Assassination attempt on Trump (1 Viewer)

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    BUTLER, Pa. — One of the city’s most famous artists has created a 400-pound sculpture of Donald Trump raising his fist in the air, capturing the moment that split this Pennsylvania community in two. Digital billboards blaming Democrats and the media for the assassination attempt still flash around town. And supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris say they’re routinely heckled.

    The long-simmering tensions in Butler that erupted after a gunman shot Trump in the ear at a rally have yet to cool nearly two months later. The former president’s infamous words after being hit — “fight, fight, fight” — have in some ways been adopted as the city’s motto as both sides dig in and try to ensure that their candidate wins enough votes here to capture a key battleground state.

    “The statue and ‘fight, fight, fight’ resonates with everybody,” said Bob Oesterling, a local businessman and Trump supporter. “Everyone knows you got to ‘fight, fight, fight’ or we are done as the United States of America.”

    Trump won 65 percent of the vote in Butler County in 2020 and needs to win here by a large margin again to carry Pennsylvania, motivating both Republicans and Democrats to get out the vote. But in the process, divisions are withering the backbone of a community that has historically prided itself on not letting politics get in the way of relationships.

    “People that come in are very afraid and very angry,” said Barbara Davidson, a manager for United Republicans of Butler County, which runs a store that sells T-shirts and trinkets depicting the moment after Trump was shot. “They are angry not only about the assassination attempt. They are angry about the direction the country is going on.”

    The word “fight” has been graffitied on streets and utility boxes. Shortly after the shooting, a Republican county commissioner told the panel’s sole Democrat that he will “burn in hell” because he had been pressing before the rally to tally its costs to the county. Meanwhile, some Democrats say they have been threatened for showing support for Harris.

    The Butler County Historical Society is collecting statements from residents of that violent July day. But the community’s remarks will be sealed for 75 years, out of fear that if they are made public, people might be harassed for what they said.

    Authorities have said they have not been able to determine what motivated 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire from a rooftop near the rally site, killing one, critically injuring two others and grazing Trump’s ear. They have said his online activity showed no consistent political ideology.

    Jennifer Ford, the historical society’s executive director, said Butler has seen flashes of political tension before, especially considering the community’s proximity to heavily unionized Pittsburgh. But Ford said she can’t recall another time that was “as outright frightening.”.................


    In other news...

    A local Pennsylvania sculptor received a letter from the Trump campaign demanding royalties for the use of the former president's likeness...
     
    Donald Trump has claimed that Mark Zuckerberg told him in a phone call shortly after the assassination attempt of the former president that there’s “no way I can vote for a Democrat”.

    Trump told New York Magazine that the MetaCEO called him after he was shot in the ear at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

    “Mark Zuckerberg called up and said, ‘I’ve never supported a Republican before, but there’s no way I can vote for a Democrat in this election,’” Trump told the magazine. “He’s a guy that, his parents, everybody was always Democrat. He said, ‘I will never vote for the people running against you after watching what you did.’”

    Zuckerberg has previously spoken about the attempted assassination of Trump.

    “Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Zuckerberg told Bloomberg, a week after the Butler rally.…….

     
    BUTLER, Pa. — One of the city’s most famous artists has created a 400-pound sculpture of Donald Trump raising his fist in the air, capturing the moment that split this Pennsylvania community in two. Digital billboards blaming Democrats and the media for the assassination attempt still flash around town. And supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris say they’re routinely heckled.

    The long-simmering tensions in Butler that erupted after a gunman shot Trump in the ear at a rally have yet to cool nearly two months later. The former president’s infamous words after being hit — “fight, fight, fight” — have in some ways been adopted as the city’s motto as both sides dig in and try to ensure that their candidate wins enough votes here to capture a key battleground state.

    “The statue and ‘fight, fight, fight’ resonates with everybody,” said Bob Oesterling, a local businessman and Trump supporter. “Everyone knows you got to ‘fight, fight, fight’ or we are done as the United States of America.”

    Trump won 65 percent of the vote in Butler County in 2020 and needs to win here by a large margin again to carry Pennsylvania, motivating both Republicans and Democrats to get out the vote. But in the process, divisions are withering the backbone of a community that has historically prided itself on not letting politics get in the way of relationships.

    “People that come in are very afraid and very angry,” said Barbara Davidson, a manager for United Republicans of Butler County, which runs a store that sells T-shirts and trinkets depicting the moment after Trump was shot. “They are angry not only about the assassination attempt. They are angry about the direction the country is going on.”

    The word “fight” has been graffitied on streets and utility boxes. Shortly after the shooting, a Republican county commissioner told the panel’s sole Democrat that he will “burn in hell” because he had been pressing before the rally to tally its costs to the county. Meanwhile, some Democrats say they have been threatened for showing support for Harris.

    The Butler County Historical Society is collecting statements from residents of that violent July day. But the community’s remarks will be sealed for 75 years, out of fear that if they are made public, people might be harassed for what they said.

    Authorities have said they have not been able to determine what motivated 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire from a rooftop near the rally site, killing one, critically injuring two others and grazing Trump’s ear. They have said his online activity showed no consistent political ideology.

    Jennifer Ford, the historical society’s executive director, said Butler has seen flashes of political tension before, especially considering the community’s proximity to heavily unionized Pittsburgh. But Ford said she can’t recall another time that was “as outright frightening.”.................


    My friend's brother created the sculpture of Gleason blocking the punt that's at the Superdome and Shaq's sculpture on the LSU campus. He lived in Pennsylvania last I heard, so I checked hoping he wasn't the local artist that created the Trump sculpture. I was relieved to find out it wasn't him.
     

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