For Tyler Friel, the Butler Farm Show grounds was a place five miles from where he grew up. As a lifelong resident of Butler, Pennsylvania, he never expected the small town of around 13,000 residents to be the site of a historical event of violence.

“It (was) just shock and I can't believe it happened here,” Friel recalled following the assassination attempt. “As I've been telling folks, our town and the county itself is one of the few growing counties in western Pennsylvania. We've had some population growth recently, but violent crime just doesn't happen. These are the types of things that you just assume won't happen in your town.”

Friel, who serves as the News Director for the Butler Radio Network, attended the rally as a member of credentialed media. The event was supposed to begin at 5:00 P.M., but Trump didn’t arrive in Butler until later in the evening. His speech had begun shortly after 6:00 P.M. where began discussing grievances topics such as 2020 election fraud and President Biden’s policies.

From there, Trump lead into a conversation about illegal immigration. He would proceed to reference a chart on a screen to his right. The slight turn of his head to reference the chart would be the exact moment that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks would fire a round from his AR-15, narrowly missing Trump’s head and his right ear.

“At that point, I actually sat down to take some notes,” Friel said. “It wasn't long after that when we heard the shots fired. Initially, everybody keeps describing it as the ‘pop, pop’ sound like firecrackers or fireworks. It took me a second to realize exactly what was happening. There were a lot of screams and a lot of commotion. From my vantage point, Secret Service was covering Trump like a blanket. Then I saw his head and blood coming from his ear.”

Trump would eventually stand up once Secret Service was notified of the neutralized shooter. Before he was transported to the local Butler hospital, he would put his fist up in the air and yell “Fight, Fight, Fight,” to the local crowd.

According to Friel, the crowd expressed their pleasure to the media following the incident. Many were claiming the shooting was due to the media’s aggressive coverage of certain parts of the presidential race and the candidates themselves. 

Following the events, the area is still in shock and even confused on how the incident unfolded. Friel also said the investigations have continued throughout the early week.

“In the immediate aftermath of it on Saturday night, the FBI and State Police held a briefing. They answered some questions, but not all. The biggest question is how the building was as unprotected as it was.”

For the full interview, visit Big Rapids Daily News and WBRn on YouTube via: https://youtu.be/CJJxxzG3UNE?si=G9UoIE5rT0CXF7An

_{Photo credit to Tyler Friel.}