Trump promises ‘big and beautiful rally’ in return to Pennsylvania town where he was shot

The former president plans to ‘honor’ rally attendee who was fatally shot and two others who were critically injured

Donald Trump said he plans to hold another rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman fired an AR-15-style rifle at the former president moments after he stepped on stage in the town on July 13.

In an all-caps message on his Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he will be “going back” for “a big and beautiful rally” to honor a rally attendee who was fatally shot and two others who were critically injured during the assassination attempt.

“WHAT A DAY IT WILL BE — FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS,” he wrote.

It is unclear whether Trump will return to the same open-air fairgrounds where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at the former president from a rooftop outside a security perimeter. Secret Service and federal law enforcement officials have repeatedly urged Trump to stop holding campaign rallies outdoors.

Within the last two weeks after the shooting, Trump has instead held rallies at indoor arenas.

Earlier this week, Trump announced a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on July 31, roughly four hours away from Butler.

Donald Trump is surround by Secret Service agents after he was shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. On July 26, he said he plans to hold another rally in the town. (AP)

On July 13, Crooks fired eight rounds within six seconds, killing Corey Comperatore and injuring David Dutch and James Copenhave. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear.

The weapon, which Crooks owned, was initially purchased by Crooks’s father more than a decade ago, according to congressional testimony from FBI director Christopher Wray this week.

Crooks had Google searched details about the assassination of John F Kennedy a week before the attack, and registered for Trump’s rally that same day, Wray said. Crooks visited a shooting range the day before the attack and flew a drone around the area hours before setting up on a nearby rooftop.

Wray had also suggested that there remains some uncertainty whether a bullet or shrapnel struck Trump’s ear. Trump’s physician, Republican congressman Ronny Jackson, said on Friday that there is “absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.” A statement from an FBI spokesperson later clarified that “what struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”

Following the hearing, Trump called on Wray — who Trump appointed to the agency — to resign for “lying to Congress.”

On Friday, Trump said he “fully accepted” the FBI’s latest statement as an “apology” from Wray.

Security failures after the attack have prompted bipartisan calls for law enforcement officials to come before Congress. After she was grilled by House lawmakers on Monday, Secret Service director Kimberly Chealte stepped down.