Washington, Jul 15 (IANS): US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced an independent review of the security at the election rally at which a shooter made an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump who is also the putative Republican nominee for the White House.
The US President also said that he has ordered a continued heightened level of security for his Republican rival and a review of the security arrangements at the Republican party’s presidential convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In a short speech after meeting top security officials in the Situation Room, Biden also said he spoke to Trump.
"An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything. It's not who we are as a nation, it's not America, and we cannot allow this to happen,” he said, adding: "Unity is the most elusive goal of all but nothing is important right now, Unity. We will debate and will disagree. It's not that's not going to change. But we're gonna not lose sight of who we are as Americans".
Biden said the shooter’s motive remains unclear and appealed to Americans to not speculate and wait for the FBI’s investigation. The FBI is leading the probe into the shooting. He did not specify who or which agency will conduct the "independent review", but promised to share its findings.
While the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, the US Justice Department’s National Security Division is also involved in it, as Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
This indicates the US is treating the assassination attempt as also a threat to national security.
While the shooter has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, officials have said nothing yet about his motivation. According to news reports, he was a registered Republican but had donated $15 to a liberal voter mobilisation group in 2021. The gunman used an AR-15 military-style assault rifle that has been the weapon of choice for most mass shooting perpetrators. New reports now suggest the shooter was carrying two explosive devices in the car and a possible third at his residence.
Earlier in the day, Trump struck a defiant note the morning after surviving the assassination attempt, writing on social media, "We will FEAR NOT".
He also announced he would be speaking at the Republican party convention.
Trump is recovering at his home in New Jersey, where he reached last night from Butler, Pennsylvania when a 20-year-old white man opened fire on his election rally, wounding the former President and killing an attendee.
The shooter was killed by snipers of the US Secret Service that protects past and present American Presidents and their immediate families.
"We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness," Trump wrote on Truth Social, a social media platform he launched after he was banished from Twitter, now called X.
He added: "I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin."
The Republican party convention kicks off Monday in Milwaukee to anoint Trump formally as the party’s nominee for the White House. He will announce his pick for his running mate over the next few days, if he doesn’t do it on Sunday.
Political violence in US politics has become a new threat, from both the right and the left.
Trump's supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop a joint sitting of the Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and the next President. Several people, including a police officer, were killed during or after the rampage.
An armed man was arrested from outside the house of Brett Kavanaugh, one of the six conservative justices of the Supreme Court.
Biden said: "There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this."
Trump has posted several statements on Truth Social but has not expressly addressed the question of political violence. "In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win," he wrote on Sunday morning.
But his campaign leaders Chris Lacivita and Susie Wile confronted the issue directly. "Please do not comment publicly on the occurrence of today," they wrote in a memo to staff. "We condemn all forms of violence, and will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media."