Trump returns to the site of the attack in Pennsylvania

Trump narrowly escaped assassination attempts in July and September

Republican officials hope the rally will bolster support in Pennsylvania

Secret Service faced criticism and made security improvements

BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will return Saturday to rural Pennsylvania, where he was nearly assassinated at a rally in the critical battleground state exactly a month before the Nov. 5 election.

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Trump narrowly escaped being shot in the head in Butler by a bullet that whizzed past and left his right ear bleeding, a near miss that exposed serious security lapses for the former president and led to increased security measures for his subsequent outdoor rallies.

In the afternoon, thousands of people wearing Trump regalia filled the venue at the local fairgrounds. Some chanted the slogan “Fight, Fight, Fight,” which Trump used to rally his supporters shortly after he was shot.

As a protective measure, trailers were lined up around the site, blocking, for example, the view of the building where the gunman opened fire.

The crowd cheered as three skydivers with American flags flying swooped down and landed near the building.

July 13 was the first of two assassination attempts on Trump. On September 15, according to prosecutors, a gunman hid undetected for nearly 12 hours at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, intending to kill him, but was thwarted by a U.S. Secret Service agent who ran ahead of Trump on the golf course patrolled.

Republican officials hope Trump’s return to Butler will inspire more support among his supporters and boost turnout for him in Pennsylvania, a state that he and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, view as crucial to victory on Nov. 5 .

“I’m going back to Butler because I feel like I have an obligation to go back to Butler,” Trump told cable news channel NewsNation earlier this week. “We never finished what we were supposed to do.”

Trump will also be joined at the rally by his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, and the family of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was fatally shot in the Trump assassination attempt.

The rally’s introductory speakers focused on the memory of Comperatore.

“We will not allow this tragic day to overshadow the light of our community,” said JD Longo, mayor of the nearby town of Slippery Rock.

An attendee at the July rally, Shane Chesher, 37, said he would return Saturday for what he said was an emotional event.

Chesher said he watched the assassination from a seat on the stage behind Trump and was still processing what happened.

“To be honest, to this day I don’t know if I still understand what we experienced that day,” Chesher said in an interview.

Returning to the website, he said: “It’s going to be spiritual, and I think it’s going to be very emotional, good and bad.”

The Butler shooting led to widespread criticism of the U.S. Secret Service and the resignation of its director.

Critics raised concerns about how 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was subsequently shot by Secret Service agents, was able to gain access to a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to Trump’s speeches.

A Secret Service investigation found communication gaps and a lack of care leading up to the shooting. The agency subsequently approved additional security measures for Trump, including the use of bulletproof glass to protect him at outdoor rallies.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement before Saturday’s rally that there had been “comprehensive changes and improvements to our communications capabilities, resources and protective measures.”

Trump thinks it saved his life when he turned his head to read a chart in a large video. With blood running down his face, he raised his fist and shouted “fight” to his supporters, a vivid image from that day. He wore a white bandage around his injured ear for days after the shooting.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.