Moments after Donald Trump was rushed to safety following a failed assassination attempt at a Saturday night rally, some of his supporters turned toward the press pen with obscenities as they fingered reporters for blame.
“This is your fault!” one attendee emphatically yelled, pointing at individual journalists as he approached the fence line separating them from attendees. “This is your fault!”
“It is your fault!” exclaimed another.
Axios reporter Sophia Cai, who quoted some in the crowd warning the press, “you’re next” and that their “time is coming,” even reported that a few rally goers tried to breach the barriers establishing the press pen, but that they were stopped by security personnel.
In the immediate wake of the horrific shooting attempt on Trump’s life, which resulted in the tragic death of one rally attendee and the severe wounding of two others, the news media has quickly emerged among some Trump supporters as a body to assign blame.
https://edition.cnn.com/trump-supporters-blame-media
Axios reporter is fragile, doesn’t like the blame.
BUTLER, Pa. — When the shots rang out a little over six minutes into former President Trump’s remarks, I was standing on a chair in the media area to get a good view of the stage.
- Suddenly Trump went down. Some of his supporters screamed; others ducked on the risers behind him while still others stood up, exposing themselves while trying to see where the shots were coming from.
What followed was a chaos that reflected the shock of the moment and the heated passion of Trump’s most loyal supporters: shouts and screams by those near the wounded, cheers when a bloodied Trump raised his fist — and anger suddenly directed toward the cordoned area where I and other reporters were covering the rally.
- When the shots began I was standing next to my former Axios colleague Alayna Treene, who’s now with CNN. Her security guard forced her down and then ushered her into a space below the media riser.
- A few moments later I did the same as the security guard positioned his body over hers, much as Secret Service agents were doing with Trump on the stage. That’s when it hit me that we were in danger.
- Less than 90 seconds later, we peeked through the riser and emerged to face the anger of Trump supporters, who were turning on the media.
- “Fake news! This is your fault!” they yelled. “You’re next! Your time is coming.”
- A few tried to break into the media area but were stopped by security guards.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/14/what-i-saw-trump-rally-shooting