‘A changed community’: Fear and anger spread after Trump shooting

You don’t expect to meet an anti-Trump Republican at a Trump rally.

When 67-year-old US Army veteran Thomas Gleason arrived at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, he came looking for conversation.

A registered Republican who is opposed to Trump, Mr Gleason was wearing a placard proclaiming the former president a “threat to the Constitution” and challenging the former president’s supporters to a friendly debate.

“I had very civil discussions with a lot of people,” he recalled, “that was a pleasant surprise”.

Soon after, however, the jovial atmosphere of the rally turned to chaos, confusion and rage as shots rang out from a nearby rooftop.

“I immediately knew what it was. I recognised it as gunfire,” the former paratrooper told the BBC several days after the shooting. “Some people screamed, and a lot of people fell to the ground.”

The shooting grazed Trump’s ear and 50-year-old volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore was left dead. Two others were seriously injured.

In the days after the shooting, rallygoers who were in attendance say that their initial feelings of shock have given way to anger, sadness, and fears for what the future may bring.

Many of those who attended the rally have directed their anger at the US Secret Service, which they see as having been responsible for security at the event – and, by extension, their own safety.

The Secret Service has said that local police were responsible for the outer cordons of security at the rally and had officers inside the building from where he was shooting.

But that does little to soothe the concerns of witnesses such as 66-year-old Kathleen O’ Shea, who laid the blame explicitly on the Secret Service’s embattled director, Kimberly Cheatle.

Two days after the shooting, Ms O’Shea told the BBC she was “furious” that an “epic failure” left a man dead and Trump – who she says she would “take a bullet for” – with a narrow escape.

“All I want to hear from her [Ms Cheatle] is that she resigns. She got a good, innocent American killed,” she added.

“She should offer her heartfelt condolences and apologies, and if she means it, she will resign.”

Jean Vincent, a Butler woman who attended the rally alongside her sister Suzanne, said that – no matter who was responsible for what part of security – the Secret Service “definitely dropped the ball” on 13 July.

“I get so emotional. I’m so upset someone could have killed us. Could have killed my children,” she said, adding that her son shielded her body during the shooting. “Someone has to be held responsible. They’ve got to learn.”

Ms Vincent said that when she heard the shooting her thoughts immediately went to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, when dozens of people were killed by a gunman firing from the roof of a hotel.

“There could have been 200, 300 people killed,” she said. “It’s surreal. Nobody who was there can understand the security breach.”

Former Marine Teresa Wilson – an employee of a local police department elsewhere in Pennsylvania – was at the rally with a group of family members, including her elderly mother and teenage nephew.

She said she remains “infuriated” by a security set-up that she said left them “like sitting ducks”.

“It was a huge and embarrassing failure on their part,” she said. “It took two days for me to feel normal again. I was plagued by anxiety over the what-ifs.”

“Once I heard… early on about explosives being present, I struggled to shake the feeling of insecurity even though I was home and away from danger,” she added.

“My heart goes out to the families of the victims. If I had such a difficult time, I can’t imagine what they are going through.”

Residents of Butler and its surrounding county describe the largely rural area as friendly and neighbourly, a quiet place. The kind of town in which people know and help each other despite political differences.

Now, some residents fear that their town will forever be known for the events of 13 July.

Among them are partly retired psychiatrist Warren Goodrich and his wife Debbie.

The BBC first encountered them at the site of the rally, where they stood near Trump when he spoke.

When the shooting began, they took cover near a young girl who was pleading for her life, a sight that Mrs Goodrich said broke her heart.

“It’s been really hard on us emotionally,” Mrs Goodrich remarked a few days later. “It really hurts. It’s starting to hit us…. I’m just glad we’re alive.”

Over the course of more than 20 years in the town, the Goodrichs say they often tell people elsewhere that they are from Pittsburgh, knowing that few people will know where it is.

Looking to the future, Mr Goodrich said he is worried that Butler will have earned international notoriety and become a “shunned city”.

“It’s such a significant piece of history. But it’s irrational to blame the whole city,” he said. “It’s very, very sad.”

Echoing a sentiment heard several times by the BBC in Butler, Suzanne Vincent, Jean’s sister, said that she believes the town will “unfortunately be on the map” at a national level, comparing it to small towns like Uvalde, Texas, which have been marked by tragedies.

“That is so unfair,” she added. “But it’s changed this community, and it’s changed America.”

For now, the motive for the shooting remains unclear, and there has been so far no evidence that proves or even suggests that suspect Matthew Thomas Crooks was motivated by politics.

But some of those who witnessed the bloodshed in Butler said they feared that the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate could raise tensions and push people to extremes.

“It’s not just violence against people like Trump and Biden that I’m concerned about,” said Mr Gleason, the army veteran. “I’m also worried about violence against people who hold opposing views.”

Jean Vincent said that she believes the US has entered a “very, very scary” time in which tensions are running particularly high ahead of the November election.

“I fear that this country is sliding into chaos and is out of control. I just can’t believe everyone is acting so crazy,” she said. “There’s all this division. What happens in the upcoming election if people are not happy with the outcome?”

Others described the aftermath of the shooting with a feeling of disgust.

“It’s unacceptable, anywhere,” said Greg Smith, whose business is immediately adjacent to the rally area, hours after it took place.

“I don’t care what candidate you like, or what your philosophy is.

“No matter the political climate… there is no room for this, anywhere.”