Local reporter describes what he saw at Trump rally that ended with attempted assassination

A Boston Globe reporter was at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when shots rang out. Boston 25′s Kerry Kavanaugh spoke to James Pindell about his front-row seat to history and what happened in the moments after the former president was escorted off the stage.

“People always say did you ever imagine this could happen. And I guess the reaction they’re expecting me to say is ‘no, no absolutely not.’ That’s a lie. I absolutely expected that to happen. Every single rally I go to, and I go to a lot, it’s always in the back of my mind,” Pindell told Kavanaugh.

Pindell has covered politics and political events for two decades, 12 years with the Boston Globe alone.

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On Saturday, July 13th he was covering the rally for the newspaper, ahead of the Republican National Convention. He was seated right in front of the television cameras about a half a football field away from the stage.

A few moments into former President Trump’s remarks, the pops echoed in the air.

“I looked up and I saw smoke and I thought, ‘Oh, the Secret Service saw something they did not like and proactively shot.’ It didn’t occur to me that any shots actually came in,” Pindell said.

Boston Globe Reporter James Pindell's photos taken before the rally (James Pindell)

The shots that rang out now being investigated as an attempted assassination.

“When did it occur to you that that could be what you just witnessed in person,” Kavanaugh asked.

“The moment that he got up and I saw blood,” Pindell said.

But of course, in that moment it still wasn’t clear if Trump was hit. Pindell says it was at once in a matter of seconds but also in slow motion.

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As soon as former President Trump was whisked off stage, Pindell said he began feeling some hostility directed toward him and his fellow journalists.

“The moment that he got into the car, you can see it even in the camera shots, people turned around started giving the middle finger to the press, started saying this is your fault.” Pindell said. “I didn’t know where this was going, and I wasn’t sticking around to find out.”

Pindell says he took off his press credential and packed up his stuff and left. Once he safely could, his first text was to his family to let them know he was ok.

“We are all in this together. We are all humans and that’s gets so lost in this particular political and media environment,” Pindell said. “And I really hope that we can get back on the same page.”

Pindell is off to the RNC in Milwaukee to cover that. He believes it will be secure. But he wonders about smaller local rallies in the aftermath of this historic event.

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