A special guest invited by former President Donald Trump’s team to his Pennsylvania rally recounted to the Daily Caller News Foundation the events he witnessed as gunfire erupted in a failed assassination attempt against the GOP’s presumptive nominee.
Benjamin Shrader, who is an event coordinator and CEO of Shrader Promotions LLC, was invited Thursday to Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Shrader described to the DCNF the horrifying moments when he witnessed a rally attendee being hit as several rounds were being fired at the crowd.
Shrader said he was given the opportunity to meet with Trump after arriving at the event, snagging a picture with the Republican presidential nominee, noting his “very nice” and happy demeanor, before taking his seat within the VIP section located to the left of the stage. Shots began to ring out round 6:11 p.m. EDT as Trump was addressing those in attendance.
“I was sitting next to, I believe, [the] third row back. So next to the bleachers, but very close to the president. So he gets up, everybody’s cheering, you know, everybody’s talking. He pulls up a chart and then I then I hear it was — and what strikes me is it was quiet. I hear pop, pop, pop, pop and like the sound of darts almost. Or like a cartoon sound, it was very odd,” Shrader told the DCNF.
“So I duck and then I turn and I look behind me. Take in mind most people during this are saying, ‘Oh my god, they let somebody sneak fireworks in.’ People are not freaking out yet. But I turned around and maybe like three to five meters behind me I could not tell if it was a man or a woman, but there was someone with a massive amount of blood and it was spilling,” Shrader continued. “I’ve never seen somebody get shot before, but yeah, it was bad.”
Trump Pennsylvania Rally Attack (Image Courtesy of Benjamin Shrader)
Trump Pennsylvania Rally Attack (Image Courtesy of Benjamin Shrader)
Trump Pennsylvania Rally Attack (Image Courtesy of Benjamin Shrader)
Videos recorded by the CEO, which have been obtained by the DCNF, capture the shock from crowd members nearby. In one clip, a woman near Shrader could be heard yelling “Oh, my God,” while a man was seen standing and yelling “one shot.” Others in the video can be heard shouting for a medic.
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“I think that a lot of people didn’t realize what was going on. There was a lot of confusion at the time and I don’t, I think there were — and also take in mind there was no cell service, because everyone was on their phones, so no one has any information but rumor. And because of that I believe some people knew what was going on and were panicking,” Shrader said.
“Some people were sort of kind of where I was, a forced calm, that this is a dangerous situation you need to remain calm. Other people were confused, other people were angry that something had happened. I had multiple people in the crowd say, ‘Oh, no, he didn’t get shot, he didn’t get shot.’ I think there was a lot of confusion and there was nobody [who] really knew what was going on,” Shrader continued.
Video footage online quickly circulated of the moment the attack happened. Trump could be seen speaking to the crowd before multiple gunshots could be heard echoing throughout the crowd. Images captured by New York Times photographer Doug Mills showed blood on Trump’s hand as he pulled it away from his right ear in response to a bullet speeding by.
Shrader stated Secret Service agents immediately had swarmed the stage to protect the former president, and estimated the shooter was taken down by authorities within a span of 5-10 minutes after the attack.
“What’s crazy is, to me, where that building was, where I was sitting, and where the president was, I mean it was a line. I was right in the line of what was going on. It’s crazy, I mean just look across whatever room you’re in,” Shrader told DCNF. “It’s like that’s how far the person was from me. I’m so very — thank God, you know, I had my rosary beads in my pocket because it could have been a very different day for me and my family.”
I’m gonna be there [at the polls] no matter what. I always have seen [that] voting is the importance of civic duty. I put on my dress shirt, I go. This would only make me support him more and I think that that was the effect that it had throughout the crowd. He showed a lot of courage and strength, you know, you’d think most people would dive down when they get shot, but he put his fist up,” Shrader said
Shortly after the attack, an emergency doctor who was in the crowd at the time told CBS News how he attempted to help save a man’s life who had been struck by a bullet. The doctor could be seen covered in blood, and described to the reporter how the victim had been shot in the head. “There was lots of blood and he had brain matter there,” the doctor said. The doctor noted he performed both chest compressions and CPR on the victim.
FBI officials have since identified the shooter as 20-year-old Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as Crooks is confirmed to be involved in the assassination attempt of Trump. Shortly after the attack, authorities verified Crooks was killed on site.
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