REVEALED: All the evidence Trump was hit by a bullet and why he was RIGHTLY furious with the FBI director who suggested it was shrapnel
An analysis by Dailymail.com shows that Donald Trump was hit by a bullet during the attempt on his life two weeks ago.
Evidence, including from forensic and ballistics experts, shows that the former president was struck in the ear by the first of eight bullets fired by would-be assassin Thomas Crooks during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
This came after FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a congressional hearing on Wednesday that there were “concerns whether his ear was hit by a bullet or shrapnel.”
Two weeks after the attack, Trump appeared for the first time Friday without a bandage on his right ear. His former doctor said he was “recovering rapidly.”
The FBI still has questions about whether Trump was hit by shrapnel or a bullet, but the former president has pushed back, saying he was definitely hit by a bullet
![REVEALED: All the evidence Trump was hit by a bullet and why he was RIGHTLY furious with the FBI director who suggested it was shrapnel 2 Donald Trump will be seen without a bandage on his right ear for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt two weeks earlier on Friday, July 26](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/REVEALED-All-the-evidence-Trump-was-hit-by-a-bullet.jpeg)
Donald Trump will be seen without a bandage on his right ear for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt two weeks earlier on Friday, July 26
Crooks, 20, used a PMS AR-style rifle to fire 5.56 rounds of ammunition in the attempted murder.
Bullets fired from such a weapon can shatter into pieces if they hit something.
That led to speculation that the bullet may have struck an object, such as a metal bar supporting the podium or stands, causing a piece of shrapnel to fly off and hit Trump.
However, Crooks had a clear view of the President and there were no objects in the way.
The trajectory of the first bullet was captured in a “one in a million” photo just after it passed Trump’s head, and then in another piece of video showing the bullet hitting the stands directly behind him.
An analysis by forensic audio expert Steve Beck found that Trump immediately grabbed his ear after hearing the “bang” of the first bullet as it passed his microphone.
The ‘bang’ of the second bullet was heard 0.867 seconds later, he told Dailymail.com.
In total, Crooks fired eight shots in 5.2 seconds.
![REVEALED: All the evidence Trump was hit by a bullet and why he was RIGHTLY furious with the FBI director who suggested it was shrapnel 4 Wray confirmed that the FBI found three](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Donald-Trump-to-be-questioned-by-FBI-over-attempted-assassination.jpeg)
Wray confirmed that the FBI found three “explosive devices” in Crooks’ possession
There was an initial salvo of three shots, followed by a brief pause as Trump fell to the ground, followed by a quicker salvo of five shots.
Then, 0.3 seconds after Crooks’ eighth and final shot, a Secret Service agent fired a bullet from the edge of the stage.
It appears that Crooks was incapacitated or killed by this when he stopped shooting.
Ten seconds later, another shot rang out from another weapon, probably fired by another Secret Service agent or a police officer.
Audio analysis shows Crooks was 380 feet (116 meters) away from where Trump’s microphone picked up the sound of the bullets.
After the first bullet passed Trump, video from the New York Times showed the bullet creating a cloud and hitting the stands near attendee David Dutch.
It appeared that Dutch was hit by one of the follow-up shots in the first series of three shots.
![REVEALED: All the evidence Trump was hit by a bullet and why he was RIGHTLY furious with the FBI director who suggested it was shrapnel 6 1722008466 342 Donald Trump to be questioned by FBI over attempted assassination](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1722008466_342_Donald-Trump-to-be-questioned-by-FBI-over-attempted-assassination.jpg)
In the second series of five shots, contestant Corey Comperatore, a heroic father and firefighter, was killed while protecting his family.
Beck said the shorter time between shots showed the shooter was very accurate with his first shot.
The gap between the second and third shots dropped to 0.67 seconds, and then even shorter.
“The shooter had the best aim with the first shot, so you would expect it to be the closest to the target,” he said.
After the first three, Crooks took aim again and began “pulling the trigger as fast as he could.”
Beck said he didn’t hear the sound of the first bullet hitting another object until Trump grabbed his ear.
However, if the bullet had hit something else first, Trump’s microphone would not have registered the sound because he was still speaking at the time.
To conclude there was shrapnel, the FBI would have to find that the bullet hit something “hard” before it reached Trump, causing the shrapnel to form, ballistics expert Nathan Foster told Dailymail.com.
If that had happened, the injury to Trump’s ear would have been “ragged,” with an “irregularly shaped wound,” rather than a hole in it, he said.
Nor was there any way to reconcile the shrapnel wound with the photo New York Times photographer Doug Mills took of the bullet path.
Investigators found eight shell casings near Crooks’ body on the roof, which he fired from 380 feet (116 meters) away.
FBI experts are expected to analyze the trajectory of the bullets to form a forensic picture of the shooting.
Another early theory was that a bullet struck one of the two glass teleprompter screens in front of Trump, after which the former president was hit by flying debris.
However, the autocue was still visible and undamaged after the shots were fired.
Congressman Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former physician, slammed Wray on Friday.
He said: ‘During the Congressional hearing two days ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray suggested it could be a bullet, shrapnel or glass.
There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.
“Congress should correct the record as confirmed by both the hospital and myself. Director Wray is mistaken and it is inappropriate to suggest otherwise.”
![REVEALED: All the evidence Trump was hit by a bullet and why he was RIGHTLY furious with the FBI director who suggested it was shrapnel 8 U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson, who previously served as President Trump's physician in the White House](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1722028625_753_REVEALED-All-the-evidence-Trump-was-hit-by-a-bullet.jpeg)
U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson, who previously served as President Trump’s physician in the White House
He said Butler Memorial Hospital had treated Trump for what it described as a “gunshot wound to the right ear.”
He added: ‘Based on my direct observations of the injury, my relevant clinical background, and my considerable experience evaluating and treating patients with similar wounds, I fully agree with the initial assessment and treatment provided by the physicians and nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital on the day of the shooting.’
Meanwhile, Trump appeared without a bandage on his ear for the first time since the shooting on Friday when he received Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago.
He expressed his anger at Wray, saying, “No, unfortunately it was a bullet that hit my ear, and hard. There was no glass, there was no shards.”