Nineteen veterans groups on Monday condemned the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and urged Americans to keep violence out of politics.
The groups released a joint statement in which they said all Americans had the responsibility of “lowering the temperature” in today’s political discourse and insisted that “we all have more in common than not.”
“Our fellow Americans often look to our community to provide leadership and to set politics aside, because of our commitment to our Constitution and culture of putting service to the nation first,” the statement reads. “We have a clear and universal message to our fellow Americans - violence has no place in American politics. A fundamental tenet of American democracy is to settle our differences at the ballot box.”
The groups that signed onto the statement included: We the Veterans, AmVets, Veterans of Foreign Wars, National Military Family Association, Student Veterans of America, Blue Star Families, More Perfect Union, Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Mission Role Call, Combined Arms, Military Veterans In Journalism, Military Family Advisory Network, Veterans for All Voters, National Security Leaders for America, The Chamberlain Network, Disabled Veteran Empowerment Network, Millions of Conversations, Vet Voice Foundation and VetsForward.
“Regardless of individual politics, an attack on any candidate for office, elected official or election official is an attack on all of us,” they said. “It is an attack on the system of self-government that our men and women in uniform have served and sacrificed to protect.”
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, tried to assassinate Trump during a rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the FBI confirmed. Trump said on social media the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. Two spectators were critically injured, and Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, was killed. Secret Service agents fatally shot the gunman, who was perched on top of a nearby roof.
As of Monday, Crooks’ motive remained a mystery, with investigators saying they believe he acted alone. President Joe Biden ordered an independent security review of the attack, which prompted questions about how Crooks was able to open fire near the campaign event. The FBI was investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
The lack of a clear motive prompted conspiracy theories to flourish online immediately following the attack and in the days after. In an address Sunday, Biden urged the public to “let the FBI do their job” and not make assumptions.
A week before the assassination attempt, the Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism coordinator warned that a “toxic political environment” has made the United States more vulnerable to acts of violence that threaten the country’s social fabric. Nicholas Rasmussen blamed prominent voices on both sides of the political aisle.
“The toxic political environment in which we live as Americans right now, and the existentialist ways in which voices in our public square frame our politics — not only zero sum terms, but the worst kind of zero sum terms — all of that leaves us far more vulnerable than ever to targeted violence here,” Rasmussen said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com.
Nikki Wentling covers disinformation and extremism for Military Times. She's reported on veterans and military communities for eight years and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.
