FBI: "Trump's ear, undoubtedly shot... Suspected shooter SNS discovered"

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that the ear injury sustained by former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was caused by a bullet. Although the motive of the shooter has not yet been determined, the FBI also stated that they are investigating a social media account presumed to belong to him.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

On the 30th (local time), FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said at a U.S. Senate hearing, "There is no doubt that former President Trump was shot and sustained an ear injury from a bullet."

This statement marked a step back from FBI Director Christopher Wray’s earlier comment on the 24th at a congressional hearing, where he expressed uncertainty about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel, which sparked significant backlash from conservative circles. At that time, the remark led to anger mainly among Trump supporters and conspiracy theories within the Democratic camp. Former President Trump also posted on Truth Social, rebutting, "Unfortunately, my ear was hit by a bullet, and it was a strong hit. There was no glass or shrapnel at the scene."

As the controversy continued, the FBI issued a clarifying statement that "the object that hit former President Trump, whether whole or in part, was a bullet," but the dispute did not subside easily. In particular, when former President Trump appeared without a gauze bandage on his ear during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 26th, the shrapnel injury controversy intensified. Local media at the time published enlarged photos of the ear area, questioning whether it was indeed a bullet wound.

On the same day, Deputy Director Abbate also explained that the motive of the shooter who attacked former President Trump during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on the 13th has not yet been precisely identified. However, he confirmed that they found a social media account presumed to belong to the shooter, Thomas Matthew Krooks. The account is believed to contain posts with anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Deputy Director Abbate said, "Between 2019 and 2020, this account received over 700 comments, some of which reflected extreme content promoting anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant themes aimed at inciting political violence." However, he did not specify which platform the social media account was on. He added, "We are still verifying whether this account truly belongs to the shooter, but given the lack of other information so far, I believe it is important to share and pay attention to this account."

On the same day, Ronald Low Jr., Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service (SS), who also appeared at the hearing, expressed, "I am ashamed," and said, "There is no excuse for why the building’s roof was not better protected." He stated, "Neither the SS sniper team nor the former president’s security team was aware that there was a man with a gun on the building’s rooftop. To my knowledge, they did not know the shooter was armed until gunfire was heard." He added, "I am confident that we will never make such a mistake again." Low was appointed acting director last week after former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned, taking responsibility for the failure in protecting former President Trump. Immediately afterward, the SS implemented reform measures including mandatory supervisory reviews before security plans at all events, the use of aerial drones, and increased resource allocation to improve communication.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.