upcoming rnc, even more the upcoming rnc, even more initial layers of security because there is arguably nothing more important than people being able to exercise their freedom of speech, people being able to exercise theirfreedom of speech, the gathering in order to support their political party, however that may be. their political party, however that may be-_ that may be. retired fbi secial that may be. retired fbi special agent, _ that may be. retired fbi special agent, we - that may be. retired fbi special agent, we thankl that may be. retired fbi. special agent, we thank you that may be. retired fbi - special agent, we thank you for sharing your expertise and insights with us here on bbc news. you are watching bbc news. you are watching bbc news. i am live from washington where we are covering that story, former president donald trump being rushed off stage with blood on the side of his head and his ear after shots were fired just minutes into his rally butler, pennsylvania on saturday. a male attacker was shot and killed by a member of the secret service after the apparent assassination attempt. he killed one spectator at the rally, and two others were critically injured.

law enforcement says the suspected attacker fired using an ar—style rifle from an elevated shed about 200 feet away and that the shooting is being investigated as an attempted assassination by the fbi. they are now taking over that investigation from the secret service. according to the bbc�*s us news partner, cbs, donald trump was rushed to butler memorial hospital for treatment and released. here's that moment when the attack took place. take a look what happened... gunfire. screaming shouting

move! move! go! hawkeye is here. ready? are we good? shooter is down. are we good? shooter is down. are we good? shooter is down. are we clear? let's go. we are clear. let me get my shoes but i got you, sir. we have got to move. watch out. we got to move!

chanting usa, usa, usa! shouting joining me live now a presidential historian. thank

you forjoining us here on bbc news. talk to us to begin with about your reaction to today, how significant you see this moment as being through the prism of history.— prism of history. there is no doubt that — prism of history. there is no doubt that this _ prism of history. there is no doubt that this is _ prism of history. there is no doubt that this is going - prism of history. there is no doubt that this is going to i prism of history. there is no | doubt that this is going to be a historic moment. any time we have seen anything of this scale, it contains a course of events. we don't know in what yet of course but i think that looking at it from this moment when we are still learning facts, it certainly does seem to resemble some of the past assassinations or assassination attempts, whether it be theodore roosevelt or some of the ad assassination attempts or successful assassinations with in the 1960s. just or successful assassinations with in the 1960s.— or successful assassinations with in the 1960s. just talk to us a little _ with in the 1960s. just talk to us a little bit _ with in the 1960s. just talk to us a little bit more _ with in the 1960s. just talk to us a little bit more about - us a little bit more about that, and what can happen in the wake of these kinds of incidents to countries often come together, can they become more fractured? what is the environment like after something like this? i

environment like after something like this? i think there are — something like this? i think there are two _ something like this? i think there are two possibilities. | there are two possibilities. the first possibility occurred after the assassination attempt of theodore roosevelt in which he tried to attempt down any additional violence really encourage people to stay calm, with all of the campaigns hit pause for a moment and it really wired the responsibility and the efforts of all people involved in that race to try and come together as you said monday moment of unity, to encourage people to set aside some of their more depressed us passions and to avoid violence. the other was ability is the much darker one in which we start to see an escalating cycle of violence, and where this provokes either retribution or revenge on salway see more attacks on political figures, salway see more attacks on politicalfigures, and salway see more attacks on political figures, and the reason that happens is because political violence very rarely happens in a i—off. it is usually clustered. it was in

the 1960s and you have certainly seen a lot of clinical violence in the last five years and so hopefully she doesn't get worse from here, but that is really an option. ! but that is really an option. i wanted to ask you more about that because people often speak about past as prologue and taking a look at the events of the past five years as you just mentioned there, for example, and with your historical knowledge, were you concerned something like this could happen? ! something like this could ha en? ., , something like this could happen?— something like this could ha en? .,, ~' ., happen? i was. i think that it is happen? iwas. ithink that it is hard happen? i was. i think that it is hard if— happen? iwas. ithink that it is hard if you _ happen? iwas. ithink that it is hard if you have _ happen? iwas. ithink that it is hard if you have been - is hard if you have been watching american politics closely not to feel that this was not an —— inevitable because nothing is inevitable, but really very likely. the rhetoric that we see coming out of a lot of politicians, the rhetoric used as part of regular political discourse is so violent and so inclined to provoke violence that people are starting to take it seriously and they are starting to think that violence is an acceptable way to try and

achieve little aims, and so we have seen various different escalations of that over the last decade, whether it was a tax on an fbi office or bombs or threats sent to journalists or threats sent to journalists or other political figures. of course the sixth of january was a moment of really terrifying and horrific all violence, and after that because of the department ofjustice and law enforcement officers did have such a strong response, i didn't think we were going to see the type of huge mass violence like we saw on the sixth of january 2021, but rather, individualacts sixth of january 2021, but rather, individual acts that are much harder to predict. tote are much harder to predict. we have to point out of course it isn't just a have to point out of course it isn'tjust a former president who has been injured in this. one person who was attending that rally has been killed, two others remain in a critical condition, injured during this apparent attack. is there any parallel in history where we have seen something like this for as well, what appears to be an attack on a prominent

figure, then also injuring members of the public? yes, absolutely- — members of the public? yes, absolutely. any _ members of the public? yes, absolutely. any time - members of the public? yes, absolutely. any time there i members of the public? yes, | absolutely. any time there are deadly and violent weapons involved, there is always a high chance that there are going to be bystanders. maps are most famous example was when ronald reagan was shot in 1981. he himself recovered fairly quickly, thankfully. his press secretary was injured and suffered a consequences from those worms for the rest of his life, and so often times it is not necessarily the person that was intended target that actually bears the brunt of this because of the protection and the security measures that are put in place for that particular individual —— worms. and how do you find then this affects the mood in the us? as we have been discussing, people go about democracy, going out to attend rallies and vote and so on. how can this impact the

political climate? to so on. how can this impact the political climate?— political climate? to be honest. _ political climate? to be honest, it _ political climate? to be honest, it was - political climate? to be honest, it was already. political climate? to be - honest, it was already pretty dark and a little bit bleak to begin with and i think a lot of people were feeling like we were in a pretty bad place. and whenever something like this happens, it is a symptom, it is symptomatic of a system that is really quite ill, really quite sick. so to see this manifestation of all of those bad feelings and all of that real animosity coming to the surface, i think a lot of people are probably going to be really shaken by this experience, and i don't know if they are going to want to shy away from public participation of those who will want to pursue it even more avidly so that they won't be deterred, i'm hopeful that it will cause us to be a little bit more cautious in our rhetoric, it will cause us to try and pursue a little bit more productive politics, but at least based on some of the rhetoric we have seen already tonight for me, i'm hopeful that my sincerity

is going to be the case. thank ou ve is going to be the case. thank you very much _ is going to be the case. thank you very much for _ is going to be the case. thank you very much for speaking i is going to be the case. thank you very much for speaking to us here on bbc news. we can go back over now to a retired special agent and founder of elite mindsets, kyle vowinkel. i want to touch on a little bit more now the actions of the security services and how they have you tried and prepare these kind of events, how they have two monitor who comes and goes, particularly when you have not only a presidential candidate here, but a former president as well, already very prominent in his own right. now much of the challenges that, what kind of things do you have two do to establish and will not also be scrutinised now in light of what we are saying? first off, it is an exceptional

challenge because you have to balance the security of the candidate with also security measures which make it almost impossible for the candidate to engage the public or speak to them. the security measures are incredibly detailed and there is a lot of proactive security done right before the event, with security sweeps, scrubbing social media, looking at persons of interest who may be previously have threatened a candidate or president, and so those people receive extra surveillance possibly, so preparation again is exhaustive before the event and during the event, there max level of alertness, constantly scanning, observing, looking for threats, and that is what as i described earlier what i witnessed in the video, my first thoughts are this amazing response from the united states secret service agents. when they heard the

sound of gunfire, they immediately did what they are trained to do when they responded and put their bodies in front of their project each, not for her that person is, but for the office which they hold —— protectee. the professionalism of the united states secret service was on display today for the entire world to see. this display today for the entire world to see.— world to see. as we were talkin: world to see. as we were talking earlier, _ world to see. as we were talking earlier, you - world to see. as we were talking earlier, you were | talking earlier, you were telling us about your work, having operated in conflict zones, also on numerous occasions of course with presidents, presidential candidates as well, and so looking at the political climate that we find ourselves in now here in the united states and i asked earlier, did you anticipate seeing something like this? ., ., ., ., ., like this? no, and i am not a olitical like this? no, and i am not a political consultant, - like this? no, and i am not a political consultant, so - like this? no, and i am not a political consultant, so i - political consultant, so i definitely do not want to wade into those waters, but the

rhetoric has been elevated on both sides, and that is all i will really colin —— comment, because like most agents, i strive to be apolitical so i will not come to that, but i want to answer your previous question about the aftermath of this event, and as we discussed, the fbi has jurisdiction to investigate threats or assassination attempts on the president, and as part of the investigation, there will be thousands and thousands of men and women investigative hours, researching this event, what led up to it, what happened during the event, and all that will be released publicly. but it is too early to draw conclusions, any definitive conclusions. that information will be shared, and that will be at the appropriate time to ask those questions and to reflect back, right. not to point fingers and blame, but the army taught me, and we did this in the fbi on the hostage

rescue team, my unit, we conducted thorough after action reviews, ars. you would go through the planning process, the execution phase, post operational phases, and you would protect yourself in the plans, the actions of what happened throughout the sequence of events, to learn what you can do better next time and to see maybe there is some gaps in the operational execution which we can improve upon next time. so that will be the time to ask and look at the facts and information, see if there are things that could have been done better. but now it is far too early to speculate. that must be sometimes incredibly challenging to do, like looking for a needle in a haystack, looking for a suspect and think, was there something that was missed? you may speak

to people who may know them in the community, look at their digitalfootprint, in this the community, look at their digital footprint, in this case you have an attacker who was not inside the parameter of the venue but outside as well. how challenging is it to go and find out more, if there's any clues i suppose that work missed?— clues i suppose that work missed? �* ., ., missed? the fbi will do an exhaustive, _ missed? the fbi will do an exhaustive, thorough - missed? the fbi will do an exhaustive, thorough and. missed? the fbi will do an i exhaustive, thorough and fair investigation, collecting facts wherever they may go. they will absolutely look at the digital footprint, interview everyone in this person's circle, and even though it is a second and third order of circle, they will look for clues, details. were there hints of violence? was that a pattern of violent behaviour? are they some member of some domestic terrorism group, for example? that would

warrant an investigation into that group. because the fbi and others want to know other any others want to know other any other persons involved. when a bomber was found at the back of the boat in watertown, and my job and the fbi wanted him alive at all costs because we did not know if there were other terrorist out there. we had to determine if there are other individuals involved, are they more risks or threats out there on the horizon. in they more risks or threats out there on the horizon. in terms ofthe there on the horizon. in terms of the rapid. _ there on the horizon. in terms of the rapid, that _ there on the horizon. in terms of the rapid, that it _ there on the horizon. in terms of the rapid, that it appears i of the rapid, that it appears has been used here, and ar style rifle, what more can you tell us about that? does that set off any alarm bells. i can

speak in general, they are semiautomatic rifles which is a small rifle round that travels at high velocity. it small rifle round that travels at high velocity.— at high velocity. it is lethal if it is a sensitive _ at high velocity. it is lethal if it is a sensitive area - at high velocity. it is lethal if it is a sensitive area and | if it is a sensitive area and as you know unfortunately one member of the audience did pass away from those words. whether the person acquired the weapon, did they train in the weapon, there were several shots, as we heard in the audio and i think we were actually lucky only one person was killed and the others were wounded. it could have been much, much worse so i am at least thankful that there were not more casualties because that weapon can carry 30 rounds or even higher capacity magazines that we could have been significantly worse casualty wise. ”(agile worse casualty wise. kyle vowinkel. _ worse casualty wise. kyle vowinkel, former - worse casualty wise. kyle vowinkel, former fbi - worse casualty wise. kyle i vowinkel, former fbi agent, thank you for being with us.

thank you. pm thank you for being with us. thank yom— thank you. an ad'oining the live from h thank you. an adjoining the live from london, _ thank you. an adjoining the live from london, looking i thank you. an adjoining the i live from london, looking into the shooting and the location, our correspondent. what is the latest you can tell us? we our correspondent. what is the latest you can tell us?- latest you can tell us? we can talk ou latest you can tell us? we can talk you through _ latest you can tell us? we can talk you through a _ latest you can tell us? we can talk you through a few- latest you can tell us? we can talk you through a few of- latest you can tell us? we can talk you through a few of the l talk you through a few of the images. this is the stage where president trump was staying. the distances between where the shooter seems to have been and the stage where president trump was standing. this is crucial. you see these three buildings give you a sense of where he was. he is about here. that will be important to remember. this is another image, and other video. we have taken two steals from it. this is south of the barn where we know the shooter was lying. if you look at this, you can see some

entries in the foreground. use them in. that shows the body of them in. that shows the body of the shooter. we're not going to show that. when you peace all these details together. the trees, these three buildings and lots of detail on this building, you can see exactly where it is on google and some helicopter footage has emerged showing the shooter lying on top of these buildings so we know this is a building where the shooter was. this is where donald trump was and stage. it is the wrong way around on google map but you can see that distance. it is about 130 metres. that is how close the shooter got to former president trump and that is why that tallies with the testimony gary 0'donoghue has been gathering. it leads to questions as to why

he got so close. this is from a video, clearly from the same event. you can see this is one of the secret service snipers and in the video you can see him firing back so we're getting a real clear sense of some of the geography of this. we have also found some footage which shows what appears to be a man in the crowd, falling down as shots ring out. if i go back through here, this is an idea of where he was. it is pretty clear here, which would tally, if you look at the directions, with where the attempts to shoot former president trump would have come in. we cannot recover that footage but we are certain or pretty certain that is where one of the victims was. good to net a one of the victims was. good to get a sense _ one of the victims was. good to get a sense of— one of the victims was. good to get a sense of the _ one of the victims was. good to get a sense of the situation - one of the victims was. good to get a sense of the situation onl get a sense of the situation on the ground. many thanks. we can

cross over to tom bateman. as we would expect, a reaction pouring in, including from former presidents.- pouring in, including from former presidents. there are five living — former presidents. there are five living former _ former presidents. there are five living former presidents | five living former presidents in this country, one of them is donald trump and the other four have very quickly after the events tonight given their reactions, very heartfelt, each of them. all of them echoing the same condemnation, praise for the police and also really echoing these messages for calm, that we have been talking about tonight. barack 0bama saying there is absolutely no place for political violence in a democracy. he says that americans should use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. former president george w bush tweeting that laura and i are grateful

president trump is a following the cowardly attack on his life, commending the men and women of the secret service. bill clinton, violence is no place in america, especially in our political process and that hillary and i am thankful that president trump is safe and heartbroken by those affected ljy heartbroken by those affected by the attack at the rally. jimmy carter, via the carter centre, an organisation founded by him and his wife rosalyn, say they condemn the violence that took place at the rally and saying that americans should be able to gather peacefully without fear of violence and that their thoughts are with president trump and everyone affected by this. �* , , trump and everyone affected by this. �* , this. bipartisanship coming in with these — this. bipartisanship coming in with these messages - this. bipartisanship coming in with these messages and - this. bipartisanship coming in l with these messages and also, no matter the political climate in this country, the shock is very much palpable in these messages as well? it very much palpable in these messages as well?-

very much palpable in these messages as well? it is. we were talking _ messages as well? it is. we were talking earlier- messages as well? it is. we were talking earlier about i messages as well? it is. we l were talking earlier about the anger and division, that this country has experienced, and that has morphed into this volatile and febrile election campaign, with these two presumptive nominees, still, facing each other, joe biden and donald trump. 0f facing each other, joe biden and donald trump. of course, we had donald trump convicted on 34 had donald trump convicted on 3a felony counts, three other criminal cases due to go ahead and that becoming very much of the bitterness, argument and stand—off in the country. the issue of democracy very much at the heart of this. in the sense both these candidates. in fact, just this week, originally donald trump was due to be sentenced into the new york case, that was pushed back because of the supreme court decision saying that presidents

had immunity for that official acts and that meant his lawyers managed to push back the sentencing so that had not taken place but all of that fitting into the extremely febrile environment and at the same time a crisis in the biden campaign. democrats had been in the process of attempting, many of them, to pull the rug from under him. that has not come to any resolution and he is fighting back. and now this moment, this appalling moment of violence in this campaign and so i think it has, as you said, the shop has galvanised this sense now about people are scared. —— the shock. where do they go next? we have seen this outpouring from across the aisle of people saying, this is unacceptable and really appealing for some sort of

sanity to prevail, with a few months now until the election itself. �* .. itself. the biden campaign theme today _ itself. the biden campaign theme today it _ itself. the biden campaign theme today it is - itself. the biden campaign theme today it is putting l itself. the biden campaign l theme today it is putting its ads on hold. it is difficult to say logistically how this will impact the presidential elections but there is a feeling already that somehow, evenif feeling already that somehow, even if it is a narrative, something as it shifted into this presidential race, something will surely change because of these, that is how historic this already feels. l historic this already feels. i think it has to because it raises so many questions and you have the republican convention in milwaukee this week, with donald trump having been due to give his speech on thursday and decides so far is that everything will continue. but then the question around joe biden, what does he do? he is campaigning had been more thanjust a is campaigning had been more thanjusta campaign is campaigning had been more than just a campaign against his opponent, it had been a

campaign for the hearts and minds of his party. he had been due to campaign this week. we now know he's heading back from delaware and back in washington. it is a very serious security incident now which will obviously and is now in the process of a major investigation. so obviously, the entire federal government has to be grieved and that is a role in all of that. more messages of reassurances, we heard him refer to donald early on, that he had been due to speak to him or hoping to speak to him. he he's heading back to washington. he was due to campaign again this week. we do not know what will happen. it is hard to imagine that campaign and rallies will go ahead. the entire thing now has shifted. it is a fundamental tipping point, ithink, and a

very significant moment for the rest of this campaign. aha, very significant moment for the rest of this campaign.— rest of this campaign. a large task also ahead _ rest of this campaign. a large task also ahead of _ rest of this campaign. a large task also ahead of president | task also ahead of president biden right now. lastly, we were talking about the domestic ramifications but of course the eyes of the world naturally very much on this event. tell us a little bit about how world leaders are reacting? it us a little bit about how world leaders are reacting?- leaders are reacting? it has been coming _ leaders are reacting? it has been coming that _ leaders are reacting? it has been coming that make - leaders are reacting? it has been coming that make it l leaders are reacting? it has i been coming that make it has been coming that make it has been the middle of the night in europe and much of the world, so it has been striking how the statement came in. one of the earliest from downing street, sir keir starmer, the new british prime minister, he had beenin british prime minister, he had been in washington and metjoe biden a few days ago. downing street speaking of their shock, condemning all form of political violence. they said. the canadian prime minister justin trudeau with a similar message. political violence is never acceptable. the israeli

prime minister speaking of his shock. and the —— narendra modi, the prime minister of india talking of his deep concern of the attack on his friend and condemning the attack. viktor 0rban, the hon gavin prime minister, he had a meeting with donald trump. these two men affiliated very strongly —— hungarian. the hungarian prime minister and mr trump. viktor 0rban going to see president putin in russia, supposedly trying to negotiate peace between ukraine and the russians. they had been condemned as appeasement by many nato allies. all of this was taking over the nato summit

and hanging over the room the possibility of a trump presidency undermining all this work. viktor 0rban sang his thoughts and prayers are with president trump in these dark hours. so expect as we get into sunday, many more of these messages from world leaders due to come out. messages from world leaders due to come out-— to come out. tom, thank you so much for — to come out. tom, thank you so much for keeping _ to come out. tom, thank you so much for keeping us _ to come out. tom, thank you so much for keeping us up-to-date much for keeping us up—to—date with that raft of reaction both domestic and international. just coming back to those details that we are learning about how the attack took place. in a statement, the us secret service confirmed at around 6:15pm et the suspect fired multiple shots toward the stage. us secret service personnel neutralised the shooter, who is now deceased. 0ne spectator was killed, two others critically injured. the suspect was on an elevated position outside the rally venue. us secret service has formally notified the federal bureau

of investigation. former president trump has posted on social media. he said: president biden spoke about the incident while in rehoboth beach, delaware. here's that address. i've been thoroughly briefed by all the agencies of the federal government

on the situation based on what we know now.