Republican candidate for president of the USA, Donald Trump, said today that he will continue to appear at outdoor rallies, with increased protection of the Secret Service, two weeks after he was injured during an assassination attempt on him.
"No one should prevent or block freedom of expression, or assembly," the former president said on his social network Truth Social, adding that the Secret Service has agreed to significantly increase security operations.
He said this after the Secret Service, in charge of protecting high-ranking American figures, suggested to Trump's campaign staff to avoid organizing large outdoor gatherings and to opt for large closed halls.
Trump was shot in the ear on July 13 during a rally in the state of Pennsylvania. One spectator was killed and two were seriously wounded in that attack, and the attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he fired several bullets from the roof of a building located about 150 meters from Trump.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed yesterday that Trump was hit by a bullet or bullet fragment, ending speculation about the nature of the injury to his right ear.
However, investigators are still trying to determine the motive for the attack, which disrupted the campaign and prompted fierce criticism from the secret services.
The director of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday, a day after a tense parliamentary hearing, during which she admitted that a big mistake had been made.
Trump and his vice-presidential candidate JD Vance are organizing a rally today in a 6.000-seat hockey hall in the Midwestern state of Minnesota.
At the same time, US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is set to receive the Democratic endorsement for the presidential nomination, is attending a fundraiser in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
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