(CTN News) – For the first time, the FBI verified on Friday that former President Donald Trump was hit by a gunshot in the ear at his almost fatal July 13 campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The brief remark was made amid growing criticism of federal officials for failing to officially and definitively determine whether Trump’s injuries were caused by shrapnel from the shooting or by a powerful rifle shot fired by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20.
The FBI released a statement saying, “What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”
An FBI spokesman refused to provide more remarks.
The statement, which had no more information, was made two days after FBI Director Chris Wray admitted to legislators during a congressional hearing that he was unsure of the precise cause of Trump’s injuries.
Concerns and misinformation
Reports from unnamed sources claiming that glass shards from a bullet-stricken teleprompter hit the GOP candidate raised doubts about whether Trump had been injured by a gunshot.
The fact that neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was the primary agency responsible for investigating the incident, nor the Secret Service would comment on the specifics of what caused Trump’s injury added to the uncertainty that was already there.
The Trump team did not respond to any queries on the nature of his injuries or his current status.
Wray was quoted as saying that the FBI found eight cartridges at the location where the shooter was killed, which suggests that he fired that many bullets. A fireman from Pennsylvania who was attending the demonstration was hit and killed by a gunshot, and two other men were wounded as a result of the incident.
However, in response to questions posed by members of the House Judiciary Committee, Wray provided answers that were lacking in clarity on the cause of Trump’s injury.
When Wray testified, he said that there was some uncertainty over whether or not the object that struck his ear was a bullet or shrapnel. He then claimed that it was most likely caused by a gunshot, stating, “I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else.” He was asking whether the bullet could have caused the grazing.
The next day, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a statement stating that the shooting was an “attempt to assassinate former President Trump, which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims.”
A bullet that is ripping through the flesh’
The delay in identifying the cause of Trump’s injuries has been met with fierce criticism from members of the Republican Party, representatives of Trump’s friends, and the former president himself.
On his social media site, TruthSocial, Trump was the first to announce that he had been wounded with “a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
In his writing, he said, “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.” Both of these events occurred simultaneously.
During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which took place a few days later, Trump again described the incident. He said, “If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be here tonight.”
Trump’s former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, who has been treating Trump since the incident, told The Associated Press on Thursday that it would be irresponsible to imply that Trump’s ear was injured by anything other than a bullet. Jackson has been treating Trump since the shooting allegedly occurred.
According to Jackson, the wound was caused by a gunshot. You have no right to make assertions of this kind. All of these conspiracy ideas are a direct result of it.
Source: Usatoday
