Submitted Photo
Warren residents Ray and Kathy Jones were in attendance in Butler on Saturday for what turned into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. “It’s funny, when you hear the first shot, you don’t want to believe what you just heard. It’s just a weird feeling,” he said.
When Warren residents Ray and Kathy Jones decided to attend the Trump rally in Butler on Saturday, they were expecting a fun day and the unique experience of hearing directly from a presidential candidate.
“It was a concert, ballgame type of atmosphere,” Ray said.
In mere seconds, that would change completely.
Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., opened fire on the rally from a nearby rooftop. The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump left one spectator dead.
“We were watching the news Friday morning before we left for work,” Kathy said. There was talk that Trump would be coming to Butler.
She said they should go. When would they get a chance to do something like this again?
So they packaged a picnic lunch, intent on tailgating prior to the event.
“We were really excited,” she said. “Everybody was upbeat and positive.”
And that mattered to Kathy.
“I said ‘I don’t want to hear… any of the negative slurs against Biden,’” she said. “I don’t like that. I don’t like the hatred. Unfortunately, we lived it.”
They were able to get seats to the center left of the stage, stunned at just how close they were to the podium.
“We were so excited,” Kathy said.
The building where the shooter was located was behind them and to the right.
“Everyone was having a good time,” Ray said.
He’s a law enforcement officer and noticed the presence of the secret service and the state police presence in the area. As the time for Trump to speak approached, a sniper team was visible behind the podium.
He said they thought they were safe and “all good.”
Their son was watching live from Arizona and could see them in the crowd.
A few minutes into his speech, pandemonium erupted
“I immediately knew it was a gunshot,” Ray said. “It was loud. I thought the gunman was right around the (side) of the bleachers.”
Kathy said it sounded like fireworks.
But more shots rang out.
Ray said he saw a hat fly off a man’s head. They hunkered down the best they could. Then a volley of shots could be heard.
“I didn’t know where they were coming from,” Ray said. “I looked over, Trump was down. Everybody was on top of him.”
He saw CPR being performed on a man but Ray knew he was gone and tried to block the view that people had of the man.
Troopers arrived to secure the scene. They took Ray’s name and number.
From there?
“We just walked out,” he said. “That crowd got angry. They were really (ticked) off, a lot of them.”
Ray said the whole incident lasted just a few seconds.
“As we were walking out, he (Ray) said ‘we were just part of history,’” Kathy said. “I was in shock. I’m still replaying, putting it all together in my head.”
“You replay it in your mind over and over again,” Ray added.
It’s not a secret that we live in a politically-charged climate.
“I felt that way going in, something at some point could happen,” Kathy said, “just because it’s gotten so out of control with the hate.”
“I had never experienced anything like that… realizing it was gunshots, watching all those police officers go into action,” she added. “It was something I’ve never been anywhere near.
“We need to go back to ‘One Nation, Under God.’”
“I’ve never witnessed anything historical,” Ray added. “It’s funny, when you hear the first shot, you don’t want to believe what you just heard. It’s just a weird feeling. We saw a little bit of history.”