Alaska’s political leaders have sent messages of support to former President Donald Trump after a bullet grazed his ear during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Just as Trump began to speak, shots were fired. Three other men were struck. One was killed, and two were critically injured.
The Secret Service killed the gunman, who fired shots from the rooftop of a building about 150 yards away. He’s been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pa.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, said in a statement Saturday, “I am incredibly relieved that President Trump is safe after a cowardly attempted assassination earlier today in Pennsylvania.”
Sullivan said the former president exhibited incredible courage and offered condolences to the family of the man who was killed in the attack and support for those injured at the rally.
Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted a message on Facebook on Saturday that said, “What we saw today in Pennsylvania was horrifying. This is the United States of America: there is no place for violence in politics.”
She wrote, “We are all praying for the health and safety of former President Trump, the family of the bystander who was killed, and everyone who was at the rally.”
In a social media post, Congresswoman Mary Peltola, a Democrat, said, “This is an assassination attempt plain and simple. America is better than this. My thoughts are with President Trump and his family, and all at the rally.”
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a Facebook post Saturday, “Our thoughts and prayers are with President Trump, his family and those around him.”
“The world is outraged!” he wrote. “This is not how we settle our differences.”
