Reactions are pouring in from leaders across New York state after former President Donald Trump was whisked off the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday night after a shooting that killed at least one rally attendee.
The former president said he was "shot with a bullet" that pierced part of his ear.
The FBI early Sunday identified the suspected shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa. He was killed by the United States Secret Service.
On Sunday, the Rev. Al Sharpton and several other faith-based leaders met with Mayor Eric Adams at City Hall to discuss the assassination attempt.
The meeting was described as a day of prayer and reflection. It brought together diverse leadership that included City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, a Republican, as well as a pastor, an imam and a rabbi.
Sharpton said they all agreed that political violence and the normalization of hate has to stop.
“There is no secret that I have been an adamant opponent of him on many issues. He and I have debated and fought for 35 years," Sharpton said. "But violence is wrong, no matter who you oppose. We must have a nation that celebrates the diversity of our views.”
Adams said while he has a license to carry a firearm, he currently has no plans to arm himself. He also said there is no place for hate in our city or our country.
"We must start the process of healing not only our country but healing our young people," Adams said. "A 20-year-old was in possession of an automatic weapon and was willing to use it to take the life of someone he had a political difference with. That is not acceptable."
Sharpton, who is president and founder of the National Action Network, reflected on his own trauma that stemmed from being stabbed more than 30 years ago as part of an assassination attempt on his own life.
"I know what the trauma is of tasting your own blood, I don’t care who you are in public life. Your family is traumatized," Sharpton said. "This is something you will never, ever get over. Today, people approach me at airports or places saying, 'I want to take a selfie,' and I jump because I still have in me this man coming in front of me plunging."
Adams said there have no credible threats of violence against any of the properties in NYC that are owned by the former president. The mayor on Saturday had said the NYPD would be "surging" officers to sites across the five boroughs.
Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said on Saturday that those locations included Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, Foley Square and City Hall.
In a statement Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was "horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe."
"Political violence has no place in our country," Schumer said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose House district encompasses part of Brooklyn, also said his thoughts and prayers were with Trump, and said he was thankfur for a "decisive law enforcement response."
"America is a democracy," Jeffries said. "Political violence of any kind is never acceptable."
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was "praying for the safety and health of former President Trump and all who are attending this event in Pennsylvania."
"Any violence against a fellow American is disgusting and unacceptable," Hochul said. "We must express political disagreements peacefully, civilly and respectfully."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also said his thoughts and prayers were with Trump and his family, and he commended the Secret Service's response.
"Political violence in any form is abhorrent and unacceptable," Bragg said.
New York Reps. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, and Mike Lawler, a Republican, issued a joint statement Sunday saying that they would introduce legislation to provide enhanced Secret Service protection to Trump, President Joe Biden and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
"Anything less would be a disservice to our democracy," their joint statement reads, in part.
Torres, whose district includes parts of the Bronx, said in a statement on Saturday that the country “must never revert back to a period of political assassinations in America.”
“Democracy has no greater enemy than political violence. It has no place in the United States of America,” he said.
Torres also called for a probe of the incident.
“The security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate demand an investigation,” he wrote on social media. “The federal government must constantly learn from security failures in order to avoid repeating them — especially when those failures have implications for the Nation.”
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican who served three terms, said on social media that the “attempted assassination is a despicable act that has no place in American politics.”
“May President Trump get well soon, and God bless our brave law enforcers and those wounded or killed by this senseless violence,” he added.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, whose district includes Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, released a statement saying it was "both shocking and heartbreaking that someone attempted to assassinate President Trump."
"While we are still waiting to learn more about the shooter and how this horrifying act was able to occur, we are thankful for the Secret Service officers who ushered President Trump to safety and neutralized the situation in a matter of seconds," she said in part. "The way President Trump has been targeted and vilified has gone too far. This act of political violence and pure hatred is unacceptable."
At a press conference on Sunday, members of the Staten Island Republican Party spoke out against political violence.
“It is very clear at this point that this was an attempted assassination, and we have to condemn this action, as well as any type of political violence in our nation,” Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, the party’s chairman, said. “Those types of actions have no place in our society.”
City Councilman Joe Borelli, meanwhile, said political differences should be handled by participating in the democratic process.
“A lot of things that the opposition party says make me very mad,” he said. “But the way I go about it, the way we should be going about it is winning at the ballot box.”