Trump promises ‘big and beautiful rally’ in return to Pennsylvania town where he was shot

Donald Trump said he plans to hold another rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman fired an AR-15-style rifle at the former president moments after he stepped on stage in the town on July 13.

In an all-caps message on his Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he will be “going back” for “a big and beautiful rally” to honor a rally attendee who was fatally shot and two others who were critically injured during the assassination attempt.

“WHAT A DAY IT WILL BE — FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS,” he wrote.

It is unclear whether Trump will return to the same open-air fairgrounds where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at the former president from a rooftop outside a security perimeter. Secret Service and federal law enforcement officials haverepeatedly urged Trump to stop holding campaign rallies outdoors.

Within the last two weeks after the shooting, Trump has instead held rallies at indoor arenas.

Earlier this week, Trump announced a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on July 31, roughly four hours away from Butler.

On July 13, Crooks fired eight rounds within six seconds, killing Corey Comperatore and injuring David Dutch and James Copenhave. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear.

The weapon, which Crooks owned, was initially purchased by Crooks’s father more than a decade ago, according to congressional testimony from FBI director Christopher Wray this week.

Crooks had Google searched details about the assassination of John F Kennedy a week before the attack, and registered for Trump’s rally that same day, Wray said. Crooks visited a shooting range the day before the attack and flew a drone around the area hours before setting up on a nearby rooftop.

Wray had also suggested that there remains some