'A co-worker pulled me to the ground': CBS reporter caught in crossfire during Trump assassination attempt

Jacob Rosen said he noticed that a hydraulic pipe on a crane holding up one of the speakers had been hit by a bullet and realised quickly that an effort was being made to shoot Mr Trump. File picture

A news reporter has told of his terror as he dived for cover just 100ft away from former US president Donald Trump as an attempt was made to assassinate him at a campaign rally.

CBS News campaign reporter Jacob Rosen was in the press pen at the Republican rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening when the assassination attempt was carried out. 

Mr Rosen spoke to the Irish Examiner as he awaited a flight to Milwaukee to attend the Republic convention which starts on Monday. Mr Trump is expected to attend the event, which will run until Thursday.

He said: “We were in the press pen with all the other media and we were about 100 ft away. When the shots rang out, we thought they were fire crackers or fireworks. The first one or two did not really sound like much.” 

He said his initial thought was how crazy it was that somebody had apparently let off a firework at a Trump rally.

However, he noticed that a hydraulic pipe on a crane holding up one of the speakers had been hit by a bullet and realised quickly that an effort was being made to shoot Mr Trump.

He said: “The smoke and steam from it shot out and then I looked back at the former president and there was blood coming from the side of his face and there was Secret Service all near him. 

A co-worker pulled me to the ground. We stayed on the ground with security and with other reporters. I was terrified at that point. I would say realistically it was around two or three minutes but it felt like maybe an hour, in terms of the adrenaline and my heart beating.

He said the focus of the presidential campaign has totally changed following the shooting, and admitted: “I am worried about my safety, I am worried about my family’s safety. When the former president was rushed off the stage, people turned on us (the media) – people tried to climb over the barricades, people tried to come at us. I had a CBS hat on and my lanyard with my press pass on, and I wear a CBS badge to identify myself.” 

He said he took them off on Saturday night and he remembers having to wait for up to 30 minutes before he could let family and work colleagues know he was safe because there was no phone service available at the time.

Mr Rosen sent a text to a number of group chats as soon as he could, to let people know he was safe.

He has attended several Trump rallies in his five years with CBS News, he said.

Former US President Donald Trump is assisted by Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out during his campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania. Picture: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

"I have also covered shootings but never active shootings and I certainly have never been a part of any kind of shooting. I have never had bullets flying past me (before). 

“They were 70 to 100 ft away but there were at least five or six. And then there was the Secret Service shot at the man which was another one. That was the last one we heard obviously.” 

He remembers that Mr Trump had a chart up on a video board about illegal immigration shortly before the shooting.

He added: “He doesn’t usually put it up that early at the rally and he turned his head at what seems like the perfect time. You can see from the pictures that my extraordinary colleagues, who were very close in the pit near Trump, were able to get the bullets going past his ear. 

"We heard the pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Everyone hit the ground but a lot of people were stuck standing at the rallies. There were thousands of people, they had been in the sun all day.”

 The incident occurred at around 6pm on Saturday evening, eight hours after Mr Rosen arrived at the venue to set up and speak with supporters of Mr Trump ahead of this week’s selection convention.

We thought Mr Trump would probably pick a vice president candidate yesterday, not get shot at. It’s one of those things that is still surreal today.

However, he said his reporter instinct quickly returned and he focused on working on the story with his colleagues on the ground and in studio in New York and Washington, working until 3.30am on Sunday morning. He interviewed a retired physician who cared for one of the people who was critically injured when shot during the incident.

“I feel it today. I am in shock for sure”, he said. “It is hard for me to watch it again. I have not been able to.”

Mr Rosen said that he doesn’t want to speculate on what happens between now and the presidential election in November. But he said: “About six months ago we crossed into uncharted territory and since then, everything has gone in a way I never thought it could.”