Former President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet in a failed assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on Saturday. The gunman – 20-year-old Pennsylvania man Thomas Matthew Crooks – fired from an unprotected rooftop less than 150 yards from the stage. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer fire chief and father, died while shielding his family from the gunfire. Two others were critically injured. Crooks was shot dead at the scene by a counter-sniper.
With tens of thousands of people in attendance, first-hand accounts of the stunning shooting and the moments after are starting to emerge. Decorated combat veteran Sean Parnell was a speaker and guest at the rally, and he joined Megyn on Monday’s show to share his powerful account of the day.
Witness Testimony
A retired U.S. Army airborne ranger, Parnell received two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart for his service as a combat infantryman along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He was severely wounded in battle on June 6, 2010, and later medically discharged.
As he shared with Megyn, his experience at the rally paralleled in stunning ways to his time in combat. Below is his story, edited and condensed for clarity:
On the feeling of the day:
“I’ve been on the stage with President Trump five times now, and from the moment that I walked into that rally – and people can call me crazy or whatever – but there was something different. There was something in the air.
And the reason why I know this is because on June 10, 2006 in Afghanistan – and I’ve not really told this story before – I was blown up and wounded pretty seriously. I fractured my skull, got blown up by a rocket propelled grenade, and I was unconscious. But I felt something. I didn’t know if I had already died or what, but I felt like something was beckoning me to get back in the fight… like a spiritual presence that really felt like my grandfather who I lost the day before I went to Afghanistan.
When I was on that stage speaking, I felt that same damn thing. And people for 48 hours have been sending me images of the flag because I guess the wind had blown it and it kind of got entangled, but they sent me images of the flag from different angles, just convinced that there was something going on.
It was surreal. Call it an omen or something spiritual. I don’t know. It looked like an angel. And they fixed the flag moment before Trump came out on that stage. And again, I just talked to the president 30 minutes prior before he walked out. But there was something in the air. I mean, again people call me crazy or whatever, but there was something different about that day…
And then six shots rang out, and I could hear the bullets, just the trajectory of the bullets. I could hear them go and supersonic cracking through the air right above my wife and I saw President Trump grab his ear. A second later, the Secret Service was on him. And then I heard thump, thump of the counter-sniper team and another couple of rounds, which was almost simultaneous, and those rounds hit people directly behind me.
It was a crazy, chaotic day. But I wanted to bring up the faith component because I don’t care what people say. Everyone has different beliefs in this country, and we welcome that. But there was something in the air that day and it felt different…”
On the crowd’s reaction:
“We often talk about the exceptional nature of this country and the fact that we are, indeed, an exceptional nation. But we’re made exceptional not because necessarily of our political leaders, although some are inspirational, and great, and larger than life. Certainly Trump was that day. But our nation is exceptional because of the people, and [Comperatore] was one of those people. And there are so many patriots that day that stepped up to help other people.
A pathway to a meaningful life is acts of service through others with nothing, no expectation of anything in return. And the people at that rally that day stepped up in a way that I’d never seen before… They didn’t stampede, they didn’t hurt anybody…
That right there is what makes this country exceptional – not the evil shooter who tried to do something terrible that will forever have altered the trajectory of this nation, but the people in that crowd that day supported one another. To me, that’s a major part of this story.”
On Trump’s ‘leadership’:
“That’s leadership, that’s what it means to be a leader… To stand up in that moment where the rubber meets the road, to show them that you are there with them. In that moment, Trump exhibited the leadership that this country desperately need. And within 12 hours of someone trying to kill him, the guy is out there saying, ‘No, we need to unite. We need to come together.’ Think about that. That’s leadership, and Trump proved that on that stage.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Parnell by tuning in to episode 838 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.