Trump was indeed struck by bullet, confirms FBI
July 27, 2024 08:42
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday confirmed that former United States president Donald Trump was indeed struck with a bullet in the ear during an assassination attempt on July 13, clearing up conflicting accounts about what caused the former president's injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.
"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," the agency said in a statement.
The statement from the FBI marked the most definitive law enforcement account of Trump's injuries and followed ambiguous comments earlier in the week from Director Christopher Wray that appeared to cast doubt on whether Trump had actually been hit by a bullet.
Wray testified earlier this week that there was still "some question" about what grazed Trump's right ear during the assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, reported CBS News.
The shooting at Trump's rally on July 13 shocked the nation, resulting in the death of one attendee and leaving two others seriously injured. The assailant, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, allegedly fired a shot that grazed Trump's ear from a rooftop position with a clear line of sight to the stage.
The FBI swiftly labelled the incident as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination, although the motive behind Crooks's actions remained unclear.
Earlier on Friday, Republican Ronny Jackson of Texas, who served as physician to former President Donald Trump at the White House, said that Trump was hit by a bullet in his right ear.
Jackson wrote in a memorandum to "concerned citizens of the United States" that was shared on social media that he has continued to monitor Trump's health following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"The would-be assassin fired multiple rounds from a relatively close distance using a high-powered rifle, with one bullet striking the former president, and now the Republican nominee for president, in his right ear," Jackson stated, according to CBS News.
He said he has reviewed Trump's medical records from Butler Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a "gunshot wound to the right ear," and agreed with the initial assessment and treatment from the medical staff at the hospital.
"There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet," Jackson wrote. He said that Trump is "rapidly recovering" from the wound and doing "extremely well."