Chicora pastor: shooting at Trump rally was ‘surreal’
Sitting in the grandstand behind the speaker’s podium, Pastor John Pistorius of Christ’s Family Church in Chicora had a bird’s-eye view of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and its aftermath.
Pistorius said he arrived before noon Saturday, July 13, for the Trump rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
“At 11 a.m. we arrived at the rally and went through the line to get in,” he said. “Then I was led to the bleachers. I was behind the podium in the bleachers on the upper right side.”
After listening to a series of introductory speakers throughout the afternoon, Pistorius said, “I saw where the motorcade came in. It was very interesting.”
“Trump began his speech and he said, ‘I’m going off the teleprompter.’ He brought up immigration and pointed to the screen.”
Then it happened.
“It sounded like firecrackers. There were three and then there were five or six more after that,” he said of the noises that interrupted Trump’s speech.
“Then he grabbed his ear. There was blood, and the Secret Service dove on him. Nobody knew what actually happened. The Secret Service got him off the stage and down the steps,” he said.
“There was blood on his ear and blood on his hand. I realized this was a shooting,” he said.
“It was just starting to sink in,” he said. “It was a hot day. Everyone was quite exhausted by the heat.”
Pistorius said Trump was rushed into a vehicle by his security team “right below me. I watched it happen.”
“I was at the end of the stand looking down at a black SUV. Trump seemed somewhat OK. I couldn’t tell how seriously he was injured. He was fully surrounded by that time,” he said.
Pistorius also saw a man taken to the grass off to the right of the grandstand.
“Police were working on him, and military men were on guard, watching and looking,” he said.
“We were right there. We watched. It was surreal. I had no fear. I was concerned, and I was worried,” he said.
