In a chilling assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, a bullet grazed his ear. This terrifying incident was captured by Doug Mills, a seasoned photographer for The New York Times, who happened to be just a few feet away from Trump when it happened.
Mills, who has been documenting US presidents since 1983, initially didn’t realize that he had captured the bullet in one of his photographs. Revisiting the moment, he said, “It happened so fast, but now I can see it all in slow-motion. I was taking pictures when the pops started happening. I just happened to have my finger on the shutter and I heard the pops and kept shooting. I didn’t know what I had captured, but when I got to my laptop, I could see that bullet flying behind his head because it is definitely not in the frames right before it and it’s not in afterwards. It’s only that one frame. I was shooting in 1/1,800 of a second. It captured that streak behind him.”
The photo taken by Mills shows a long white streak behind Trump’s head, revealing the apparent path of the bullet used in the assassination attempt. Reflecting on the incident, Mills admitted, “I never thought I’d ever see an assassination attempt on a president and be there to photograph it.”
Mills’ extensive experience covering presidents and understanding their movements played a crucial role in capturing the decisive moments after the attack. “I’ve covered the president for over 40 years, and I’ve always known which way they come onstage and which way they go off. And the closest stairs were to my right, so I ran over to that side and witnessed him being helped up to his feet, and my immediate reaction was, ‘Oh my God! He is alive,’” Mills recalled.
Describing Trump’s initial reaction upon realizing that he had survived an attempted assassination, Mills said, “All of a sudden, he got near the edge of the stage and raised up his fist in defiance. And I could see the blood on his face, and that defiance went away in a split second. He became very serious. I thought he looked very pale.” In just a matter of seconds, two contrasting moments unfolded, leaving a lasting impact on Mills. He remarked, “It is a moment unlike any in my lifetime, my history, my job of covering the White House since 1983. You never think about something like this ever happening because it is so frightening.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the 20-year-old assassin as Thomas Matthew Crooks. The young attacker was swiftly neutralized by Secret Service snipers after firing multiple shots at the former president from a nearby rooftop. Witnesses at the scene tried to alert security officials about the suspicious individual moving from roof to roof, lying on his stomach, and aiming a gun at the rally.
