Donald Trump to hold rally at Pennsylvania site of first assassination attempt

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will hold a rally on October 5 in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to his campaign. Butler is the same location where a man climbed onto the roof of a building during the former president’s campaign rally, aimed a gun at him, and fired. The bullet grazed Trump’s head, injuring his ear, and then struck an innocent man in the crowd, killing him.

"President Trump’s return to Butler will mark his first visit to the site of the attack since he was struck by an assassin’s bullet on July 13th -- but was saved in what the world has recognised as an act of divine providence," his campaign said.

The failed assassination attempt led to the shooter’s arrest and questions being raised about the Secret Service and the lapses in its preparations. There has been an internal investigation into the security force with two congressional investigations ongoing. The Senate panel released a report on Wednesday, September 25, noting that the numerous failures of the Secret Service on the day of the first attempt, be it communication or a lack of chain of command, were all ‘preventable’.

Trump survived the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and another one only weeks ago in Florida. Yet he has been busy campaigning in recent weeks to shore up support as he remains in a neck-to-neck matchup in the upcoming elections against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Various polls have shown the two candidates in a tight battle, especially in the key battleground states.