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Supporters of Former President Donald J Trump held a vigil outside his Mar-a-Lago home hours after he survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
“We’re really shocked, just shocked,” Debbie Macchia, a Boynton Beach resident told the Palm Beach Daily News, adding she wants to know “who ordered” the attack.
“There’s no question it was a sniper,” she told the outlet. “This wasn’t just someone that was just Looney Tunes.”
A bullet from a rifle hit Trump’s right ear moments after he took the stage. It was centimeters away from striking his head. When the bullet struck, Trump winced, touched his ear, saw blood and dropped to his knees before several Secret Service members threw themselves on top of him.
The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Crooks, who managed to strike Trump with a rifle from a nearby roof, was quickly neutralized by security personnel. Shortly after Secret Service jumped onto the stage, one member could be heard saying “shooter’s down”, which was caught by the mic Trump had been speaking into.
Once given the all clear, Trump was escorted by the service members to a nearby SUV and shuttled away from the event.
Hours after the shooting, dozens of Trump supporters stopped by his Florida Mar-a-Lago compound in a show of solidarity with the former president. So many people packed the area that street parking became very limited.
Yeimmi Santa Cruz, a West Palm Beach resident, came to Mar-a-Lago to “support the best president we’ve ever had,” she told the Daily News. The woman hugged another Trump supporter who began to cry after watching footage of the president being shot.
Some people joined hands in prayer, asking for Trump’s swift recovery. The former president sought medical attention at a local medical facility after he was wounded in the attack.
“I just thought it was crazy. I don’t- you don’t want him to get assassinated. I just want a fair race and so I was like wow, that’s tough. But he’s OK, that’s all that matters,” Charlie, a West Palm Beach resident, told CBS 12.
Other supporters brought US flags and flags with slogans of Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Several individuals were dressed in red, white and blue clothing. A motorcycle group who stopped by Trump’s residence had on vests reading “Born to Ride for 45 Donald J Trump.”
“The same moment he got shot, the Secret Service jumped on top of him. He went up with the fist up saying “fight, fight, fight,’” Joaquin Gutierrez, a West Palm Beach resident, told CBS 12.
“Honestly, I wasn’t surprised. Everything that they have done to him with the cases, the indictments, it’s all political. It’s so political. So this, to be honest, I was expecting,” Alex Gonzalez told the outlet.
