Trump assassination attempt in front of the lens: Photographer captures shots from close up

Suddenly, Donald Trump holds his bloody ear and falls to the ground: New York Times photographer Doug Mills witnessed the assassination attempt on the Republican during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania – and captured it on camera. The photographer, who has been portraying presidents for the US newspaper since 1983, was one of the few photo reporters who were a few steps away from Trump’s desk when the shots were fired.

When he heard the sudden bangs, he first thought it was a car and not gunshots. “I kept taking photos. He (Trump) fell to the ground behind the podium and I thought, ‘oh my God, something happened.'” He changed sides of the stage to get a better look at Trump and kept taking photos of him. “As tough as he looked in one picture with his fist, very combative, he looked so completely exhausted in my next shot. Very, very shocked.”

During more than 35 years of photo reporting on US presidents, he always feared that he would one day find himself in such a situation, Mills continued. “I always wondered what I would do in that situation. I hope I get the right shot. I hope I don’t get shot myself.”

Photographer may provide evidence photo

According to the New York Times, Mills most likely captured the incoming projectile in a rapid sequence of photos. , which showed Trump speaking at the lectern at the moment of the assassination. They show Trump first speaking while gesticulating, then with a face contorted in pain, putting his hand to his ear, on which blood can be seen.

In one of the high-resolution images directly in front of it, a gray line can be seen. According to retired FBI agent Michael Harrigan, whom the newspaper interviewed as an expert, it is very possible that this was the air displacement caused by one of the bullets fired at Trump. “The angle seems a little low to have gone through his ear, but not impossible if the shooter fired multiple shots.”