Trump tells RNC 'I am not supposed to be here' following Pennsylvania rally assassination attempt

Auburn men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl couldn’t believe what happened on Saturday.

Over the weekend, former President Trump was grazed on the ear by a bullet fired during a failed assassination attempt at his political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

One person was killed and two others were injured when Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was later identified as the shooter, opened fire less than 10 minutes after Trump began speaking.

Pearl, 64, like many others, was stunned by the shooting. He recalled his initial reaction during an appearance on OutKick’s "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" on Thursday.

"My first reaction was: How was this possibly happening? Is it real? When he got up pretty quickly, I prayed, I immediately asked God to watch over him, and praying for him in that particular moment."

Pearl continued, "Then to see him get up and have the presence and the courage [to pump his fist at the crowd], I mean, Dan, who does that? That’s just rare to have that presence. To let everybody know, ‘Hey, I’m OK, and I am in this for our country, and let’s continue to fight.' He’d take a bullet for us."

A retired U.S. Secret Service agent questioned why former President Trump was cleared to take the stage at Saturday's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, despite a "person of interest" being identified beforehand.

"Why the rush? Why push him on stage? Why not delay?" questioned Mike Matranga on "America's Newsroom" Thursday.

"It would have taken nothing to take a tactical pause, assess the situation, locate him, and potentially prevent what we haven't seen in 43 years."

Matranga called the situation a "catastrophic failure."

"Failing to even address the American people or to point the finger solely at the local law enforcement is just not right," he said. "This is a catastrophic failure of communications. We've known this for decades, that we rely too heavily on our local counterparts to do the jobs that we are designed to do, and so this is a catastrophic failure."

"The former president deserves better," he continued. "The individuals who were harmed and the individual who succumbed to his injuries deserve better."

Cars drive past American flags for a memorial held for Corey Comperatore on Thursday in Freeport, Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

A private funeral is set to be held Friday for Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old volunteer firefighter who was killed by gunfire at former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend. 

Thousands of mourners paid their respects to Comperatore on Thursday during a memorial service at a banquet hall in Freeport, according to The Associated Press. 

Fire trucks and police vehicles filled the parking lot outside the building. Sharpshooters were positioned on top of the event hall and on nearby buildings as people, including firefighters in dress uniforms, waited in line to enter. 

Guests walked past a large, framed photo of Comperatore holding a fish, while a slideshow of photos from his life was projected on a screen — his wedding, a recent 50th birthday party, time with his daughters, firefighting, fishing, and palling around with his Dobermans. 

Rich Tallis, a Penn Hills volunteer firefighter who attended the visitation, told the AP he did not know Comperatore personally but felt a need to honor his memory. 

“Any first responder, it’s a brotherhood – police, EMS fire, military. We’re technically all one,” he said. 

Jon Ruffley, who lives outside Pittsburgh and attended part of the Trump rally Saturday, went to the visitation with his wife and young child. He told the AP he hoped his presence sent a supportive message to the family that “we stick together as Americans regardless of, you know, what someone's political affiliations are.” 

“I think it’s really important that we raise our kids in a way where we can see that political violence is unacceptable, that we stand for having important discourses about things in, in our society,” he said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

BUTLER, Pa. — Congress was denied access to the integral Ops Report that details the protection plan for former President Trump's rally, according to a lawmaker who was at Wednesday's FBI briefing and spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity.

Paul Mauro, an attorney and retired NYPD inspector, said the Ops Report "should detail who was supposed to cover the area of the roof that (Thomas Matthew) Crooks fired from."

"If there was no Ops Plan done, or if it didn't cover that rooftop, whoever signed off on it failed badly," Mauro said. 

The detailed, written plan was in the hands of the FBI as of Thursday afternoon, according to Mauro, who said the information came from a source "I absolutely, 100% trust." The FBI declined to comment. 

Former President Trump showed off a chart on immigration during the Republican National Convention Thursday night that he credits with literally saving his life last Saturday

"Less than four years ago, I handed this administration the strongest border in American history, but you can see on the chart that saved my life... that was the chart that saved my life," Trump said as the chart was put up on the screen behind him.

During Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last week, Trump pivoted to point to the same chart when shots rang out, striking the former president in the right ear. Many have credited Trump turning to the chart, which shows the number of illegal immigrants entering the country, for saving his life, noting that the former president turned to look at it just as he was hit with the bullet.

Dr. Houman Hemmati told 'Fox News Live' that the Trump rally assassination attempt is “hurting” the former President and “he was obvious about it” during his RNC acceptance speech last night. 

Trump, during the speech, told a crowd in Milwaukee that “so many people have asked me what happened... and therefore I will tell you exactly what happened and you’ll never hear it from me a second time because it’s actually too painful to tell.” 

“When have you ever heard President Trump ever say in the past that he is never going to repeat something?” Hemmati said, adding “this is one of those rare moments where you see him in a public way be very vulnerable and transparent and it shows you that he is processing it.” 

“The fact that he also went to the uniform of the fallen individual who attended his rally also shows you the sense of survivor guilt that I think he has,” Hemmati continued. “He said ‘I shouldn’t be here,’ that is a sign he thinks that bullet should have been for him and why am I alive and someone else isn’t?” 

Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed in last weekend's Trump rally shooting in Pennsylvania. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

Former President Donald Trump in his RNC acceptance speech paid tribute to firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed during the attempt on Trump’s life during a Pennsylvania rally last weekend.

"Tragically, the shooter claimed the life of one of our fellow Americans, Corey Comperatore, and seriously wounded two other great warriors... David Dutch and James Copenhaver. I spoke to all three families of these tremendous people—our love and prayers are with them, and always will be," Trump said. 

"Corey, a highly respected former fire chief... was accompanied by his wife Helen... and two precious daughters," he continued. "He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets... what a fine man he was."

Trump then walked over to Comperatore’s firefighting jacket and helmet, which were sent to the convention by the family and were placed next to Trump on the stage, asking for a moment of silence for the Pennsylvania father. 

"There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others," Trump said, noting that Comperatore was killed while shielding his family from the incoming bullets. "This is the spirit that forged America in her darkest hours, and this is the love that will lead America back to the summit of human achievement and greatness."

Former President Trump arrives at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday before the assassination attempt. (AP//Evan Vucci)

BETHEL PARK, Pa. – The Secret Service should have foreseen a "tactical reason" to have countersnipers placed on the AGR building rooftop at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday – where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire – according to a retired Army infantry captain who witnessed the chaos from the front row.

"I've been in more firefights than I can count, I can tell you, but I've never been in anything like that," Sean Parnell, a former congressional candidate who can be seen in photos of the shooting just steps away from Trump on stage right, told Fox News Digital.

"Doesn’t it make sense to engage behind the president, too?" he added. "There was a tactical reason for that to be occupied."

Parnell said that as soon as he arrived at the rally, he took a general look around and potential security vulnerabilities stood out to him, but he also saw a strong police presence.

"As a combat veteran, 16 months in Afghanistan, I'll tell you that looking for threats like that is, once you come back from combat, you're kind of wired like that," he said. "That experience that never leaves you. I didn’t think anything was going to go wrong. I'm at a political rally … but you still think about that."

Former President Trump speaks on Thursday at the Republican National Convention. (AP/Matt Rourke)

Former President Trump spent a the first part of his keynote acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention’s final night by acknowledging how lucky he was to survive an assassination attempt last weekend during a rally in Pennsylvania.

"So many people have asked me what happened, and therefore, I’ll tell you what happened," Trump said Thursday night in Milwaukee. "And you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell."

Trump recounted the events from Butler, Pennsylvania last Saturday when a gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire. Crooks’ shot pierced the former president’s upper right ear while he was turning to look at one of his immigration charts displayed on a screen at the event.

"In order to see the chart, I started to turn to my right, and was ready to begin a further turn, which I’m lucky I didn’t, when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me, really hard, on my right ear," Trump said. "I said to myself, 'Wow, what was that—it can only be a bullet,'—and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, and my hand was covered with blood, just blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement, proceeded to drop to the ground."

"There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe, because I had God on my side," Trump continued. "The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight."

"But that isn’t the reason they didn’t move—the reason is that they knew I was in serious trouble, they saw all of the blood, and thought I was dead, and they just didn’t want to leave me, and you can see that love written all over their faces," he said.

"I am not supposed to be here tonight," Trump said, before the crowd at Fiserv Forum chanted, "Yes you are."

"I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God," Trump said. "In watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment."

"The crowd was confused because they thought I was dead," Trump said. "And there was great great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked up. They didn't know I was looking out they thought it was over. When I could see it I wanted to do something to let them know I was okay. I raised my right arm looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, 'fight, fight, fight.'"