It was a typical day for a Trump rally, except for traffic congestion that was worse than usual, with people stuck in a traffic jam for nearly two hours on the way to the rally in Butler, a small town about an hour north of Pittsburgh.
Kind people who lived along the two-lane road offered their lawns as parking spaces (for $20) or set up lemonade and snack stands in their driveways in the 90-degree heat of a sunny July day.
People who had parked along the route and were walking to the Butler Farm Show meeting area were moving at a faster pace than the tens of thousands of us who were trying to drive to the show’s parking lots several miles away.
After parking, there was a long walk through the parking lot to the merchandise area, then a long wait in line to check in. Once inside, for most attendees, the rally felt like any other outdoor Trump rally.
Secret Service officers patrolled the rally site, including an area on one side away from the stage.
The Trump campaign set up a table to recruit volunteers for Trump Force 47.
The rally took place in a large field on the Butler Farm Show grounds, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of supporters.
A flag on the stage was blown up in the wind, briefly looking like an angel or a cross. Not pictured here were at least two armed, female Homeland Security Investigative Service officers patrolling the media enclosure, an unusual presence for a Trump campaign I’ve covered.
The flag was untied and re-hoisted above the stage.
360-degree video taken from behind the press box as the overflowing crowd gathered at 5 p.m.
As far as the eye can see. 360 supporters gathered at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at 5pm EDT, behind the press corps. pic.twitter.com/oStnJsYhRD
— Christine Taylor (@KristinnFR) July 13, 2024
“I vote for a convicted felon.”
“Take America Back”
Many of the people I spoke to were from Butler or nearby, just like these women. And like these women, many in the crowd were not the sort of people you’d find at a Republican rally. Evidence of Trump’s growing base was certainly on display at the Butler rally.
Before Trump took the stage, one of the sniper teams was investigating something on the roof of a building behind the stage, and a crowd in the top row of the bleachers to the left of the stage rose to their feet to see what had caught their interest.
“If you don’t like this flag, let me help you pack it.”
Trump rallies are dance parties, and some energetic folks did the YMCA dance in the 90-degree heat while waiting for Trump, who arrived late, to take the stage.
People hold their cellphones aloft to take photos of President Trump as he takes to the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
Trump began his speech just after 6pm. It was hard to see the stage, so I took a few photos of him on a giant TV screen.
This is the last photo I took of President Trump before the shooting. Everything was normal. Until it wasn’t.
This is a photo taken after part 2.
