It was a Saturday. Most people were just settling into their weekend routines or firing up the grill when the news alerts started screaming. If you’re wondering exactly when was the trump assassination attempt, the short answer is July 13, 2024. But the "when" is a lot more complicated than just a date on a calendar. It was a sequence of minutes that felt like hours, starting with a hot afternoon in Butler, Pennsylvania, and ending with an image that basically defined the entire 2024 election cycle.
Honestly, the timeline is still a bit chilling to look back on. You’ve probably seen the footage a thousand times—the pop-pop-pop of the rifle, the Secret Service swarm, and that defiant fist pump. But when you dig into the specifics of the clock, you realize how close things actually came to being much, much worse.
The July 13 Timeline: Minutes That Changed Everything
The rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds was supposed to be a standard campaign stop. Donald Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m. EDT. He was only six minutes into his speech when the world shifted. At exactly 6:11 p.m., the first shots rang out.
It’s wild how fast it happened. Trump was mid-sentence, talking about immigration charts, when he suddenly reached for his right ear and ducked. Within seconds, the stage was a mess of dark suits and shouting. By 6:12 p.m., the shooter, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been neutralized by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
The whole thing lasted less than two minutes from the first shot to the moment Trump was hurried off stage into a waiting SUV.
💡 You might also like: Robert Hanssen: What Most People Get Wrong About the FBI's Most Damaging Spy
Why the "When" Matters: The Lead-Up
Security experts have spent months obsessing over the hours before those shots. It wasn't just a random moment.
- 3:35 p.m.: The shooter arrived at the rally site.
- 5:10 p.m.: Local law enforcement first spotted a "suspicious person" near the AGR International building.
- 5:52 p.m.: Secret Service was notified about a man with a rangefinder.
Think about that. For nearly an hour, there were "eyes" on a person of interest, yet Trump still went on stage at 6:02 p.m. It’s one of those things where the timing makes you scratch your head. How does a guy with a rifle get on a roof 400 feet away when the authorities already have him on their radar?
The Victims and the Aftermath
We talk a lot about the politics, but people actually died or were forever changed that day. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief, was killed while shielding his family from the bullets. Two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were critically injured.
Trump himself was incredibly lucky. He later described hearing a "whizzing sound" and feeling the bullet "ripping through the skin." If he hadn't turned his head at that exact micro-second to look at the chart on the big screen, the outcome would have been fundamentally different.
📖 Related: Why the Recent Snowfall Western New York State Emergency Was Different
Wait, Wasn't There a Second One?
Kinda. If you're searching for "when was the trump assassination attempt," you might also be thinking of the second incident in Florida.
On September 15, 2024, about two months after the Butler shooting, another attempt was thwarted. This one happened at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Around 1:30 p.m., a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel poking through a fence while Trump was playing the fifth hole.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, never actually got a shot off. He fled the scene in a black Nissan but was caught shortly after in a neighboring county. It wasn't as "loud" as the Pennsylvania event because nobody was hit, but it added to this sense of total chaos surrounding the campaign.
What We Learned from the Investigation
The FBI and a bipartisan House Task Force have been digging into this for a long time. The final reports are pretty damning for the Secret Service. Basically, there was a massive "failure of imagination" and communication.
👉 See also: Nate Silver Trump Approval Rating: Why the 2026 Numbers Look So Different
- The Roof Gap: The building the shooter used was outside the "secure perimeter," but within clear line-of-sight. The local police thought the Secret Service was covering it; the Secret Service thought the locals had it.
- Radio Silence: Different agencies were on different radio frequencies. Local snipers were literally texting photos of the suspect to each other because they couldn't get ahold of the Secret Service detail quickly enough.
- Drone Usage: The shooter actually flew a drone over the rally site earlier in the day to scout the area. The Secret Service’s own drone detection system was reportedly malfunctioning or not fully deployed at the time.
Moving Forward: What You Should Know
Since these events, security for major political figures has been completely overhauled. You'll notice much more aggressive "glass" barriers at outdoor rallies now. Congress even passed the Enhanced Presidential Security Act of 2024 to ensure both major candidates get the same level of protection as a sitting president.
If you’re following the news on this, keep an eye on the ongoing court cases for the Florida suspect and the internal disciplinary actions within the Secret Service. The "when" of the attempt might be history, but the "why" and "how" are still being litigated.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Read the Task Force Reports: If you want the gritty details, the "Final Report of Findings and Recommendations" from the House Task Force is public and breaks down the radio logs minute-by-minute.
- Check Security Updates: Follow the U.S. Secret Service newsroom for updates on how they've changed their "protective advance" protocols since July 2024.
- Verify Sources: With high-profile events like this, misinformation stays alive for years. Stick to primary sources like the FBI's Butler Investigation Updates or verified news archives from that week.