‘No Place For Violence’: Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg Condemn ‘Awful’ Trump Attack

From Satya Nadella, Elon Musk to Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, tech industry leaders condemned the attack on former United States (US) president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, posted on X, “There is simply no place for any type of violence in our society. Sending my best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery and to all those impacted by today’s horrific event.”

Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, shared his sentiments on X: “I’m wishing President Trump a speedy recovery. I’m shocked by today’s shooting and loss of life. Political violence is intolerable and we must all come together to strongly oppose it.”

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, took to X: “I pray for President Trump’s rapid recovery. My thoughts are with him, the other victims, and the Trump family. I strongly condemn this violence.”

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, commented on X: “It’s hard to digest what happened in Pennsylvania today (Saturday). Just awful. My thoughts go out to the victims’ families. Glad that President Trump is safe and hoping he recovers quickly.”

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, posted on Threads: “Praying for a quick recovery for President Trump. This is such a sad day for our country. Political violence undermines democracy and must always be condemned.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and the boss of X, wrote several posts on X. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” He followed it up with a viral picture of Trump on stage, surrounded by the secret service agents. Later he wrote: “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”

Musk then also shared BBC’s viral video footage of a rally visitor and added: “The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign.” He subsequently retweeted several posts related to the incident.

PROBE IS ON

President Joe Biden has initiated an inquiry into how a 20-year-old man, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, managed to approach and shoot at Trump from a rooftop. Trump was struck in the right ear by a bullet, leaving his face bloodied. He is in stable condition. The shooting resulted in one fatality and two injuries among the crowd before Secret Service agents neutralized the suspect.

The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and is treating the case as an attempted assassination. Preliminary investigations indicate Crooks acted alone, with no clear links to any political ideology or mental health issues so far. The rifle used was legally purchased, reportedly by the suspect’s father. A suspicious device found in Crooks’ vehicle was safely defused by bomb technicians.

Authorities have identified Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania, as the individual who lost his life, protecting his family from the gunfire. As per the reports, the two injured victims, David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, are in stable condition.

Following the incident, the Republican-led Oversight Committee in the US House of Representatives has called Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing set for July 22.

The attack not only raised the bar for political tension in the US, months ahead of the Presidential election but also highlighted the gun use issue.