Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Saturday he will return to holding outdoor rallies with extra Secret Service protection, two weeks after he was injured in an assassination attempt at an outdoor campaign event.
“I will continue to hold outdoor rallies, and the Secret Service has agreed to significantly increase our operations. They are fully capable of doing that,” Trump said on his Truthout social platform.
“No one can be allowed to prevent or disrupt free expression or assembly,” he said.
His comments come after the Secret Service reportedly encouraged Trump’s campaign not to hold outdoor campaign events following his assassination attempt and to opt for large indoor areas instead.
On July 13, a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding two others.
The FBI confirmed Friday that Trump had been hit by a bullet, or a bullet fragment — putting an end to questions about the nature of the injury to his right ear.
Investigators are still trying to determine the motive behind the attack, which added another shocking chapter to the US election race and sparked heavy criticism of the Secret Service.
Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, acknowledging that the agency had failed in its mission to protect high-profile politicians.
He told the congressional committee that the Secret Service had been alerted “two to five times” before the attack about a “suspicious individual” at the rally, but they were unable to locate him before the shooting began.
Sitting on the roof of a nearby building, he was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper less than 30 seconds after firing the first of eight bullets.
Trump has made the shooting a central part of his campaign, telling supporters that he “took a bullet for democracy” and vowing to return to Butler for a “big and beautiful rally.”
On Saturday, the Republican and his running mate J.D. Vance were due to hold a campaign event at a 6,000-seat indoor hockey arena in the midwestern US state of Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris – who is on track to become the Democratic nominee – was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
