The FBI is still trying to determine a motive behind the attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. The former president says that a bullet pierced his upper ear, according to The Associated Press
In the meantime former fire Chief Corey Comperatore was being remembered as a “man of conviction” after he sacrificed his life while using his body to shield his family.
Two other people were wounded and were in stable condition.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who carried out the attack, is believed to have acted alone, The AP said.
Meanwhile, the tone of this week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee could shift in the wake of the violence. It started Monday and runs for four days.
In light of the attempted assassination, The Journal reporters interviewed officials, teachers and politicians in Cortez and Montezuma County for their perspective on what happened. Their responses are below.
“This country needs to take a moment and take a breath and reflect on what it really means to be an American these days. We've got to reset our values. And this discontent on both sides has got to be idled back the name calling and all of that has got to stop. And I'm really disheartened in the way everything went down.” – Kent Lindsay, county commissioner
“The political violence has got to stop. It's just got to stop, period. And that's really all I can say, it's gone beyond belief. Doesn't need to be there. Unity is what we need to be striving for, and to get jobs done for the constituency that we were elected to do. The political violence has got to stop.” – Jim Candelaria, county commissioner
“The violence needs to stop, and the rhetoric calling (Trump) a Nazi and both sides need to quit calling each other names.” – Larry Don Suckla, candidate for Colorado House District 58
“I thought he showed he was a true leader. He stood up to that adversity, and he when he rose up on the stage and raised his arm with a clenched fist that was in defiance of evil, and that's what we're looking at, is evil, and I think we really have no one to blame but ourselves for the evil that we're seeing.” – Lenetta Shull, chair of the Montezuma County Republican Central Committee
“We condemn all forms of violence, not just political violence, but all forms of violence, and any calls for violence, or violent intimidation, and we also deeply regret that former President Trump was injured, and that an innocent bystander exercising his right to attend a political event for the candidate of his choice was killed … We choose our leaders by elections at the ballot box. We don't choose our leaders by political violence and intimidation.” – Mary Dodd, chair of the Montezuma County Democratic Central Committee
“Violence has no place in American politics. Vivian Smotherman vehemently condemns such acts and continues working towards a future where disinformation, hate and fear are not used to sway public opinion and incite senseless violence. Out of respect for the victims and to ensure the safety of our team, we are canceling our community canvassing events for the next five days. This pause is time for reflection. Our campaign is focused on building community through open conversations where every point of view expressed, without hate, is valid and worthy of respect and discussion,” -- Campaign spokesperson for Vivian Smotherman, Colorado Senate District 6 candidate.
“I just think that any violence like that is totally uncalled for and just creates more animosity and issues of potential violence in the future. I’m glad that everybody that was or did survive survived, and it’s just terrible that there was a loss of life.” – Steve Nowlin, Montezuma County Sheriff
“Words have meaning, and I’ll tell you, you got to think about what you say. There are consequences.” – Steve Nowlin
“Violence has no place in American politics.” – Jeremy Reed, 22nd Judicial District Attorney candidate
“I know the investigation is ongoing, and we may or may not ever know what the would be assassin's motivations were, so I wouldn't want to speculate on that.” – Jeremy Reed
“I abhor all forms of political violence,” – Christian Hatfield, 22nd Judicial District Attorney
“Pastor Burkett also mentioned it yesterday, briefly. He said that God's hand was definitely in it, and it could have been worse. And obviously, it was not God's will for him to die Saturday. And I mentioned it yesterday to the youth group, and I kind of said, you know, praise the Lord he’s OK. Then making the application and conclusion that ultimately, Donald Trump is not our savior. He is not our source of hope. Jesus Christ is our hope, and he's the foundation that can't be shaken.” – Reece Alvarez, Lighthouse Baptist Church youth pastor
“The attempted assassination of Donald Trump was a tragedy due to the loss of the Donald Trump supporter who had showed up to support the democratic process at his rally. The lesson that I hope that students can take away from this is that there's better ways to handle concerns than violence. Our process is designed to be non-violent and violence just undermines everything we stand for as a democracy. I think our democracy will withstand this attempt and will be stronger going forward. And, you know, the courage of the former president was evident and the courage of our law enforcement officers to protect him and as well as the bystanders was commendable. And so, while it was a tragedy, it will be a learning experience. Not just for our students, but for the country.“ – Todd Cordrey, Mancos School District superintendent
“I wish our nation and our community could come together more and learn to communicate effectively. We are teaching our nation’s youth and going about the lessons the wrong way … I would love for students to learn more about politics and develop the ability to form their own research and fact-based opinions without being swayed by false news or adult biases. We want our kids to go into the world ready to be voters who are knowledgeable and skilled.” – Jennifer Boniface, Montezuma-Cortez High School Principal
“I’m just heartbroken that our country’s become more and more violent, and it’s escalated to this point. It’s disturbing but also predictable, unfortunately. I’m sad about the state of our civility in this country … and the quickness to violence and hatred. And so I hope this is an opportunity to shift that trajectory, but I don’t know if that’s possible.” – Rachel Medina, Cortez mayor
“Resorting to violence should never be OK. I hope that we strive to be better people who can talk through our differences.” – Rachel Medina
“I abhor violence in any form, including the threat of violence. I think it’s last resort- it should not even be a resort … We should speak through discussions and conversations, you know, instead of resorting to violence.” – Mike Lavey, former Cortez mayor
“My hope is that this assassination attempt will make us realize this is not the answer, that we need to maintain cordiality and respect for each other and have discussions and not resort to violence.” – Mike Lavey
“Obviously I was horrified like everybody else. This is not the way that a democracy works. We have freedom of speech. Everybody has the opportunity to be able to say what they think about particular issues, and when we reach the point where it's not safe for politicians and eventually anybody else to be able to stand up and state their position, then we don't have a democracy anymore. So it was quite alarming and I hope that this is a wake-up call. I think all parties need to dial back their rhetoric, and we need to start discussing issues respectfully without it coming to the point where we have these kinds of situations that occurred this weekend.” – Karen Sheek, League of Women Voters
“There’s a lot of hate in America, and that is what I think fed this whole thing, whoever was behind it. They’ve been doing this for so long, and, no offense to you, but the media is a large part of this … You don’t see fuzzy, warm stories on the news, but you do see a lot of hate.” – Sherry Simmons, a former leader of the Montezuma County Patriots
“I just pray, and I’m waiting on Jesus to come back, myself. I’m praying for everyone to get to know him.” – Sherry Simmons of the Montezuma County Patriots
Note: The Journal reached out several others, who did not reply. They are: Kelly Codner, public information officer; Cortez Police Chief Vernon Knuckles, Cortez Police Department; Gerald Koppenhafer, Montezuma County commissioner; and Chris Holkestad, Dolores mayor. Mancos Marshal Justen Goodall and Dolores Town Manager Leigh Reeves declined to comment.
Journal reporters Cameryn Cass, Bailey Duran, Shylee Graf and Sophia McCrackin contributed to this article.
This article was updated Wednesday to include a statement from District Attorney Christian Hatfield.
