Killed pedestrian identified, security failure under investigation

In 2011, then-Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was seriously injured in an attack on a congregation in Arizona. Republican U.S. Representative Steve Scalise was also seriously injured in 2017 in a politically motivated attack on a group of Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game.

Although Giffords later founded a leading gun control organization, Scalise remained a staunch advocate for gun rights.

As a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, Americans fear an increase in political violence. Two-thirds of respondents to a survey conducted in May expressed fears that violence could occur following the elections.

Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn his election defeat. They were fueled by Trump’s false claims that his defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud. About 140 police officers were injured in the violence, four rioters died that day, one police officer who came to help died the following day, and four police officers who came to help later committed suicide.

Trump is expected to receive his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday.

House of Representatives investigates security failure

The shots appeared to have come from outside the Secret Service-secured area, the agency said.

A few hours after the attack, the Republican-led U.S. House Oversight Committee summoned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to a hearing scheduled for July 22.

Leading Republicans and Democrats immediately condemned the violence, as did foreign heads of state.

“There is no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as a nation to condemn it,” Biden said in a statement.

Some of Trump’s Republican allies said they believed the attack was politically motivated.

“For weeks, Democratic leaders have stoked the ridiculous hysteria that a re-election of Donald Trump would mean the end of democracy in America,” said Scalise, the second-highest Republican in the House.

“We have seen very clearly in the past that left-wing lunatics have acted on the basis of violent rhetoric. This inflammatory rhetoric must stop.”

Trump faced numerous legal problems earlier this year, including four separate prosecutions.

In late May, he was found guilty of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, but the other three cases against him – including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat – were halted by various factors, including a Supreme Court decision earlier this month that gave him partial immunity from prosecution.

Trump claims, without providing any evidence, that all four prosecutions were staged by Biden to prevent his return to power.