been focused on the forces that he claims seek to undermine his candidacy.

He has placed his own investigations and prosecutions in the context of earlier clashes with the federal government that resonate on the right. He opened his campaign in Waco, Texas, the site of the Branch Davidian sect’s 1993 standoff with federal agents, in which dozens of members of the group were killed.

At a Las Vegas rally last month, he described the supporters arrested and charged in relation to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol as “warriors,” and throughout the primaries opened his rallies with a recording of the so-called Jan. 6 choir, a group composed of rioters serving time or awaiting trial in the Washington jail.

And he has suggested that Democrats will stop at nothing to keep him from winning. “Our opponents are showing every day that they hate democracy,” he told a crowd in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in November. “They’re trying every illegal move they can to try and steal this election because they know that in a free and fair fight against President Trump and crooked Joe Biden, Biden doesn’t have a shot.”

It is a message that had echoed on the right since the shooting Saturday, as prominent figures used social media to blame the same people for the attack.

“They tried to bankrupt him,” Ben Carson, the former Housing secretary, wrote on X. “They tried to slander him. They tried to imprison him. Now they have tried to kill him, but If God is protecting him, they will never succeed.”

“If you see unproductive words designed to tear us apart, call them out, no matter who they come from,” Whitmer urged. “Hold each other accountable, even in our own party. Let’s show our kids that the nation they will inherit is one worthy of their love.”

Biden puts the shooting in the pantheon of political violence, including the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the assault of Nancy Pelosi’s husband and the kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, to make the point that this is a continuum, and one leading the country to a dangerous place.

The president then says the assassination attempt on his predecessor, Donald Trump, underscores that need.

How will the R.N.C. change after the Trump assassination attempt?

But the campaign officials’ unease and concern about overheated rhetoric reflects how profoundly the political landscape has been altered in the immediate aftermath of the shooting on Saturday.

But while Mr. Trump and his campaign have said publicly that the convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee, will proceed as planned, the shooting has created a new frame for what was already a volatile presidential race that will doubtless be reflected in the convention’s programming, speeches and tone.

Just hours after the shooting, Mr. Trump and his campaign staff made clear that the convention would proceed and that the former president would attend in person to formally receive the Republican presidential nomination.

“Business as usual,” Danielle Alvarez, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said when asked about the plan for the week. Chris LaCivita, one of Mr. Trump’s top advisers, said the shooting “changes nothing” for the convention.

And in a social media post on Sunday announcing his plans to travel to Milwaukee, Mr. Trump wrote, “I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”

One reason that the speeches reviewed by campaign staff were seen as suitable was that “unity” was always intended to be one of the convention’s themes, the two people briefed on the matter said.

The initial focus originally was about party unity, and coalescing support behind Mr. Trump and his platform after a primary season that exposed some divisions. But after the shooting at the rally, the convention is likely to emphasize national unity heavily.

To reinforce the point, Nikki Haley — the former governor of South Carolina who was Mr. Trump’s longest-lasting primary competitor — has been slotted in as a speaker on Tuesday, the campaign announced Sunday.

A person familiar with the planning said that the Trump campaign reached out to Ms. Haley on Thursday morning, and the details of her participation were confirmed on Saturday morning, before the shooting.

Still, much of the convention will remain focused on criticizing President Biden and Democrats. Organizers have set themes for each day that largely mirror lines of attack that Mr. Trump has made central to this year’s campaign, including a day focused on Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy (“Make America Wealthy Once Again”) and another attacking his policies on the border (“Make America Safe Once Again.”)

The security procedures will also be under deep scrutiny given concerns over how a gunman managed to fire shots toward Mr. Trump on Saturday.

The Secret Service had already planned to provide additional uniformed and plainclothes law enforcement officers from state and local agencies, and a security zone around the main spaces where the convention will take place will require credentials and screenings to enter.

At a news conference in Milwaukee, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the event’s coordinator for the Secret Service, said that the agency was “not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans.”

Jonathan Swan, Shane Goldmacher and Julie Bosman contributed reporting.

BlackRock removes an ad from 2022 that included images of the gunman.

Mr. Crooks, 20, was killed by Secret Service agents on Saturday after he fired a semiautomatic rifle at Mr. Trump during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pa. One spectator was killed, and two others critically injured. The authorities have not yet determined a motive.

BlackRock confirmed in a statement on Sunday that its advertisem*nt included images of Mr. Crooks.

“In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks,” the company said. “We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims.”

The company called the attempted assassination “abhorrent,” adding, “BlackRock strongly condemns political violence of any kind and will do our part to promote civility and unity in the country.”

The advertisem*nt, titled “AP and Honors Economics,” was part of a series of television and online ads, begun in the fall of 2022, that BlackRock hoped would explain the company’s work to the broader public.

The ad campaign was introduced after BlackRock faced criticism from Republican state officials for investing with environmental, social and governance, or E.S.G., goals in mind. Another commercial featured a firefighter in Florida.

The ad set at Bethel Park High School included an onscreen graphic promoting BlackRock’s oversight of retirement plan assets for public school teachers. It concluded with a slogan, “Invested in the Future of Americans.”

The Secret Service fears overreacting to unfounded bystander reports, former agents say.

Mr. Gage said that in his experience protecting President Barack Obama, bystander reports were often unfounded. A group of men in camouflage spotted near Martha’s Vineyard turned out to be paintball players, and a sniper in India turned out to be a police officer. The events were never disrupted.

He said he felt that there should have been more counter-sniper teams in place at Mr. Trump’s event.

“Should there have been more C.S. teams there? There absolutely should have,” said Mr. Gage, who is now at Safe Haven Security Group.

Jeffrey James, a 22-year veteran of the Secret Service, said he felt that the team around Mr. Trump had done a good job of covering him up with their bodies after the shots were fired. But he faulted what happened next: They allowed Mr. Trump to linger onstage as he asked for his shoes and pumped his fist at the crowd.

“If that’s me there, no. We are going, and we are going now,” said Mr. James, who retired in 2018 and is now the chief of police at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. “If it’s me, I’m buying him a new pair of shoes.”

Mr. James said that counter-sniper teams are trained to shoot from 1,000 yards away, and typically scan an area that wide at an event. He said that may have been one reason that they were slow to detect the gunman: He got so close that he was in an area snipers do not watch as closely, believing that it would be watched by others on foot.

“As a sniper, you’re not expecting anybody to be that close,” Mr. James said.

The gunman appears to have acted alone, but his motives remain unclear.

F.B.I. officials confirmed that the gunman’s father had legally purchased the AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting. But they said it was not clear whether the father gave his son the weapon or whether he took it without permission.

Kevin Rojek, the F.B.I. special agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said the family was cooperating with the investigation.

Dozens of federal investigators scrambled to determine why the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., climbed atop a nearby building and squeezed off a volley of shots on Saturday evening that injured Mr. Trump, killed a man attending the rally with his family and left two other people at the site critically injured before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

F.B.I. officials said Mr. Crooks did not have a history of mental illness or criminal activity.

He does not appear to have left behind any written statement that could easily explain his motivations or provide clues to any external connections or influences, according to a senior law enforcement official.

Records show that Mr. Crooks registered to vote as a Republican but that he also donated $15 to a group allied with Democrats. But little else is known about Mr. Crooks, a nursing home employee with glasses and long hair who has been described by former classmates as intelligent and unassuming.

He had an engineering degree from a nearby community college. He liked to play chess and video games and was learning how to code. Unlike most other people of his generation, he seemed to have a minimal presence online, leaving no telltale trail of public comments or social media posts, according to a review of his online activities by officials.

The shooting is being investigated as both an attempted assassination and an episode of domestic terrorism, officials said.

While the bureau and investigators with the Justice Department’s national security division have found no evidence that the shooting was part of a larger plot or connected to any foreign forces, a senior U.S. law enforcement official cautioned that investigators were in “uncharted territory” and said they would not rule out any possibilities until they had scrubbed Mr. Crooks’s devices and interviewed witnesses.

“At this time, the information that we have indicates that the shooter acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns at present,” Mr. Rojek said in a conference call with reporters on Sunday.

“We have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we’re still very early in this investigation,” he added.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said on Sunday that they planned to be transparent and timely in providing updated information about the investigation because of its political significance and to counter misinformation already circulating on social media, including fake accounts purporting to come from Mr. Crooks.

“I want to reiterate that the violence that we saw yesterday is an attack on our democracy itself,” Mr. Garland said, echoing language he has used to describe the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

“As Americans we must have no tolerance for it,” he added. “This must stop.”

Mr. Wray said his investigators would “leave no stone unturned.”

Mr. Garland and Mr. Wray are leading the investigation after years in which Mr. Trump and his allies have accused the Justice Department and the bureau of being deeply biased against him — and at a time when federal prosecutors are pursuing two criminal cases against the former president.

Investigators were hoping that Mr. Crooks’s cellphone could provide information about his motives, beliefs and connections. F.B.I. officials in Pennsylvania were not able to break into the device and have shipped it to the bureau’s lab in Quantico, Va., where they hope to quickly overcome its password protection, Mr. Rojek said.

They have had limited access to some of his text messages, he said, but they have provided little insight into his motivations or beliefs. The explosive materials and the rifle were also sent to Quantico for study.

Dozens of federal investigators, working at a breakneck pace, are trying to develop a clearer picture of a young man who not only had little social media presence but also carried no identification on him at the time of the shooting and placed explosive devices in his car, impeding investigators, according to the F.B.I.

The F.B.I., which has received 2,000 tips in the case, is focused on tracking Mr. Crooks’s movements in the hours, days and weeks before the shooting. They have deployed a team on the ground to process physical evidence, and technical specialists to analyze fingerprints, DNA evidence, ammunition casings and digital devices.

Dozens of agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with prosecutors from three U.S. attorneys’ offices in Pennsylvania, executed warrants and interviewed witnesses in an all-hands dragnet that included several other federal and local law enforcement agencies.

Secret Service officials and leaders in Milwaukee offer reassurances on Republican convention security.

The city is now facing even more scrutiny in the wake of an assassination attempt Saturday night against former President Donald J. Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. On Sunday, Milwaukee officials and the U.S. Secret Service spent the eve of the convention scrambling to reassure the public that the event would be safe, as delegates began arriving and thousands of protesters prepared to gather on Monday in a large demonstration near the convention site.

Even as workers this weekend were erecting fences, posting shiny signs and adding final touches as the first of 50,000 people descended on the city, party and local officials met to re-evaluate security plans.

At a news conference in Milwaukee, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the R.N.C. coordinator for the Secret Service, said that the agency was “ready to go” for the convention on Monday.

“We’re not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans for this event,” she said.

Omar Flores, a leader of the Coalition to March on the R.N.C., said at a news conference on Sunday that the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump should not affect the group’s plan to hold a rally and march on Monday aimed at conveying their views to the Republican delegates. It was expected to draw as many as 5,000 left-leaning protesters.

There is some uncertainty about how close to the Republicans’ meeting protesters will be allowed to march, as a dispute over that question has simmered for weeks. Mr. Flores said that his group intended to come “within sight and sound” of the Fiserv Forum, the main convention hall. “We have not had safety issues at any of our several marches or events, and we look forward to our family-friendly march tomorrow,” Mr. Flores said.

Others said they were wary of the unknowns: whether any last-minute security changes should be implemented and whether the event could be truly secure after the Pennsylvania rally shooting.

A primary concern for some Milwaukee leaders is the fact that while weapons are banned from the convention center and security checks are expected to be extensive, pedestrians not far from the center will not be prohibited from carrying firearms.

Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents downtown Milwaukee, has objected to the policy for months and attempted to pass a city ordinance to ban firearms near the convention site. But the ordinance did not pass, to the frustration of Mr. Bauman and others.

The city is prevented from regulating firearms beyond state law, officials said.

Mr. Bauman, who is, like many leaders in Milwaukee, a Democrat, said it seemed unwise to allow weapons so close to the convention site, particularly in light of the shooting in Pennsylvania.

“Guns are fully allowed and it was discussed and argued over,” he said on Sunday. “I think it’s very dangerous and creates a very volatile situation, especially if you have groups with conflicting ideology.”

But Brian Schimming, the Wisconsin Republican Party chairman, told reporters on Sunday morning that “everything for the convention is going on as planned” and that he was “not concerned about security.”

“The plans have not changed,” he said. “We are all praying and thinking about the victims. And we will have a convention very, very focused, moving towards the future of this country with Donald Trump.”

He said that delegates did not seem overly concerned about security issues at the convention.

“There are always questions,” Mr. Schimming said. “You know, people are concerned about the situation in Pennsylvania, as we all should be. But I will tell you, in terms of Milwaukee here, there don’t seem to be major concerns.”

One delegate, Jodi Schwartz, 50, arrived downtown Sunday morning after flying to Milwaukee from her home in Palm Beach County, Fla.

“It was a horrifying feeling to see it happening,” Ms. Schwartz said of the shooting in Pennsylvania.

The shooting has not dampened her enthusiasm for the Republican meeting, she added, and did not give her second thoughts about her own safety in Milwaukee.

“I feel very confident that the city is going to take care of us,” she said.

Law enforcement officials in Wisconsin have said they would allow protests as long as they remained peaceful and orderly. Milwaukee officials say that some 4,500 law enforcement officers will travel to the city to assist local authorities, a common practice for cities hosting large-scale events.

Chief Jeffrey B. Norman of the Milwaukee Police Department said that the public should have confidence in the security arrangements because of the long-range planning; the federal, state and local agencies involved; and the funding of $75 million from the federal government.

“I want to reassure not only those involved in the convention but those in our city,” Chief Norman said. “We got this. We got this.”

City and convention leaders have touted the event as an economic boost and a chance for Milwaukee to sparkle in the national spotlight, despite questions over the city’s ability to pull off a nationally televised four-day party.

Logistical challenges have been embedded from the start of the planning: The immediate convention area includes about 6,200 hotel rooms, meaning that thousands of conventiongoers will need to ride to hotels beyond downtown. Milwaukee residents say they fear that downtown traffic, which can be an issue even on a normal day, is sure to get snarled amid all the visitors and security perimeters.

But Milwaukee, where some residents say they have grown accustomed to being underestimated, has hosted plenty of sizable gatherings, some noted, pointing to the Harley-Davidson Homecoming, which is likely to see more than 100,000 people rumbling into town.

“We have our fair share of large conventions, just not ones that are televised,” said Peggy Williams-Smith, chief executive of Visit Milwaukee, which helped bring the Republicans to town. As it happens, the city also has drawn more national note recently, with political strategists focused on Wisconsin’s role as a key battleground in this year’s elections, and with “Top Chef,” the popular cooking show, set in Wisconsin this season.

In a way, Milwaukee has been gearing up to host a national political convention since 2019. That was the year the city was picked as the site of the Democratic National Convention, and city leaders soon began preparing for — and investing in — improvements to ready the place for delegates. In the end, though, Covid turned that convention into an almost entirely virtual event, and Milwaukee was left without much to show for it.

So when the chance to host the Republicans arose in 2024, leaders in Milwaukee agreed. Not everyone in Milwaukee was eager to host the Republicans — Mr. Biden carried Milwaukee County by 40 percentage points in 2020 — but local leaders, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson, are eager to reap the economic rewards and national attention for which they prepared four years earlier.

Robert Chiarito and Mitch Smith contributed reporting.

Republicans attacked Democrats whose bill could strip Trump of protection.

In a social media post early Sunday morning, Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, wrote that “if Democrats got their way, my dad would be dead right now.”

Mr. Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony charges, and is set to be sentenced in September. If Mr. Thompson’s bill were to be taken up and enacted — an exceedingly remote possibility given that Republicans control the House — the former president could lose his protective detail, depending on the nature and length of his sentence.

However, the bill, which was introduced in April and cosponsored by eight Democrats, has not gone anywhere in the House.

Supporters have defended it in the hours since the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, saying that the bill was intended to simply resolve a technical issue about which law enforcement organization would have jurisdiction for the protection of a former president who was sentenced to prison.

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, a co-sponsor, said the bill merely clarified that if a person entitled to Secret Service protection were sentenced to at least one year behind bars, prison authorities would be responsible for protecting them.

“The bill would resolve a technical issue over conflicting authority in the event anyone who receives USSS protection is sent to jail,” she said in a social media post responding to criticism over her support of the bill, using the acronym for the United States Secret Service, which protects presidents, former presidents and presidential nominees.

Immediately following Saturday’s shooting, Representatives Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, and Mike Lawler, a Republican — both of New York — said they planned to introduce a bill that would enhance Secret Service protection for both President Biden and Mr. Trump. The bill also would provide Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate who last year said he was denied a request for protection.

The Secret Service protects major candidates for president, but it is up to the homeland security secretary, in consultation with top members of Congress, to determine who qualifies as a “major candidate.” The criteria include several factors, including an assessment of the seriousness of the threats they have received and whether they have polled at 15 percent or higher for at least 30 days in national surveys.

“Last night’s attempted assassination of former President Trump was a dark moment in our nation’s history,” Mr. Torres and Mr. Lawler said in a joint statement. “As reports continue to emerge, it’s clear that more protection is needed for all major candidates for president.”

Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.

A Democratic U.S. representative fires an aide who posted that she wished Trump’s assassin had better aim.

Those who saw the post quickly condemned it before it was deleted.

“I call upon Congressman Bennie Thompson to immediately fire Jacqueline Marsaw,” Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann wrote on social media.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Thompson said he did just that.

“I was made aware of a post made by a staff member and she is no longer in my employment,” Mr. Thompson said.

Mr. Thompson chaired the special House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, which investigated Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. On Saturday evening, shortly after the assassination attempt, the Mississippi Democrat condemned the violence directed at Mr. Trump.

“There is no room in American democracy for political violence. I am grateful for law enforcement’s fast response to this incident,” Mr. Thompson wrote on social media. “I am glad the former President is safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.”

Ms. Marsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cheatle defended the response of the Secret Service, which has come under intense scrutiny. "I am proud of those involved,” she wrote. But her memo did not directly address questions about the agency's preparation and planning. “In the coming days, the Secret Service will face praise and criticism," she wrote. "Do not get distracted by those who were not there and yet still pass judgment.”

A Democratic donor draws Republican ire over a ‘martyr’ comment about Trump days before the attack.

That report yielded a chorus of condemnations after the attack on Mr. Trump, as his allies drew attention to several comments from Democrats, including some from President Biden, that used what the right views as violent rhetoric against Mr. Trump. One person who drew attention to Mr. Hoffman’s comments was Elon Musk — a close friend of Mr. Hoffman’s since their days together at PayPal — who has been increasingly sending his ire online toward Mr. Hoffman.

Mr. Hoffman said on Sunday that his conference remarks had been taken out of context and offered a clarification.

“At a recent business conference, Peter Thiel said that my lawsuit work against Trump was ‘turning a clown into a martyr.’ In that context, I replied that I wished that Trump would martyr himself — meaning let himself be held accountable — for his assaults on and lies about women,” Mr. Hoffman said. “Of course I meant nothing about any sort of physical harm or violence, which I categorically deplore. I meant and mean accountability to the rule of law.”

Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Thiel and Mr. Musk are known in Silicon Valley to be provocative communicators. Mr. Hoffman’s top political aide, Dmitri Mehlhorn, drew some scrutiny on his own on Saturday when he sent an email to several reporters encouraging them to consider the possibility, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, that it had been possibly staged, an idea that there is no evidence to support. Mr. Mehlhorn on Sunday apologized for the note and endorsed Mr. Hoffman’s public position.

Kate Kelly contributed reporting.