Southwest Florida reacts to assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump

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News of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump‘s life has spread throughout the community.

Many people ask how something like this could happen to someone with the highest level of protection. And that concern crosses party lines.

Republican, Democrat, or Independent – we can all fear for our safety in a moment like that.

“Every political candidate out there, regardless of what party, I fear for their safety because they know we’ve got to the point where our society is so divisive and so violent about things,” reflected Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson. “I fear for everyone’s safety.”

U.S. Representative Byron Donalds, who represents parts of Southwest Florida, texted with Trump after the shooting.

“His mood after he got up from behind the podium with Secret Service with his fist raised, ready to continue to move on and fight for this country. That’s him. I will tell you, with every obstacle, it focuses him more and more, not just on winning but making this country truly great,” explained Donalds. “That’s only sharpened his resolve. It is not weakened. It won’t change his mindset.”

U.S. Representative Mario DĂ­az-Balart represents a portion of Collier County.

“Right at that very moment when you know, with a bloodied face and pumping his fist, his attitude of just strength and power and positivity came through even under this difficult circumstance,” said the Congressman.

“I keep saying that the election can’t come soon enough for the sake of the country, and for the sake of the country, I’m relieved that President Trump seems to have gotten through this okay,” added DĂ­az-Balart.

“I mean, I saw it. I’m like, people don’t show respect anymore, as we’re not safe anymore in the world that we live in,” Danny Corra, who was out in Downtown Fort Myers, said.

“A little unsettling. You know whether or not you’re for or against a candidate when somebody is saying that they want to take a life over it? It’s a little troubling, to be honest with you,” reflected Paul Liberatory.


RELATED: Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who shot Donald Trump?


The FBI, early Sunday morning, named 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the person behind the assassination attempt.

The shooting happened at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time.

Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, and he posted to social media that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

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