The image of Donald Trump, his face smeared with blood after a bullet grazed his ear, marked a watershed moment in the already high-stakes 2024 US presidential election campaign. Opening our special report on the Pennsylvania rally shooting, Washington bureau chief David Smith examines how it could fuel Trump’s base and stoke further division in American politics.
Almost immediately after Trump was bundled off stage, questions began to be asked about security measures at the rally that allowed the shooter to take aim from a nearby rooftop. We look at the FBI and police response and at the speed with which conspiracy theorists are creating an online whirl of disinformation even as investigators began to piece together scarce information about Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman.
